Leveraging the impact of supply chain integration through information technology

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 510-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyne Vanpoucke ◽  
Ann Vereecke ◽  
Steve Muylle
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Operational Integration ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Companies increasingly exchange information to work more closely with supply chain partners. Although information exchange is a critical element for up- and downstream partnerships, the purpose of this paper is to indicate that it is not a guarantee for improved performance and should be combined with other integration tactics to fully capture its benefits. Design/methodology/approach Using a global sample in the industrial sector, a moderated mediation framework for both upstream and downstream integration, which links integration tactics to operational performance, was empirically tested. Findings This research shows that operational integration is indispensable to capture the benefits of information exchange. In addition, it points out that the impact of the use of information technology (IT) is stronger for upstream integration. Practical implications While the data show that the use of IT significantly improves the delivery performance in the supply chain, it also signals to managers how and when to invest in supply chain integration tactics. Originality/value This paper contributes to a better understanding of the supply chain integration-performance link, by clarifying some of the inconsistencies in previous literature and by simultaneously analyzing upstream and downstream implications.

Supply chain integration and firm performance: an empirical study of Swedish manufacturing firms

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hooshang M. Beheshti ◽  
Pejvak Oghazi ◽  
Rana Mostaghel ◽  
Magnus Hultman
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Survey Instrument ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This article aims to explore the impact of supply chain integration on the financial performance of Swedish manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review provided the foundation for the development of the survey instrument and hypotheses for the study. In addition, the survey instrument was tested by the experts in the field and modified before it was sent to the managers in the survey group. Findings – The findings show that supply chain integration at any level is beneficial to the financial well being of the firm. Companies with total supply chain integration reported the highest level of financial performance. Research limitations/implications – Data were collected from Swedish manufacturing firms without regard to the size of the firm. The results show that supply chain integration is beneficial at any level. Practical implications – The findings will assist managers with decisions regarding supply chain integration and its role as a critical factor in improving the financial performance of manufacturing companies. Originality/value – Limited empirical studies have been conducted in this area, especially in Sweden. This study provides insight for manufacturing managers with regard to the importance of supply chain management and the competitive nature of business in the global market.

scholarly journals Re-evaluating supply chain integration and firm performance: linking operations strategy to supply chain strategy

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 540-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Wiengarten ◽  
Huashan Li ◽  
Prakash J. Singh ◽  
Brian Fynes
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Operations Strategy ◽  
Competitive Priorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Strategy ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Strategic Perspective ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to explore the performance implications of supply chain integration (SCI) taking a strategic perspective. Thus, this paper is set to provide answers to the following research questions: Does a higher degree of SCI always lead to greater firm performance improvements? As the answer to this question is likely to be no, the authors explore the performance implications from a strategic perspective: Is the SCI–performance relationship contingent on a company’s competitive priorities (i.e. operations strategy)? Design/methodology/approach The authors explore their questions through multiple quasi-independent data sets to test the impact of SCI on firm performance. Furthermore, the authors provide a more nuanced conceptual and empirical view to explore the previously uncovered contradictory results and contingent relationship challenging the “more integration equals higher firm performance” proposition. Findings The results only provide partial support for the proposition that more integration is always beneficial in the supply chain context. The authors also identified that the impact of SCI on financial performance is contingent on a company’s competitive priorities. Originality/value This study provides a much-needed comprehensive assessment of the SCI–performance relationship through critically re-evaluating one of the most popular propositions in the field of supply chain management. The results can be extrapolated beyond the dyad, as the authors conceptualise integration simultaneously from an upstream and downstream perspective.

