This concise book is written by two Danes – one a practitioner and the other an academic at Copenhagen Business School. They include a range of supply chain management (SCM) topics, illustrated with case studies from international organisations.

Companies covered include Sanistaal, Carlsberg, Lego, Bang & Olufsen, Coloplast, Novozymes, William Demant and Arla Foods. There is input from academics such as Christine Harland and Richard Lamming. The book also refers to Charles Fine’s Clockspeed (1998), including the line “a company is its chain of continually evolving capabilities – that is, its own capabilities plus the capabilities of everyone it does business with” – a truism that all supply chain professionals should have above their desks.

The book’s structure lends itself to “dipping in”. It leads with definitions of

SCM, the frame of reference of the current SCM concept, strategic implications, process orientation and relationship management, information systems, performance measurement, “how to” implementation and the Sanistaal best-practice example. This final chapter, addressing SCM partnerships, will prove useful in discussions with traditional logistics specialists who say “it’ll never work”.

The authors have sought to combine theory with international research in implementing and using SCM in a range of companies. This combination is the strength of the book, which will interest and be of value to the reader keen to maintain and enhance the impact of SCM in their own organisation.

One omission is examples of public-sector or defence bodies. This sector’s high-profile, and apparently recurrent, failure to manage supplier relationships for delivering products and services would have provided an interesting counterpoint to the “feelgood” case studies.

It is, however, pleasing to read cases from a more European perspective, from companies further removed from our own UK/US-centric considerations.

So, as a taster for readers looking to increase their insight into the theory and practice of SCM, the book more than fulfils the requirements. The downside is its brevity.

Stephen Ashcroft

Business consultant

Brian Farrington