Background
Supply chain management aims to improve efficiency, speed and accuracy of response to rapidly changing customer requirements through the coordination and integration of materials, information, and financial flows. While companies have worked hard to enhance the flows of goods and information in the supply chain through the use of information technology and relationship management, supply chain managers have paid little attention to the financial flow until recent years. Furthermore, research on the financial flow and how it influences the goods and information flows is also very limited.
In the past years, however, there is an increasing interest in the financial flow from both industry practitioners and academics. Supply Chain Finance (SCF) has become one of the hottest topics among supply chain managers and researcher in countries which are facing dramatic changes in their economic system. SCF aims at collaborative and innovative business models for providing credit and services to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) by converting non-liquid assets (such as raw materials, inventory, account receivable, etc.) into cash. There are four major reasons for this:
There are abundant opportunities for improving profits through enhancement of financial flows. As companies have made significant improvements in integration and coordination of material and information flows, they can identify numerous opportunities for achieving better benefits through the coordination of financial flows as well as the material and information flows. In many supply chains, the SMEs are squeezed by their powerful trading partners. They encounter difficulties in managing supply chain activities due to the lack of funds. Furthermore, traditional banks are not willing to provide credit needed to these SMEs due to a lack of collateral and information asymmetry. The deficiency in the financial flow is the major source of problems in the supply chain.
Digital technologies such as the Internet, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, cloud computing and big data are enabling supply chain integration and innovation which then support business model innovations. New business models allow companies to improve transparency and control of all three flows. With the digital linkages of multiple processes across multiple organizations, the information asymmetry is greatly reduced. Financial Service Providers (FSPs) will be able to provide the needed credit and services to SMEs by collaborating with core enterprises in the supply chain. Big data analysis and close loop control of the three flows help the FSPs to evaluate and control risk at lower cost. This makes supply chain financing much more popular than before.
Manufacturers, distributors, logistics service providers and E-commerce Companies (B2C and B2B) are extending their roles in the supply chain. Many of them are building eco-system based business models, which allow them to work with FSPs or make use of their own financial resources to provide innovative SCF services.
Globalization of trade and finance also requires more flexible, lower cost financial products with controllable risk. Many governments provide insurance and credit supports to companies who are exporting products. These government supports also encourages FSP to design SCF services for international trades.
Research Opportunities
Due to the increasing interests in SCF, studies are needed to understand how SFC can help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness and especially the performance of SMEs in the supply chain. Furthermore, how are different types of companies (manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, banks, logistics/supply chain companies) participating in SCF? How are some of the key innovations in designing the products and process of SCF services? What are the roles of information technology and big data in evaluating and controlling risks? What are the roles and effective collaborative mechanisms among the different types of organizations in SCF? These are all interesting questions for both industry practitioners and academic researchers.
This is an inter-disciplinary subject that may require a combination of knowledge in finance, supply chain management, and business analytics. The objective of this special issue is to publish research which examines the latest production economics issues in SCF utilizing multiple theoretical lenses and methodologies. We encourage studies with innovative methodologies and theoretical lenses. The theoretical lenses may include, but are not limited to: (i) Transaction cost theory; (ii) Information processing theory; (iii) Credit rationing theory; and (iv) Game theory. The methodologies may include, but are not limited to: (i) Case studies; (ii) Surveys; (iii) Use of secondary and archival data; (iv) Experiments; (v) Analytical modeling; (vi) Computer simulation and complex adaptive systems; and (vi) Big data analytics.
All submitted papers are required to comply with the theme of this special issue within the scope of International Journal of Production Economics (IJPE). We are looking for papers which can create new theories or extend, test and validate existing theories to explain new problems or phenomenon in SCF. We also welcome papers which report new, innovative and best practices in SCF. We also would like to see papers which connect theory with supply chain finance practices and provide managerial guidelines as to how to design and implement SCF services and how to control risks.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
In depth case studies of how companies design and implement SCF services and to control risk;
Investigation of factors that influence competitive advantages of SCF service providers;
Studies of how closed loop control of goods, information and financial flow and relationship management influence risks;
Multi-agent simulation on supply chain finance systems;
Game-theoretical approach to supply chain finance system;
The use of internet technology, such as blockchain, and related new business models in SCF;
The use of internet platform and big data in SCF;
Use big data for a structured approach to evaluate risks and make credit decisions;
Investigation of how SCF services help SMEs improve their performance.
Publication Schedule (tentative)
Manuscript Submission Start Date: 1May 2018
Manuscript submission deadline: 31 October 2018
Notification of review reports: 31 January 2019
Revised manuscript submission deadline: 31 March 2019
Manuscript Preparation
Authors should conform to the instructions given in the Guide for Authors for IJPE when preparing their manuscripts, and should submit their full papers electronically through the journal’s online manuscript submission site: http://ees.elsevier.com/ijpe by selecting “Special Issue: SC Finance” when it prompts to indicate the “Article Type” in the submission. The review process will follow the journal's normally standard and practice.
