Using the pairwise comparison method to assess competitive priorities within a supply chain

The benefits of seamless integration and the pursuit of a shared strategy within a supply chain are widely recognized, creating, among other things, a hard to replicate competitive advantage. However, achieving this is a difficult task because of the limited means to assess a supply chain's strategic consistency. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe and illustrate how the pairwise comparison method can be used to reveal the consistency (or lack thereof) among supply chain members' perspectives with respect to the importance of different competitive priorities, such as cost versus flexibility. Illuminating where senior decision makers agree and disagree regarding the current versus ideal value creation processes within the supply chain has practical benefits. At a minimum decision makers within the supply chain should be aware of differences in opinions, although for optimal supply chain performance reconciling these differences is recommended.