Purchasing theory and practice: an agenda for change

Purpose – The purpose of the article is to describe the consequences for the purchasing and supply management field of its current focus on the behaviours and concerns of extremely large corporations.

Design/methodology/approach – This is a short viewpoint article.

Findings – It is found that there is a lack of research in purchasing and supply management in SMEs. Small and medium sized companies are in need of a deeper understanding of dyadic relations. Sadly, as fashion in the field has embraced metaphors-fit-only-for giants, it may be increasingly difficult to get studies published that adopt this ancient, diminutive metaphor.

Originality/value – The main contribution of the piece is to draw attention to the current lack of research in the field to the dominant form of company in every economy – the SME.