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1. Introduction
Operations management improvement programs were developed and implemented to ensure that manufacturing organizations operate with a customer focus, are efficient in the application of scare resources and deliver products and services that have characteristics desired by customers. The management improvement programs take the form of market orientation (MO), Just-in-Time (JIT) and Total Quality Management (TQM) (Green et al., 2007; and Zelbst et al., 2010; Wang and Hsiao-Lan, 2005; Vokurka et al., 2007). For a period of time, these improvement programs were sources of competitive advantage. This is no longer the case, however. While it remains imperative that manufacturing organizations implement and maintain market orientation, JIT and TQM programs, the programs no longer generate competitive advantage. The programs are mature and ubiquitous in the manufacturing sector. More recently, firms have sought to gain competitive advantage through the implementation of supply chain management (SCM), agile production (AP), and green SCM practices (GSCMP) programs (Whitten et al., 2012; Vickery et al., 2010; Vachon and Klassen, 2007; Inman et al., 2011; Green et al., 2012). These three relatively new programs are neither mature nor ubiquitous. SCM facilitates the building of strong, long-term relationships among supply chain partners that support the implementation of AP and GSCMP programs (Lee, 2004; Inman and Green, 2018). Because the ability to respond rapidly to changes in customer demand through AP and the ability to produce eco-friendly products and services through GSCMP depend upon strong relationships among supply chain partners, we argue that SCM strategy is a necessary precursor to the implementation of those programs. We propose that management improvement programs are complementary and should be implemented in a particular order. Market orientation, JIT and TQM are necessary antecedents to SCM strategy, and SCM is a necessary precursor to AP and GSCMP. We argue further that SCM strategy is the lynchpin bridging the gap from the organizationally focused improvement programs of market orientation, JIT and TQM and the supply chain-focused AP and GSCMP.
Zelbst et al. (2010) propose and assess an operations management model that incorporates market orientation, JIT, TQM and AP as antecedents to performance within the manufacturing sector. Green et al. (2018) formulate and assess a structural model that incorporates JIT, TQM and...