A Journey through Manufacturing and Supply Chain Strategy Research: A Tribute to Professor Gianluca Spina

This book is intended as a tribute to Gianluca Spina, the influential and inspiring Professor of Business Management & Organization and Supply Chain Management at the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, who very sadly passed away early in 2015. It brings together seven of his most important papers, published in renowned international journals, and supplements these papers with insightful commentaries from friends and colleagues who highlight key messages and values of enduring validity. The selected papers offer a clear sense of Spina’s research journey over the years and cover the main research streams that distinguished his work. They have also been chosen on account of their high impact, as reflected by the number of citations received, and to represent the most important research collaborations that Spina had established within Italy and abroad. An introductory chapter relates his research to major developments in the field of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Strategy and also outlines the very important contribution that Gianluca Spina made to Management Education.

The book is a ‘Liber Amicorum’ for the late Gianluca Spina, Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, who was well-known and respected in the European Operations Management research community. It consists of reprints of 7 of his most important cited and representative papers, spanning his research career from the early 90s and presenting his research trajectory. Each paper has original comments by one or two relevant international scholars in the field, who were also his close friends. These offer a critical discussion of the papers' content, as well as a discussion of their contribution to the academic debate since publication.