4. Two alternative perspectives on supply
chain management
Fig. 3 presents a summary framework of the evolution
of supply chain management along two separate paths
that eventually merged into a common body of literature.
While it is not an exclusive nor distinctive classi"cation
of literature, Fig. 3 illustrates the evolution of supply
chain management from the purchasing and supply activities,
as well as the transportation and logistics functions,
with a focus on integration, visibility, cycle time
reduction, and streamlined channels (Tan et al., 1998b).
The purchasing and supply perspective literature relates
to the previously disparate functions of purchasing and
supply management functions of the industrial buyers,
whereas the transportation and logistics perspective of
supply chain management literature evolves from the
transportation and physical distribution functions of the
wholesalers and retailers. However, there are other
means of classifying supply chain management literature.
For example, Harland et al. (1999) and Harland (1996)
classify research in this area according to the levels of
integration (i.e., internal chain, dyadic relationship,