Absorbing uncertainty within supply chains

One of the main challenges companies are facing today is how to deal with uncertainty in operations management, particularly in the case of downstream markets. Models of this struggle have evolved over time, and their design has undergone considerable transformation. This article aims to provide a conceptual framework for better understanding how firms struggle with uncertainty in the supply chain context. By exploring different models and theories, the results indicate that collaboration between the trading partners of a supply chain becomes a necessary way to improve results in the relationships upstream, as well as downstream. Theories such as transaction cost theory, structuration theory or gift theory provide different vantage points that lead to the revisiting of traditional approaches to interorganisational collaboration.