Developing Organizational Agility through IT and Supply Chain Capability

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Bi ◽  
Robert Davidson ◽  
Booi Kam ◽  
Kosmas Smyrnios

Organizations have increasingly invested money in information technology (IT) in order to improve their agility. It is generally believed that organizations with greater IT investment tend to be more agile to response to environmental changes. However, the issue of whether IT is an enabler or impeder of organizational agility still remains unresolved. Drawing upon resource-based view theory and the literatures of information systems and supply chain management, the authors develop and test a theoretical model that integrates IT capability, supply chain capability and organizational agility. The authors propose that IT capability enables the development of a higher level of supply chain capability which is embedded within inter-firm processes and in turn enhances organizational agility. Structural equation modelling is employed to test their theoretical conceptualization of 310 Australian fast-growth small-to-medium enterprises across different industrial sectors. The results show that IT capability does contribute to firm agility through enhancing inter-firm supply chain processes such as integration, information sharing and coordination. This research highlights the role of IT-enabled intermediated processes and the ways in which IT is used by firms to enhance core business processes.

Author(s):  
Rui Bi ◽  
Robert M. Davison ◽  
Booi H. Kam ◽  
Kosmas X. Smyrnios

Organizational agility is regarded as a strategic capability, helping firms to compete, survive, and succeed in fast changing environments. Companies with greater IT investments are expected to be more agile. However, the issue of whether IT is an enabler or impeder of agility still remains unresolved. Drawing upon resource-based view theory, the authors test a theoretical model that integrates IT capability, supply chain capability and organizational agility. The authors propose that IT capability enables the development of a higher level of supply chain capability which is embedded within inter-firm processes and in turn enhances agility. Structural equation modeling is employed to test their theoretical conceptualization of 310 Australian fast-growth small-to-medium enterprises across different industrial sectors. The results show that IT capability does contribute to firm agility through enhancing inter-firm supply chain processes. This research highlights the role of IT-enabled intermediated processes and the ways in which IT is used by firms to enhance core business processes.


Author(s):  
Francisco Alejandro Pérez Gilabert ◽  
Jorge Luis Pena Acevedo

The objective of this study is to develop and test a framework for the role that supply chain strategy (SCS) and supply chain integration have in a firm’s financial performance and to increase the understanding of the role that these factors play in supply chain design. Structural equation modeling was used to test these relationships based on data obtained from small and medium exporting enterprises in Peru. This study responds to a gap in understanding the role of supply chains in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how firms in Latin America, especially in Peru, apply supply chain concepts. Findings indicate that companies should prioritize their integration efforts depending on the type of supply chain strategy. Likewise, results show that customer integration is directly related to a firm’s financial performance. This study responds to the need to understand the development of supply chain strategies and the generation of competitive advantage in Peruvian export-manufacturing SMEs.


Author(s):  
Rui Bi ◽  
Robert M Davison ◽  
Kosmas X Smyrnios

Information technology (IT) is regarded as a facilitator for both small and large firms to speed up transactions between firms and their suppliers and customers, achieve real-time communication, lower transaction costs, and enhance speed and flexibility. However, understanding whether and how IT helps small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to create business value still remains unclear. Drawing upon resource-based view theory, source-positional advantage-performance framework, we develop and test a theoretical model to explore the interrelationships between IT resources (IT expertise, IT infrastructure), IT capability (IT integration), IT-enabled inter-firm partnership processes (activity integration, coordination, partnership enhancement), and organizational performance in the fast growth SME context. We propose that IT business value depends on how firms employ IT resources to develop IT capability which facilitates inter-firm partnership processes along value chains. Structural equation modeling is employed to test our theoretical conceptualization of 310 Australian fast-growth SMEs across different industrial sectors. Results show that IT contributes to fast growth SME performance through the development of IT capability and enhancement of inter-firm partnership activities. This research highlights the role of IT in business value creation and the ways in which IT is used by fast growth SMEs to foster core business competencies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zulkaif Ahmed Saqib ◽  
Qingyu Zhang

PurposeSustainability failures have increased the pressure for manufacturing firms to come up with innovative solutions to resolve the sustainable matters. Drawing on the resource-based theory, the purpose of this study is to examine how supply chain visibility moderates the effects of sustainable practices on sustainable performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data employed in the current work were collected from 355 small and medium manufacturing firms in Pakistan using a structured questionnaire. The structural equation modelling was applied to the collected data with AMOSS-23 and SPSS-25 packageFindingsThe results show that sustainable practices (for manufacturing, procurement and distribution) significantly influence the firm's sustainability performance, and this relationship is moderated by supply chain visibility.Originality/valueSustainable practices are necessary for small and medium enterprises to achieve sustainable performance, but the previously under-explored moderating effect of supply chain visibility generally indicates that sharing information for learning, sensing and co-ordinating activities plays an intensifying effect.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 751-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukanya Panda ◽  
Santanu Kumar Rath

