International purchasing, inventory management and logistics research - An assessment and agenda

Lays a foundation for a comprehensive awareness and understanding of research in the area of international supply chain management. More specifically, reviews publications constituting a decade of the most recent research in the three areas of international purchasing, inventory management and logistics in 22 leading academic and practitioner journals for the period 1986 through 1995. Through classification and review of this literature, enables a better understanding of this vast field while simultaneously making available a valuable source of information for academicians and practitioners to draw from. Discusses key research findings, provides an overall assessment of the research in these areas and shapes an agenda for future research by identifying important gaps in the literature.