Hult, GTM (Hult, G. Tomas M.); Chabowski, BR (Chabowski, Brian R.) Sourcing research as an intellectual network of ideas DECISION SCIENCES, 39 (3): 323-335 AUG 2008

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: hult at msu.edu 

Author(s): Hult, GTM (Hult, G. Tomas M.); Chabowski, BR (Chabowski, Brian 
R.) 

Title: Sourcing research as an intellectual network of ideas 

Source: DECISION SCIENCES, 39 (3): 323-335 AUG 2008 


"Strategic sourcing." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Aug 2008, 11:21 
UTC. 29 Aug 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Strategic_sourcing&oldid=233516355>. "Strategic sourcing is an 
institutional procurement process that continuously improves and re-
evaluates the purchasing activities of a company. It is one component of 
supply chain management."

METHOD
Citation Analysis
"The use of citation data to study the intellectual structure of a 
discipline is based
on the premise that a published research article represents a specific 
idea (Small,
1977). The cocitation technique has been used in a number of studies to 
obtain
valid and reliable results to understand the nature of a field’s 
intellectual structure
and its various intellectual clusters. By analyzing how influential 
articles interrelate
with each other during a specific period of time, a more thorough 
understanding
of the field as a network of ideas can result.

In fact, citation analysis has been applied in many fields to better 
understand
the interrelationship of works in business-related research. Citation-based
studies in business have focused on the influence of journals, authors, 
and theories
(Brown&Gardner, 1985; Culnan, 1986; Chung, Cox,&Mitchell, 2001; Podsakoff,
Mackenzie, Bachrach,&Podsakoff, 2005; Colquitt&Zapata-Phelan, 2007; Nerur,
Rasheed, & Natarajan, 2008). For example, a relatively recent evaluation 
of production
and operations management as a distinct discipline used citation-based
data for analysis (Pilkington & Liston-Heyes, 1999).We extend these 
previous applications
of citation analysis to define the recent intellectual structure of 
sourcing
as an emerging research field via cocitation analysis using MDS."

Table 1: Sourcing research journals included in study.  Abbreviation
Decision Sciences                                       DS
European Journal of Operational Research                EJOR
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management             IEEETEM
IIE Transactions                                        IIET
INFORMS Journal on Computing                            IJC
International Journal of Operations and Production Management IJOPM
International Journal of Production Economics           IJPE
International Journal of Production Research            IJPR
Journal of Operations Management                        JOM
Journal of the Operational Research Society             JORS
Mathematics of Operations Research                      MOR
Management Science                                      MS
OMEGA—International Journal of Management Science       OIJMS
Operations Research                                     OR
Production and Operations Management                    POM
Supply Chain Management—An International Journal        SCMAIJ
Transportation Research Part A—Policy and Practice      TRPA
Transportation Research Part B—Methodological           TRPB
Transportation Research Part C—Emerging Technologies    TRPC
Transportation Research Part D—Transportation and Environment TRPD
Transportation Research Part E—Logistics and Transportation Review TRPE

Table 2: Sourcing-related keywords used in study.
E-Procurement 
Supply Chain Contracts and Incentives
Outsourcing Supply 
Chain Coordination
Distribution Channels 
Supply Chain Design
Order Fulfillment 
Supply Chain Risk Management
Sourcing Selection 
Sourcing
Supplier Assessment 
Purchasing
Supplier Development 
Strategies Procurement
Supplier Relationship Management 
Supply Management
Supplier–Customer Relationship
Editorials

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Keywords Plus: STRATEGIC-MANAGEMENT; OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT; COCITATION 
ANALYSIS; VENDOR SELECTION; DECISION-MAKING; CITATION; PERFORMANCE; 
DISCIPLINE; JOURNALS; JAPANESE 

Abstract: What are the current intellectual clusters in the sourcing 
literature? How do these clusters relate to each other? How has sourcing-
related research changed over the last 10 years? We respond to these 
questions by examining the intellectual structure of research in the 
sourcing literature across 21 journals during the last decade (1998 2007). 
Multidimensional scaling is used to analyze cocitation data involving 
72,003 citations from 1,960 sourcing articles. The results indicate that 
10 different sourcing clusters emerged in the 1998-2002 period and 6 
sourcing clusters surfaced in the 2003 2007 period. Five of the 
intellectual clusters in 1998-2002 disappeared in 2003-2007, five clusters 
remained, and one new cluster materialized in 2003-2007 that did not exist 
in the earlier period (Managerial Behavior and Upstream Decision Making). 

Addresses: Michigan State Univ, Eli Broad Grad Sch Management, E Lansing, 
MI 48824 USA; Univ Tulsa, Coll Business Adm, Tulsa, OK 74104 USA 

Reprint Address: Hult, GTM, Michigan State Univ, Eli Broad Grad Sch 
Management, E Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
 
E-mail Address: hult at msu.edu 

Cited Reference Count: 37 

Times Cited: 0 

Publisher: BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 

Publisher Address: 9600 GARSINGTON RD, OXFORD OX4 2DQ, OXON, ENGLAND
 
ISSN: 0011-7315 

29-char Source Abbrev.: DECISION SCI 

ISO Source Abbrev.: Decis. Sci. 

Source Item Page Count: 13 

Subject Category: Management 

ISI Document Delivery No.: 335BP 

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