Development and Analysis of a Supply Chain Strategy Taxonomy

This research derives a numerical taxonomy that classifies manufacturers with similar combinations of supply chain (SC) capabilities into three SC Strategy Groups. This research also explores the relationship between the SC Strategy Groups and contextual factors, competitive priorities and firm performance. There are significant differences among the SC Strategy Groups for the location of the firm, the level of uncertainty, the competitiveness of the market and firm performance. Surprisingly, there is no relationship between the SC Strategy Groups and a firm's competitive priorities, indicating that firms are often not linking their SC strategy to their competitive strategy.