Purpose Information technology (IT) is normally regarded as an enabling factor for making firms agile. Usually, it has been realized that greater IT spending enhances a firm’s agility. However, the role of IT as an obstructing factor towards organizational agility cannot be overlooked. Taking this commonly perceived but less-studied IT-agility contradiction into account, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether IT can augment or impede organizational agility. This research which is conducted in context to privately owned Indian financial enterprises proposes the premise that effective IT resource management is imperative for organizations to thrive for greater firm-wide IT capability for enhanced agility. Design/methodology/approach Primary data collected from 300 business and IT executives working in various privately owned financial enterprises across India are used for this study and a structural equation modelling is employed to assess the IT-agility link. Findings The findings of the study are two-folded. First, this study concludes that IT capability acts as an enabler for business process and market responsive organizational agility. Second, if IT spending is not properly translated into creating superior capability, huge and impudent IT investments will impede the overall organizational agility. Originality/value This paper investigates both exogenous variable (IT capability) and endogenous variable (organizational agility) in terms of second-order reflective measures and establishes a significant structural link between both the dimensions of IT capability (managerial and technical) and organizational agility (business process and market responsive). This analysis illustrates the moderating effect of IT spending on each of these relationships, thereby greatly contributes and extends the existing IT capability-agility related information systems literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Lu ◽  
Jinliang Chen ◽  
Hua Song ◽  
Xiangyu Zhou

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how cloud computing assimilation reduces supply chain financing (SCF) risks of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This study also investigated the mediating roles of internal and external supply chain integration between cloud computing assimilation and the SCF risks of SMEs, as well as the moderating role of environmental competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from surveys of SMEs located in China. Multiple regression analysis was used to validate the proposed theoretical model and research hypotheses. Findings The findings show that cloud computing assimilation could reduce the SCF risks of SMEs directly. The results also indicate that both internal and external supply chain integration mediate the relationship between cloud computing assimilation and SCF risks. Furthermore, environmental competitiveness inhibits the effects of cloud computing assimilation on SCF risks. Originality/value To our best knowledge, this is the preliminary study to explore the role of cloud computing assimilation in reducing the SCF risks of SMEs. Also, this study attempted to investigate the process by which cloud computing assimilation affects the SCF risks of SMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shampy Kamboj ◽  
Shruti Rana

PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to study the role of supply chain performance (SCP) as a mediator between big data-driven supply chain (BDDSC) and firm sustainable performance. In addition, the role of firm age as a moderator between BDDSC and SCP as well as between SCP and firm sustainable performance has also been explored.Design/methodology/approachThe 200 managers of medium or senior level positions in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) located at Delhi-NCR have been contacted. Further, collected data have been confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In this paper, structure equation modeling (SEM) has been employed to empirically check the proposed hypotheses and their relationships.FindingsThe findings confirmed that SCP mediates the link between BDDSC and firm sustainable performance. Additionally, firm age moderates the association between BDDSC and SCP as well as between SCP and firm sustainable performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe role of SCP and firm age between BDDSC and sustainable performance have been examined in the context of MSMEs in Delhi-NCR and thereby limit the generalization of results to other industries and country contexts.Originality/valueThe present study adds to the existing literature via recognizing the blackbox using SCP and firm age to comprehend BDDSC and firm sustainable performance relationship.


Author(s):  
Rosmah Mat Isa ◽  
Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Al Dweiri

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of knowledge sharing in the relationship between supply chain integration and supply chain performance. This study used a survey questionnaire for a sample size of 277 managers from various sectors in the manufacturing industry in Jordan.  This study utilised PLS Structural Equation Modeling for testing the hypothesis.  The finding indicates a significant positive relationship between supply chain integration and supply chain performance and that knowledge sharing plays partial mediation in this relationship. This study provides an important implication on the role of knowledge sharing. The performance of the supply chain can be maximised if the supply chain partners share knowledge among them. This will expedite the process of delivering the products to the customers.  Awareness among partners on the importance to share and utilise knowledge better should be raised. The study contributes to the research on supply chain management by advancing the understanding of the role of knowledge sharing that can increase the performance of the supply chain partners.   Keywords: Supply chain integration, supply chain management, knowledge sharing, supply chain performance, supplier integration.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document