The impact of information technology and communication systems on the agility of supply chain management systems

Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 2217-2236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roya Dehgani ◽  
Nima Jafari Navimipour
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Business World ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe impact of information technology (IT) on the agility of supply chain management (SCM) systems is very noticeable in the business world nowadays. Competition and constant changes, including product/technological innovations, decreasing product lifestyles and product proliferation, create pressure that affects the business environment. Organizations are required for answering the changes in the market to gain a competitive advantage and business success. The organizations are able to answer to unexpected market changes through supply chain market, and these changes are converted to business opportunities. Using IT to achieve the agility of SCM is one of the important factors to help the organizations. Therefore, the adoption of IT and its efficient implementation can improve the cooperation between supply chain agility through the rapid transfer, the distribution of accurate information and the use of information. This paper aims to investigate the impact of IT on the agility of SCM.Design/methodology/approachA total of 120 employees of the Golasal firm are involved in collecting data using a questionnaire. Measurements were performed in all questionnaires using a five-point Likert scale. The causal model is evaluated by structural equationmodeling technique, which is used to examine the reliability and validity of the model.FindingsThe results have shown that IT has positive influences on the agility of SCM systems. In addition, the obtained results have shown that four variables, namely, IT skills and knowledge, IT-based systems integration, IT infrastructure and design of global position system and geographic information systems, affect the agility of SCM systems.Originality/valueIn this paper, the agility of SCM systems is pointed out and the approach to resolve the problem is applied into a practical example. The presented model provides a complete framework to examine the impact of IT on the agility of SCM systems.

scholarly journals Supply chain integration configurations: process structure and product newness

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1437-1459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Tsinopoulos ◽  
Carlos Mena
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Main Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Process Structure ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the configurations of supply chain integration. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use qualitative data from manufacturers shortlisted for the UK’s Manufacturing Excellence awards over three years. Detailed processes and policies of 68 manufacturers are analysed. Findings – Process structure and product newness require different supply chain configurations, which change as products mature. Supply chain integration is dynamic, and the extent of collaboration between suppliers and customers will be different at different moments in time. The authors define and discuss four key supply chain configurations: customised; ramp-up; recurring; coordinated. Research limitations/implications – Future studies on supply chain integration should be controlled for the variation in the configurations. A limitation is the use of data which were derived for an award. The paper explains how the authors have mitigated the associated risks. Practical implications – The configuration of integration will change as the manufacturing plant becomes more familiar with a product. Additionally, different suppliers may provide better support at different stages of a product’s lifecycle. To yield better performance, supply chain integration would need to take different forms. Efforts to integrate with suppliers should not be avoided as, when certain conditions are met, integration can lead to improved performance. Originality/value – The authors have identified manufacturers’ main process structures and products’ newness as two strategic characteristics that differentiate integration approaches with customers and suppliers, and defined four integration configurations. To the authors’ knowledge this is the first study to argue that these also define the configuration of supply chain integration.

The impact of organizational culture on supply chain integration: a contingency and configuration approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Cao ◽  
Baofeng Huo ◽  
Yuan Li ◽  
Xiande Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Theoretical Terms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supplier Integration ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – This study aims to bridge the gap in understanding the effects of organizational culture on supply chain integration (SCI) by examining the relationships between organizational cultures and SCI. The extant studies investigating the antecedents of SCI focus mainly on environments, interfirm relationships and other firm-level factors. These studies generally overlook the role of organizational culture. The few studies that do examine the effects of organizational culture on SCI show inconsistent findings. Design/methodology/approach – By placing organizational culture within the competing value framework (CVF), this study establishes a conceptual model for the relationships between organizational culture and SCI. The study uses both a contingency approach and a configuration approach to examine these proposed relationships using data collected from 317 manufacturers across ten countries. Findings – The contingency results indicate that both development and group culture are positively related to all three dimensions of SCI. However, rational culture is positively related only to internal integration, and hierarchical culture is negatively related to both internal and customer integration. The configuration approach identifies four profiles of organizational culture: the Hierarchical, Flexible, Flatness and Across-the-Board profiles. The Flatness profile shows the highest levels of development, group and rational cultures and the lowest level of hierarchical culture. The Flatness profile also achieves the highest levels of internal, customer and supplier integration. Research limitations/implications – This study is subject to several limitations. In theoretical terms, this study does not resolve all of the inconsistencies in the relationship between organizational culture and SCI. In terms of methodology, this study uses cross-sectional data from high-performance manufacturers. Such data cannot provide strong causal explanations, but only broad and general findings. Practical implications – This study reminds managers to consider organizational culture when they implement SCI. The study also provides clues to help managers in assessing and adjusting organizational culture as necessary for SCI. Originality/value – This study makes two theoretical contributions. First, by examining the relationships between organizational culture and SCI in a new context, the findings of the study provide additional evidence to reconcile the previously inconsistent findings on this subject. Second, by departing from the previous practice of investigating only particular dimensions of organizational culture, this study adopts a combined contingency and configuration approach to address both the individual and synergistic effects of all dimensions of organizational culture. This more comprehensive approach deepens our understanding of the relationship between organizational culture and SCI.

