Classification of supply networks 675 International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 20 No. 6, 2000, pp. 675-691. # MCB University Press, 0144-3577 An initial classification of supply networks Richard Lamming, Thomas Johnsen, Jurong Zheng and Christine Harland University of Bath, UK Keywords Networks, Product innovation, Supply-chain management, Classification Abstract The articulation of supply networks, as an extension of supply chains, seeks to accommodate and explain the commercial complexity associated with the creation and delivery of goods and services from the source of raw materials to their destination in end-customer markets. In place of the simplistic, linear and unidirectional model sometimes presented for supply chains, the supply network concept describes lateral links, reverse loops, two-way exchanges and so on, encompassing the upstream and downstream activity, with a focal firm as the point of reference. A review of classifications of supply networks reveals that none of the existing approaches appears adequate for managers facing the practical problems of creating and operating them on a day-to-day basis. This research identifies differing emphases that may be required for managing within supply networks, according to the nature of the products for which they are created. Taking an established categorisation of supply chains as its starting point, the research first develops the conceptual basis, using strategy literature, and then tests the resultant initial model in 16 case studies. Finally, a new categorisation for supply networks is presented, using the type of product as a differentiator. Supply networks Two distinct streams of research have been influential in the development of the concept of supply networks: (1) the largely descriptive research on industrial networks conducted by researchers within the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing group (IMP); and (2) the more prescriptive research on supply chain management, based in the fields of strategic management, operations management and logistics. Researchers within the IMP group have developed conceptual models to provide a better understanding of business markets in terms of the nature of buyer-supplier relationships and the embeddedness of these in ``industrial networks'', modelled as inter-connected actors, activities, and resources (Ha Êkansson, 1982, 1987; Ford, 1990; Ha Êkansson and Snehota, 1995). The term ``supply chain management'' was used originally in the early 1980s (Oliver and The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com The work reported here forms part of the Inter-Organisation Networking (ION) Project. This three-year research project was funded between 1996 and 1999 by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), British Telecommunications, plc, and a club of some 20 further companies with operating bases throughout Europe. This support is gratefully acknowledged, as is the work of our research partners: Nick Oliver, Una McCormack and John Anderson at Cambridge, and John Bessant and George Tsekouras at Brighton.