A governance and assessment model for a supply chain network

Purpose: the aim of this paper is to present (i) a model for the governance of a generic supply chain network (SCN) and (ii) a structured evaluating framework to measure the integration level between the partners Design/methodology/approach: an analysis of three aspects to define the structure and the contents for the proposed governance and evaluation model has been made. The three aspects are (i) a literature review to determine the main concepts concerning a governance model for SCN, (ii) the practical implications concerning the main known and existing models and (iii) a description of a norm (i.e. Italian government) which encourage the integration among firms in a supply chain network. Findings: the main findings of this work are (i) a governance model for a supply chain network composed by five key concepts and (ii) an evaluation model which permits to rank (with a suitable score) the level of strategic and operative integration among the partners of the supply chain. Practical implications: the proposed governance and assessment model could be used for: (i) a guidance to implement a supply management system among the actors of the chain, (ii) developing a standard to manage supply chain and (iii) assessing the effectiveness of the integration level among the partners from a self-evaluation point of view and for a third-part assessment Originality/Value: the proposed governance and evaluation models represent an original method to implement and assess a management system to manage supply chain network. The value of the proposed methodology is the easiness of the approach that can be applied to a generic SCN constituted of firms of different typologies with a particular reference to the small and medium enterprises.