Conceptual note: The impact of supply network configurations on firms’ operational sustainability

Supply network configuration consists of both structural characteristics and relational characteristics. Structural characteristics attribute embedded position of buyer and supplier firms in a network and relational characteristics explain the set of relationships between them. The intention of a supply network is to deliver a product or a service to consumers efficiently and effectively. At the same time, individual firms also need to manage the relationships appropriately to remain operationally sustainable in supply networks. Much of the literature on supply network configuration concentrates on classification, structural characteristics and their linear relations to performance and innovation. Further, majority of them follow the nascent research archetype providing qualitative interpretations. Few quantitative studies are able to provide empirical evidences in supply network context due to the difficulties of data collection from real world supply networks. Existing literature is not sufficient in revealing the potential drivers of supply network configuration and its nonlinear impact on firms’ performance. Therefore, this paper conceptualises the impact of supply network configuration on firms’ operational sustainability remaining on stances of supply networks as complex adaptive systems where environment acts as ultimate driver that creates supply network configurations. The conceptual model strengthens the argument that firms adjusting themselves to adapt environment will survive longer in supply networks. Consequently, supply networks are emerging rather than static designs by individual firms. Further, this paper proposes social network analysis (SNA) to disentangle supply network characteristics and hence to quantify firms’ connectivity and dimensionality in a supply network. The paper justifies the proposed relationships in the model based on complex adaptive systems and social network theories