Toward the Theory of the Supply Chain

As our discipline has matured, we have begun to develop theories of supply chainmanagement. However, we submit that a major omission of theory development in the supply chain management discipline is that we have failed to develop a theory ofwhatwe are managing—a theory of the supply chain. Using a conceptual theory building approach, we introduce foundational premises about the structure and boundary of the supply chain, which can serve as the basis for much needed, additional development of the theory of the supply chain.