The governance of inter-organisational relationships during different supply chain maturity phases

• This paper studies the restructuring of supply chain management in the aero-manufacturing industry
• Minimal structures can provide both firmness and flexibility in supply chain management
• The combination of minimal structures changes as the supply chain moves towards maturity
• The balance of firmness and flexibility shifts as the supply chain matures

Supply chains and inter-organisational relationships have increased in popularity in recent years and supply chain management has received a vast amount of academic attention. The objective of this paper is to explore the implementation of supply chain management and, in particular, the changing phases of a supply chain as it moves towards maturity. We employ the minimal structure framework of van der Meer-Kooistra and Scapens [“The governance of lateral relations between and within organisations”, Management Accounting Research, 2008] to analyse the governance of a supply chain as it moves through the various phases. Drawing on the findings from a case study in an aero-manufacturing company, we explore how the minimal structures emerge and evolve as the supply chain matures.