Theory about Social Structures

Today I would like to introduce a theory developed by Giddens in 1988 about social structures and how it can be used to analyze theories in Supply Chain Management.

Theory of Structuring

Giddens thought about how social structures influence the behavior of the people within this structure and how those people influence the structure itself. He came to the conclusion, that structure is both a medium for interaction and result of this interaction. It is important to see the duality of structure. Within this structure actors are both affecting and affected by structure. This theory underlies the assumption that actors neither are completely controled by the structure nor completely autonomous.

Structure can be found on every level of human interaction be it the individual, a group, an organization or society. (Inter)Actions always determine structure and vis-versa.

Implementation in Supply Chain Management

Pfohl et al. (2007) analyzed the question if the CargoScoreCard (a supply chain wide framework to identify, calculate and communicate value adding activities within a supply chain) can be used to improve decision making within a chain. The authors use Giddens concept of structure to analyze the different aspects of the framework using the results of an implementation case study. They analyze the interactions in terms of communication, power and sanctions as well as the structure after implementation of the framework. They conclude, that the CargoScoreCard leads to a shared context / reality in which the identification of value adding activities is possible.

Conclusion

I really liked the paper not so much because of the conclusions but because of the innovative way of the application of theory to practice. I have to admit I think that the conclusion does not answer the research question. I aggree that this study showed that the CargoScoreCard leads to a shared reality, since the people / companies have to work together to achieve the goals of the implementation. But the question of the article was if value is added by implementing the CargoScoreCard, and there is no evidence to support this.