Identifying inventory project management conflicts: Results of an empirical study

Although conflicts are being studied in many different management fields there seems to be a rather restricted number of studies on inventory management-related conflicts and it is for this reason why we conducted a study on exploring the different types of conflicts, their causes and the emerging character of conflicts during the shaping, implementation and usage of inventory systems. In doing so, a framework for assessing different types of conflicts is taken as a starting point. From our case studies, it can be concluded that each of the archetypical conflicts addressed in our framework manifested itself in the companies studied. Our exploratory case studies strongly indicates that during the process of redesigning and implementing improvements inventory management conflicts can evolve in time. Furthermore, in almost all companies studied, the identified conflicts had a multidimensional character and were a mix of the archetypes addressed in our theoretical framework. For project managers it seems to be important to be aware of the different potential conflicts that might arise during the course of inventory projects. The results presented in this article may therefore help project managers to guide projects in the area of inventory management more effectively.