This study focuses on configurations—groups of supply chains displaying a common profile of con-ceptually independent characteristics. As noted by Meyer et al. (1993), a diverse set of theories including organizational ecology, institutional theory, and social construction suggest that key organizational character- istics coalesce to give rise to a limited number of configurations in any context. These theories share the belief that configurational inquiry is valuable to diagnosing relations among key variables, such as knowledge, strategy, and performance.
Our conceptualizing draws on Miller’s (1987) concept of configurational imperatives. An imperative is a powerful force that drives important variables toward an ideal profile-defining alignment. For exam- ple, a cluster of attributes shared among configurations shaped by the ‘‘structural imperative’’ includes rigid bureaucratic structures, limitation of strategic actions to existing or predictable niches, minimal adaptation to environmental change, and using co-optation to attain scarce resources (Miller, 1987). The structural impera- tive leads organizations toward configurations, such as the tobacco monopoly described by Crozier (1964) or Mintzberg (1979) machine bureaucracy. In contrast, the
‘‘strategic’’ imperative drives firms that exhibit a strong planning orientation. By extension, the strategic imperative underlies configurations that possess a broad range of strategic possibilities, are capable of recon- structing structure around strategy, and take proactive stances toward environmental change. Many multi- business firms resemble this configuration.
Importantly, any given imperative is thought to act as an underlying configurational determinant for only a subset of entities. For example, Miller (1987) suggests that the structural imperative is relevant to large organizations that enjoy patents and other trade protections, whereas the strategic imperative dominates among firms with a strong commitment to strategy, such as those attempting turnaround. Thus, multiple impera- tives, and multiple configurations, may be evident in any given setting. Further, an imperative may give rise to more than one configuration depending on goal orientation, as evidenced by multi-business firms arising from the strategic imperative.
Miller (1987) identified four imperatives: strategy, structure, leadership, and environment. Miller notes that the four imperatives are ‘‘middle range’’ (pp. 686,699) theoretical concepts with deep roots in the literature. As such, the four imperatives can explain the origins of configurations in some, but not all, contexts (cf. Pinder and Moore, 1979). As traditional imperatives, they probably enjoy their strongest explanatory power in well-understood situations. One implication is that additional imperatives operate and perhaps dominate in other contexts, such as in supply chains. Our suggestion is that different arrays of knowledge elements serve as imperatives underlying different ideal supply chain profiles. Theory has not yet advanced to the point of providing likely candidates for each of the supply chain strategies. Thus, drawing on the conceptual material above, our prediction is limited to: