Supply chain services from a service-dominant perspective: a content analysis

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to apply service-dominant logic thinking to the field of supply chain management (SCM) in order to classify, structure, and analyze different types of supply chain services (SCS) collected from interdisciplinary literature. The authors investigate how value is co-created between supply chain actors and develop research propositions regarding the influence of service type on value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach – Content analysis is employed to research SCS across 218 articles from 28 journals of logistics and SCM, service, finance and accounting, and information systems research. Findings – The occurrence of SCS within the literature is rising, and most SCS mentioned have a relieving as opposed to an enabling function. Also, SCS related to material and information flows dominate the field, whereas finances-flow-related services receive less attention. Finally, the paper provides evidence that different types of SCS require different management approaches. Research limitations/implications – Analyzing the literature and integrating different streams of research are only a first step towards building new theory. To test the developed propositions, further empirical research is encouraged. Practical implications – The paper offers implications for the management of different types of SCS from both the service provider ' s and service customer ' s perspective. Originality/value – The paper provides an interdisciplinary overview of the value proposed by different types of SCS. Furthermore, six service-dominant logic-based research propositions regarding the impact of service type on value co-creation are developed.