The Influence of Information Technology Utilization (ITU) on Supply Chain Integration (SCI)

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 19-43
Author(s):  
Thawatchai Jitpaiboon ◽  
Sushil Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Integrated Supply Chain ◽  
The Impact

The key to competitiveness in most industries has moved beyond the traditionally confined single organization. In today’s global competitive business environment, competitiveness is heavily influenced by the ability of the multiple organizations in a supply chain to synchronize and integrate their business activities and processes. Supply chain integration, (SCI) which links the activities, functions, processes, and systems of a firm with its customers and suppliers, can reduce uncertainty, enhance responsiveness, reduce costs, and improve customer service. Empirical studies have explored SCI and reported that information technology (IT) is a key ingredient for the success of the integrated supply chain. While the research on SCI has been reported in OM literature, empirical studies that investigate the impact of different levels of IT utilization (ITU) – strategic, operational, and infrastructural - on SCI are not available. This research also explores the impact of top management support (TMS) on the relationship between ITU and SCI. Based on data collected from 220 manufacturing firms, this study indicates that ITU will have a positive impact on the success of an integrated supply chain when top management is personally involved in the technology implementation process.

Impact of novel information technology on IT alignment and sustainable supply chain performance: evidence from Chinese manufacturing industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shushan Zhang ◽  
Lei Sun ◽  
Qi Sun ◽  
Haiying Dong
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Supply Chain Performance ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain ◽  
Content Type ◽  
It Alignment ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to explore how the novel information technology (NIT) [1] affects three dimensions of sustainable supply chain performance (economic performance, environmental performance and social performance) and how two dimensions of IT alignment (IT infrastructure alignment and IT human resources alignment) mediate the relationship between them. Design/methodology/approach NIT is defined, the dimension of IT alignment is expanded, the theoretical hypotheses are proposed and are tested using survey data from 394 manufacturing enterprises using NIT in China. Findings The results indicate that NIT plays a positive role in improving sustainable supply chain performance, and IT alignment mediates the impact of NIT on sustainable supply chain performance. Originality/value This study highlights the impact of NIT on sustainable supply chain performance and demonstrates IT alignment as a mediator between them, it also provides a deeper understanding of how different dimensions of IT alignment affect sustainable supply chain performance

The impact of asymmetry on performance in different collaboration and integration environments in supply chain management

