Measuring performance at the supply chain level: the role of the chain director

Abstract

Supply chains lack their own across-the-board managers that can design and implement a performance measurement system (PMS), nor do they have an explicit overall strategy from which the PMS can be derived. The focus of this article is to develop a qualitative theoretical model on PM in supply chains to explore how to adopt PMS as a tool to implement collaboration and integration in chains. The exploratory nature of the research question determined our use of a multiple case study. Two focal firms in the agro-food sector from Spain and the Netherlands, serving a total of five different chains, illustrate the message of the model. The findings show when an attempt to implement a PMS at the supply chain level might be appropriate and effective (if a chain exists and has a director), and how the system’s content should be focused on what is needed to improve chain performance (with end customers’ demands as a starting point). The paper highlights the benefits obtained by the other partners if they comply with the best informed supply chain member in the development of the chain’s PMS, as well as how a PMS cannot be developed when none of the partners can be labelled as chain director.