LAHORE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

ADVANCED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT NO: 1
ASSIGNMENT TOPIC: Ontological and Epistemological positions in supply
chain

MBA 2
SECTION: A
NAME: Ushna Tahir
14P01628

SUBMITTED TO: MS. MAHVESH MAHMUD

Disclaimer:
It is hereby stated that this assignment is the original effort of the individual/group and that no part of this
assignment has been plagiarized or copied from any source. I/We have read and understood the assignment
submission guidelines distributed via email by the instructor at the beginning of the course and certify that this
assignment adheres to the said guidelines.
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Q: What is ontological and epistemological position of supply chain?

Ontology refers to the nature of things and epistemology to the ways by which knowledge is
created to understand the nature of things. In supply chain management ontological assumptions
define our world of supply chain management as a general knowledge framework to be
understood, and epistemological assumptions and knowledge created through them create the
very reality of supply chain management. In this regard, ontology guides epistemology in
creating the supply chain management world we have. Ontological thinking means putting
knowledge creation activities in its proper perspective: what is it that we would like to produce
as actionable knowledge?
Johannessen and Solen (2002) describe the ontological and epistemological underpinnings of
logistics and point to two system perspectives. One is reductionist mechanistic system
perspective and the other is a holistic systems perspective. These different perspectives have
emerged through history and have led to various ideas, principles, and practices about how
organizations oriented towards creating value through an effective flow of materials, products,
services, and information, should be organized and managed.
The two systems perspectives correspond to two organizational paradigms held in logistics. The
old paradigm is the organizational thinking typical of the functionally oriented mass-producing
industrial companies. Here, logistics is seen to be one of many functions, sometimes with its own
department.
The new paradigm is to organize according to business processes that cut across functional
departments. Such business processes incorporate precise, time effective and cost effective ways
of supplying a product or a service to a customer. Linking these business processes externally to
include several companies in a supply chain or a network brings about the need for effective
supply chain management.
It is assumed that this is achieved by looking at the supply chain as a whole system, which in
turn requires an overview of the organizations and their business processes. Thus to move the
organizations from a functional orientation towards a business process orientation is
simultaneously a shift from a reductionist to a holistic way of thinking about systems.