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Michalski ◽  
Jose-Luis Montes-Botella ◽  
Ram Narasimhan
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the non-linear aspects of the relationship between asymmetry and performance in supply chains (SCs), under varying intensities of collaboration and integration. Design/methodology/approach The paper offers a useful new approach to designing strategic elements of supply chain management (SCM) relationships. Using the partial least squares method, an empirical study of 66 companies in Spain has been conducted to clarify contemporary relationships, suggest new directions and ultimately contribute toward developing SCM theory. Findings The influences of asymmetry on performance in varying collaboration and integration contexts are shown to be unstable and have non-linear paths. It is inappropriate for all firms to collaborate or integrate continually, even for a prescribed period. Furthermore, due to asymmetry, SCM processes are more complex. Research limitations/implications The results’ validity may be limited to contexts specific to Spanish SCs. It would be valuable to investigate the impact of asymmetry on firms’ performance and relationships in other markets. Practical implications Collaborations and integration between partners in a SC might change the role of asymmetry from restraining to improving performance. The best way to improve performance in asymmetric relationships is to collaborate. Certain dimensions of integration and full integration are not necessarily required to improve firms’ performance under asymmetry conditions. Originality/value The study adds a new viewpoint on SCM by suggesting that not all collaboration and integration developments lead directly to improved performance.

scholarly journals The impact of innovativeness on supply chain performance: is supply chain integration a missing link?

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 733-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Joon Seo ◽  
John Dinwoodie ◽  
Dong-Wook Kwak
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Structural Equation Modelling ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Supply Chain Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to study the impact of innovativeness on supply chain integration (SCI) and supply chain performance (SCP) and the role of SCI in mediating between innovativeness in the supply chain and SCP. Innovativeness is an accepted driver to leverage firm performance. SCI and SCP require innovativeness in the supply chain, but their interrelationships have rarely been researched empirically. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey and structural equation modelling were used in this work. After a structural and measurement model was devised from existing supply chain literature, the main data were collected in a web-based questionnaire survey of South Korean manufacturers. Structural equation modelling was applied to test proposed hypotheses on the associations between variables, following a hierarchical analysis process. Findings – Innovativeness in the supply chain had a positive impact on both SCI and SCP. However, the direct impact of innovativeness on SCP disappeared when the model included SCI as a mediator. In specific, internal and supplier integration fully mediated innovativeness–SCP relationships, whereas customer integration had no mediating role on those relationships. The findings suggest that innovativeness can influence SCP only when the manufacturer’s level of SCI is sufficiently effective in developing necessary supply chain practices. Research limitations/implications – In this work, innovativeness in the supply chain effectively influenced SCP through the mediation of SCI. However, cross-sectional analysis in one nation using one response per organisation invites validation embracing other geographical areas and longitudinal studies. Practical implications – Design of an innovative culture within a firm and along a supply chain can enhance SCI practices by stimulating innovativeness. A high level of SCI should be pursued to effectively transform innovativeness into performance. Originality/value – This work seminally examines the effect of innovativeness in the supply chain on SCI and SCP as well as the mediating role of SCI in the relationships between innovativeness and SCP.

Drivers of supply chain integration and the role of organizational culture

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erlinda N. Yunus ◽  
Suresh K. Tadisina
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – Supply chain integration (SCI) is a set of practices driven by many factors and circumstances. The purpose of this paper is to examine firms’ internal and external drivers of SCI, evaluate the impact of the integration on firm performance, and further investigate the moderating role of organizational culture in strengthening the relationships between firms’ drivers and SCI. Design/methodology/approach – For the purpose of this study, manufacturing firms were identified as the focal firms in supply chains, and thus data were collected through a survey of 223 Indonesian-based manufacturing firms. Two informants from each firm became the respondents. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings – This study confirmed the positive relationship between SCI and firm performance. The results also indicated that internal driver, or specifically firms’ customer orientation (CO), triggered the initiation of SCI. Organizational culture, in terms of external focus, positively influenced the relationship between CO and SCI. Research limitations/implications – This study illustrates the important role of organizational culture in determining the shape of the relationship between firms’ drivers and SCI. The results of this study enhance the understanding of SCI, especially related to types of organizational culture that could promote the integration. Originality/value – This study brings a different dimension of SCI as this study provides evidence from a developing country, which might implement different practices as compared those of developed countries. This study provides a measure of internal drivers, which has not been empirically investigated. The new measure was tested and validated using a rigorous process, and thus could be employed in other studies with different settings.

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