Strategic Supply Chain Management: Perception versus Reality - A Review

Supply Chain Management (SCM) has witnessed a sea of change from simply being functional SCM to technological SCM to strategic SCM. Strategic Supply Chain Management or SSCM, as we call it today, is now considered an integral part of business strategy. The reason being, it enhances the capability of firm to develop and maintain competitive advantages in competitive environment. But the change from functional SCM to strategic SCM has not been seamless. Various gaps have been reportedin the transition process from SCM to SSCM in the literature. In the process of fulfilling the gaps, the firm tries to shift to a better process thereby attaching with it some unattended risk. In the process of mitigating such risks, one tends to develop certain perceptions which may not be correct in true sense. Such perceptions, if not identified and corrected on time may have serious implications towards the firm progress in the long run. This paper tries to identify such perceptions and also the reality pertaining to such perceptions.