Is there a distinctive Nordic approach to Logistics and Supply Chain Management?

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Is there such a thing as a typically Nordic way of thinking within the field of Supply Chain Management? A new book is out, trying to answer that question: Northern Lights in Logistics & Supply Chain Management by Jan Stentoft Arlbjørn, Árni Halldórsson, Marianne Jahre, Karen Spens (eds.). I came across this book while doing some Google searches on supply chain risk, ending up on www.interorgainisational.org, a site run by two university professors, Gyöngyi Kovács and Arni Halldorsson, and dedicated to showing a different side of logistics than the pure business and money focus it usually has. Halldorson is also a contributor to the book.

Publisher’s review

I haven’t actually read the book yet, but I certainly look forward to getting my hands on it, since it looks very promising, based on the reviews on the publisher website:

This book encourages European researchers to dare diverge from mainstream ‘American way’, and to explore new avenues in line with hot topics and key questions within European business. (Paul D. Larson, Professor, University of Manitoba, Asper School of Business, Canada)

The authors of this book make a synthesis of the research conducted in the Nordic countries compared with conventional mainstream research. As a result a Nordic approach to logistics research has crystallized, and that is what this book is about.
(Nathalie Fabbe-Costes, Professor, Université de la Méditerranée-Aix-Marseille II, France)

The chapters provide an understanding and, perhaps more importantly, consciousness for scholars that are part of this research environment: Where are we now, what have we been influenced by, and in what area are we able to provide positive impact?
(Daniel Knudsen, Senior Project Manager, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Sweden)

Based on my own experience, yes, there may in fact be a Nordic approach to Supply Chain Management, an approach that is less concerned with cost-effectiveness and hardcore business thinking, but more leaning towards the societal impact of sound and sustainable supply chain management.