Supply network attention by SMEs – a theory elaborating study

This paper examines SME managers’ attention to operations and supply chain management issues and their decision-making process. To generate insights on this process, we carried out a qualitative theory-elaborating study, seeking to elaborate on established theory on strategic attention, but in the context of SMEs making operations and supply management decisions. We find that SME attention and decision-making is constrained by supplier agency in what we term outside-in attention . In addition, SME decision-makers pay attention to the capabilities, resources, and relationships with suppliers, as they evaluate issues and answers, but frequently fail to take the present and future interconnectedness of issues into account. We contribute to the established literature on SME supply management by developing a model of SME operations and supply chain management attention and decision-making and present a series of propositions subject to further research. • A theory-elaborating study of SMEs' supply network attention. • We find that suppliers are active influencers in what we coin outside-in attention. • Resource constraints, knowledge loss and group dynamics etc. affect the process. • A model of SME supply network attention is proposed.