Supply chain management (SCM) is becoming critical as firms recognize that competition is
shifting from company versus company to supply chain versus supply chain. In the present
competitive scenario, the fierce competition has driven most companies to seek for means of
enhancing performance beyond their four wall boundaries. The firm’s ability in collaborating
with its upstream and downstream partners determines its success in attaining better
performance with supply chain collaboration; a firm is able to serve fragmented markets in
which end customers require more product varieties and availability with shorter product life
cycle and, at the same time, lower supply chain costs. This paper introduces the framework of
continuous supply chain collaboration (CSCC), which extends the traditional frame of reference
in strategic sourcing from a supplier centric to a supply-chain-scope as continuous
improvement efforts to enhance the customer satisfaction. CSCC practices are rather
exceptional, yet CSCC is believed to be the single most comprehensive framework for attaining
operational excellence.