Guest Editors
Dr. Lujie Chen
China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
China
Email: clujie@ceibs.edu
Professor Hing Kai Chan
Nottingham University Business School China
University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Email: hingkai.chan@nottingham.edu.cn
Professor Xiande Zhao
China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
China
Email: xiande@ceibs.edu
研究背景
供应链管理旨在通过协调和整合物料，信息和资金流动来提高响应快速变化的客户需求的效率，速度和准确性。尽管公司通过使用信息技术和关系管理来努力提高供应链中的货物和信息流量，但直到最近几年，供应链管理人员才注意到资金流。此外，关于资金流动的研究及其对货物和信息流动的影响也非常有限。
然而，在过去的几年中，业界从业者和学者对金融流动的兴趣日益浓厚。供应链金融（SCF）已成为供应链管理者和研究人员在其经济体系面临巨大变化的国家中最热门的话题之一。 SCF旨在通过将非流动资产（如原材料，存货，应收账款等）转换为现金，为中小企业（SME）提供信贷和服务的协作和创新商业模式。 这主要有四个原因：
1. 通过增加资金流量有很大的机会来提高利润。由于公司在物资和信息流动的整合和协调方面取得了重大进展，因此他们可以通过协调资金流动以及物资和信息流动来确定获得更好收益的众多机会。在许多供应链中，中小企业受到其强大贸易伙伴的挤压。由于缺乏资金，他们在管理供应链活动时遇到困难。此外，由于缺乏抵押品和信息不对称，传统银行不愿意为这些中小企业提供所需的信贷。资金流量不足是供应链问题的主要来源。
2. 诸如互联网，物联网（IoT），区块链，云计算和大数据等数字技术促成供应链整合和创新，从而支持商业模式创新。新的商业模式使公司能够提高三个流程的透明度和控制力。通过跨组织的跨流程的数字链接，信息不对称性大大降低。 金融服务提供商（FSPs）将能够通过与供应链核心企业合作，为中小企业提供所需的信贷和服务。大数据分析和三个流程的闭环控制帮助FSP以较低的成本评估和控制风险。这使得供应链融资比以前更受欢迎。
3. 制造商，分销商，物流服务提供商和电子商务公司（B2C和B2B）正在扩大其在供应链中的角色。他们中的许多人正在建立基于生态系统的商业模式，这使他们能够与FSP合作，或利用自己的财务资源提供创新的SCF服务。
4. 贸易和金融全球化也需要更灵活，成本更低，风险可控的金融产品。许多政府为出口产品的公司提供保险和信贷支持。这些政府支持也鼓励FSP为国际贸易设计SCF服务。
研究机会
由于对SCF的兴趣日益增加，需要进行研究以了解SFC如何帮助提高供应链中的中小企业的效率和有效性，特别是绩效。 此外，不同类型的公司（制造商，供应商，分销商，零售商，银行，物流/供应链公司）如何参与SCF？ 设计SCF服务的产品和流程的一些关键创新如何？ 信息技术和大数据在评估和控制风险方面的作用是什么？ SCF中不同类型的组织之间的角色和有效的协作机制是什么？ 对于行业从业者和学术研究人员来说，这些都是有趣的问题。
这是一门跨学科的学科，可能需要将财务知识，供应链管理和业务分析相结合。这个特殊问题的目的是发布研究SCF中利用多种理论透镜和方法研究最新的生产经济问题的研究。 我们鼓励研究创新的方法论和理论透镜。理论透镜可能包括但不限于：（1）交易成本理论; （2）信息处理理论；（3）信贷配给理论；和（4）博弈论。这些方法可能包括但不限于：（1）案例研究; （2）调查; （3）使用辅助和档案资料；（4）实验; （5）分析建模;（6）计算机模拟和复杂的自适应系统；和（7）大数据分析。
所有提交的论文都必须符合国际生产经济学期刊（IJPE）范围内主题。我们正在寻找可以创建新理论或扩展，测试和验证现有理论以解释SCF中的新问题或现象的论文。我们也欢迎报道SCF新的，创新的和最佳实践的论文。我们也希望看到将理论与供应链金融实践联系在一起的论文，并就如何设计和实施SCF服务以及如何控制风险提供管理指导。
潜在的主题包括但不限于：
深入研究公司如何设计和实施SCF服务并控制风险;
调查影响SCF服务提供商竞争优势的因素；
研究货物的闭环控制，信息和财务流程以及关系管理如何影响风险;
供应链金融系统的多主体仿真;
供应链金融系统的博弈论方法;
在SCF中使用互联网技术，如区块链和相关的新商业模式;
网络平台和大数据在SCF中的应用；
使用大数据进行结构化方法评估风险并作出信用决策;
调查SCF服务如何帮助中小企业提高绩效。
发表时间表（暂定）
初稿投稿开始日期：2018年1月1日
稿件提交截止日期：2018年10月31日
审查报告通知日期：2019年1月31日
修订后的稿件提交截止日期：2019年3月31日
初稿准备
作者在编写稿件时应遵守IJPE作者指南中给出的指示，并应通过期刊的在线稿件提交网站（http://ees.elsevier.com/ijpe）以电子方式提交全文，方法是选择“特刊：SC Finance”，当它提示在提交中指出“文章类型”时。审查过程将遵循期刊的通常标准和惯例。
访客编辑
陈露洁博士
中欧国际工商学院（中欧）
中国
电子邮件：clujie@ceibs.edu
陈启凯教授
诺丁汉大学商学院中国
宁波诺丁汉大学
电子邮箱：hingkai.chan@nottingham.edu.cn
赵先德教授
中欧国际工商学院（中欧）
中国
电子邮件：xiande@ceibs.edu