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Soonhong Min: Department of Marketing, Logistics and Transportation, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
John T. Mentzer: Department of Marketing, Logistics and Transportation, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Introduction
Supply chain management (SCM) has been conceptualized with two different components - an integrative business philosophy and implementation actions - to manage the total flow of a distribution channel from the supplier to the ultimate user (see Ellram and Cooper, 1990; Cooper and Ellram, 1993; Cooper et al., 1997a). SCM extends the concept of functional integration beyond a firm to all the firms in the supply chain and, thus, each member of a supply chain helps each other improve the competitiveness of the chain (Ellram and Cooper, 1990). Cooper and Ellram (1993) suggested three major objectives of implementing SCM:
(1) reduce inventory investment in the chain;
(2) increase customer service through increased stock availability and reduced order cycle time; and
(3) help build competitive advantage for the channel to create customer value.
The concept of SCM originated in the logistics literature (Jones and Riley, 1985; Bowersox et al., 1985; Christopher, 1994) and logistics has continued to have a significant impact on the concept (Bechtel and Jayaram, 1997). The strong influence of logistics in the process of conceptualizing SCM seems to be due to the weight given to inventory reduction and stock availability as objectives of SCM implementation. The purpose of this paper, however, is to highlight the role of marketing in the implementation of SCM. The approach taken in this paper is to review several concepts that have received considerable attention (Barksdale and Darden, 1971; Borch, 1957; Churchill and Peter, 1995; Gronroos, 1995; Gundlach and Murphy, 1993; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Kotler, 1972; McKitterick, 1957; McNamara, 1972) in the discipline of marketing - the marketing concept, a market orientation, and relationship marketing - to explore the key linkages between marketing management and SCM.
First, definitions of marketing and its core concepts are reviewed. Second, the marketing concept, a market orientation, and their influences on the management of a firm and a supply chain are described. Third, an explanation of how relationship marketing affects SCM, as well as the management of a firm, is provided. Fourth, an integrated framework of...