Advances in operation and finance in supply chains

Operations and finance are two sides of the same coin. In supply chains, operations management aims to match the supply with demand of material flows, whereas corporate finance seeks to match the supply with demand of monetary flows. With increasing availability of huge amounts of data, operations and finance interfaces in a cycle of material, financial, and information flows. For example, Fintech is re-shaping supply chains, as it has fueled innovative financial products and services that rely on extensive operational data. It has given rise to new business models aimed at directly improving operational performance by alleviating financial frictions, and it has disrupted traditional processes in the delivery of financial services, leading to a wide range of new operational challenges and opportunities. In this special issue, 14 papers were subsequently extended, double-blind reviewed and revised according to the regular IJPE process. A brief summary of the papers is presented below, assigning the papers to categories that reflect their main characteristics. We hope that this gives a good impression of recent research streams in operation and finance in supply chains, and can motivate future studies. We express our sincere gratitude to Prof. T. C. E. Cheng and Prof. Stefan Minner for their strong support of this special issue.