Collaborative supply Chain Management

ment of new technologies have a deep impact on the development and the positioning of companies on international marketplaces. In addition, customers are more demanding in term of quality, lead time and order fulfilment. Firms must anticipate customers’ requests and adapt to market changes. This quest for flexibility and reactivity affects the conception and the management of firms and more generally their logistic systems and contributes to the development of partnership relations, to the emergence of mergers or strategic alliances between companies. As a result, a firm can no longer be considered as an isolated entity but as a component of a wider supply network. The purpose of this special issue on Collaborative Supply Chain Management was to publish selected research articles from academicians and practitioners that examine the aspects related with internal and external logistics and operations management within a collaborative context. As a result, a total of 13 articles were initially submitted. After the double-blind review process, 5 articles were finally accepted for publication on this special issue. Such articles are based on empirical, analytical and/or conceptual research approaches and display an interesting picture of the research currently conducted about collaboration and coordination issues within the supply chain from different author’s countries and affiliations. Guest editorial Preface Collaborative supply Chain Management