This paper aims to investigate the renewed emphasis on and interests in integration of Supply Chain Management (SCM) and marketing and relatively very few recorded cases of successful implementations. The paper reviews the prior literature on SCM and marketing integration, and presents a framework which shows the relationship between SCM and marketing integration along with the overall performance improvement. It provides a basis for further empirical validation and suggests that SCM and marketing integration may have positive impact on the overall performance of the organization. This paper expands the concept of SCM and marketing interdependence in enhancing customer value proposition and provides a direction for further studies on SCM and marketing integration. Finally, the paper supports the importance of SCM and marketing integration for the overall better performance of the organization.

A supply chain is defined as “the integration of key business processes from end users through original suppliers that provides products, services, and information that adds value for customers and other stakeholders” (Lambert et al., 1998). Here, a supply chain includes all the value chain processes from suppliers to end customers. It is imperative that each supply chain participant adds value from the perspective of the end customer in the supply chain. This assumes integration of both supply and demand side activities in the value chain (Jeong and Hong, 2007). Supply Chain Management (SCM) refers to all of the processes, technologies, and strategies that together form the basis for working with internal as well as external sources of supply. According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), the goal of SCM is the integration of supply (e.g., logistics and operations) and demand (e.g., marketing) management within and across firms. Thus, it is essential to understand the marketing perspective also, instead of solely focusing on SCM decisions. SCM and marketing often operate as self-optimizing, independent entities. Generally, SCM seeks to optimize supply, whereas marketing seeks to optimize demand. SCM is cost-focused, deals with production and distribution, whereas marketing is revenue-focused, and involves identifying and responding to customer needs. The result is, SCM and marketing efforts move in independent, even adversarial, directions. Integration of SCM and marketing provides greater flexibility to satisfy customer demand based on the needs of individual customers and their value to a company.

Business Strategy Journal, Mergers and Acquisitions, Multivariate Analysis, Canadian Markets, Cash-rich Companies, Corporate Investment, Psychological Literature, Technological Sectors, Monitoring Management, Management Process, Binary Logistic Regression, Logistic Regression Models, Corporate Acquisitions.