A systematic literature review on the service supply chain: research agenda and future research directions

Abstract

This paper provides a methodological overview of service supply chain research through a comprehensive review of published literature, enabling us to describe the service supply chain from a knowledge perspective. The nature of the service supply chain is substantially different from the characteristics of the traditional supply chain. Consequently, the robustness of ideas underpinning this area of research has not been fully analyzed by the academic community and a more cross-disciplinary approach is needed. Following a comprehensive review, all the selected papers can be divided into nine generic groups in terms of problem focus in the service supply chain. These were production processes, human resources, logistics, information technology, theory and model generation, productivity and profitability, environmentally friendly practices, customer satisfaction and other cross-disciplinary studies. Four key aspects of the service supply chain are recommended for future research, namely: environment-friendly practices, market relationships, information technology integration and adoption of industry-specific case studies. In future extensions, additional work can include and correlate knowledge from other disciplines, theoretical perspectives, intellectual trends, and traditional practices associated with service industries. Lastly, this study could be used as a starting point for establishing a future research agenda in the area of the service supply chain.

Keywords:

• Supply chain management
• design for service
• service supply chain
• systematic review
• service industries

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tonmoy Toufic Choudhury

Dr Tonmoy Choudhury is a current lecturer of School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University, Australia. He has finished his PhD from Western Sydney University, Masters from Australian National University and Bachelor from Macquarie University. His research interest includes financial supply chain and banking operation management.

Sanjoy Kumar Paul

Dr Sanjoy Paul is currently working as a Senior Lecturer in operations and supply chain management at University of Technology Sydney, Australia. He has published more than 50 articles in top-tier journals and conferences including European Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Production Economics, Computers and Operations Research, International Journal of Production Research, Annals of Operations Research, Journal of Management in Engineering, Journal of Cleaner Production, Computers and Industrial Engineering, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing and so on. His research interest includes supply chain risk management, modelling, applied operations research, and intelligent decision making.

Humyun Fuad Rahman

Humyun Fuad Rahman received the Ph.D. degree in computer science from the School of Engineering and IT, University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia, where he is currently a Research Associate. His research lies in the area of manufacturing system optimization considering uncertainty and disruptions, Industry 4.0, project and supply chain management. His research interests include evolutionary computation, manufacturing system optimization, and supply chain management.

Zhenguo Jia

Dr Jack Jia, a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at The Institute of International Studies, received his PhD in Accounting from the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Italy. Previously, he held prior visiting research appointments with the University of Adelaide and Western Sydney University in Australia. Jack has taught postgraduate and undergraduate management accounting and financial accounting subjects at public universities and private Higher Education Providers in Australia and Italy. He was a reviewer of the Achievement Matters Project that calibrated Australian accounting learning standards. His professional experiences include intercompany accountant and consultant for internal controls.

Nagesh Shukla

Dr Nagesh Shukla is a Senior Lecturer in Business Analytics at the University of Technology Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Nagesh is working in the area of business data analytics, simulation modelling and optimization (applied to healthcare and supply chain/logistics management). His research focuses on the development of: (i) models that deal with making complex business processes efficient and effective; (ii) analytical models for system-level optimization and decision making; and (iii) data-driven algorithms for decision making. He has contributed to more than 50 research publications in journals, conferences, patents, book chapters, and research reports. Shukla is also a member of the editorial boards in a number of leading journals.