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The aim of the study is to explore how two dimensions of interpersonal relationships (i.e. size and range of relationships) affect supplier-initiating risk management behaviours (SIRMB) and supply-side resilience. Further, the study aims to explore the moderating role of dependence asymmetry.

Nine hypotheses are tested based on a moderated mediation analysis of survey data from 247 manufacturing firms in China. The data are validated using a subset of 57 attentive secondary respondents and archival data.

SIRMB positively relates to supply-side resilience. Further, SIRMB mediates the positive relationship between range and supply-side resilience, and this relationship is stronger at lower levels of dependence asymmetry. Yet, although dependence asymmetry positively moderates the relationship between range and SIRMB, it negatively moderates the relationship between size and SIRMB. We did not, however, find evidence that size has a conditional indirect effect on supply-side resilience through SIRMB.

Managers in buying firms can incentivise SIRMB to enhance supply-side resilience by developing a diverse rather than a large set of interpersonal relationships with a supplier. This might include allocating particular employees with a wide range of contacts within a supplier to that relationship, while it may be necessary to adopt different networking strategies for different supplier relationships. Firms in a highly asymmetrical relationship may seek to raise supplier expectations about the necessity to initiate risk management behaviour or look to change the dynamic of the relationship by managing contracts for fairness.

New knowledge on SIRMB as a mediating variable underpinning the relationship between interpersonal relationships and supply-side resilience is provided; and empirical evidence on the opposing moderation effect of dependence asymmetry is presented.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the interplay between a firm’s financial situation and its inventory ownership in a single-firm and a two-firm perspective.

The analysis uses different secondary data sources to quantify the effect of both financial constraints and cost of capital on inventory holdings of public US firms. The authors first adopt a single-firm perspective and analyze whether financial constraints and cost of capital do generally affect the amount of inventory held. Next, the authors adopt a two-firm perspective and analyze the inventory ownership in customer-supplier relationships.

Inventory levels are affected by financial constraints and cost of capital. Results indicate that higher costs of capital are weakly associated with lower inventories. However, contrary to the authors’ expectations, firms that are less financially constrained hold less inventories than firms that are more financially constrained. Finally, the authors find that customers hold the larger fraction of supply chain inventory in supplier-customer dyads.

The authors’ results indicate that financial considerations generally play a role in inventory management. However, inventory holdings seem to be influenced only slightly by financing costs and inventory holdings between supplier and customer seem to be less than optimal from a financial perspective. Considering those financial aspects can lead to relevant financial advantages.

In contrast to other recent research, the authors study how the financial situation of a firm affects its inventory levels (not vice versa) and also consider inventories from a two-firm perspective.

In this study, we examine the implementation of purchase order finance (POF) which is an innovative supply chain finance (SCF) solution by an innovative SCF lender (i.e. supply chain service provider (SCSP)). The effect of information integration between the SCSP (lender) and product designers (borrowers) on the lender's POF decisions and the borrowers' new product launch is investigated.

We conduct a case study in the Chinese smartphone industry. A mixed methods design is used, and data are collected from both the supply chain service provider (SCSP) and product designers. We first conduct a qualitative study. Hypotheses are developed concerning the relationships between information integration, in terms of social interaction and information system integration, POF and new product launch. We then conduct a quantitative study. The multilevel structural equation modelling method is used to test the hypotheses.

We find that information system integration is positively associated with POF but has no significant effect on new product launch. Social interaction is negatively associated with POF but positively associated with new product launch. POF is positively associated with new product launch.

This study contributes to the literature by empirically examining the implementation of POF from both the lender's and borrower's perspectives. We find that information system integration and social interaction have different effects on POF and new product launch. The results thus provide insights into how a lender makes POF decisions and reveal the benefits of POF for borrowers.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how centralization and decentralization of supply chains (SCs) play a major role in creating organizational resilience.

Starting with the basic tenets of contingency theory and applying a grounded theory approach, results from exploratory qualitative and quantitative studies are combined to investigate the impact of (de)centralization on SC resilience capabilities.

The findings from a comprehensive literature review combined with two empirical surveys indicate that four important organizational capabilities are needed in order to cope with internal and external disruptions: fast reactions to unforeseen disturbances, reducing the number of negative external forces, reducing the impact of negative external forces and the quick return to normal operating processes. Furthermore, it is illustrated how (de)centralization activities can support these capabilities and thus maximize the SC resilience.

This paper presents 12 measures for (de)centralization and shows how they can support the four major capabilities of resilient companies. The results from qualitative and quantitative surveys allow for a holistic understanding of the organization and provide a basis for future SC resilience research.

This paper aims to offer evidence-based findings on the under-researched role of finance in the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process, aiming to guide academics and practitioners towards successful S&OP implementations.

The research builds upon a multiple case study, embracing five Latin American subsidiaries of four global manufacturing corporations from the consumer goods, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Following an exploratory approach, the case study results are analysed in within- and cross-case analyses.

The research findings are synthesised into a framework, demonstrating relevant benefits from the engagement of finance along the S&OP process and the implications of its interactions with traditional S&OP functions as sales, marketing and operations. The paper shows how finance adds value in supporting the process, enabling decisions on costs, margins, capital expenditures and return on investments. Finance strengthens S&OP when assessing demand- and supply-related risks and facilitates comparing the functional business areas' plans to budget. While finance participation is highlighted as necessary for supporting successful S&OP implementations, it also receives valuable inputs in return, characterising a two-way communication role that benefits the entire organisation.

This is the first research paper focusing on empirically exploring the role of finance within S&OP, going beyond initial insights from practice and academia. It provides practitioners and scholars with an in-depth, evidence-based view of finance's integration along the S&OP process.

This study examines the firm-level financial consequences caused by supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 and explores how firms' supply chain diversification strategies, including diversified suppliers, customers and products, moderate the negative effect on firm performance.

Based on data drawn from 222 publicly traded firms in China, the authors use event study methodology to estimate the effects of supply chain disruptions on the financial performance of affected firms. Regression analyses are conducted to examine the moderating effects of supply chain diversification.

Firms affected by supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 experienced a significant decline in shareholder value in two weeks and a subsequent decrease in operating performance in one year. Diversified suppliers, customers and products act as shock absorbers to alleviate the negative effects. Further regression shows a substitution effect between customer and product diversification. Cross-industry comparisons reveal that service firms experienced more loss than manufacturing firms. Customer diversification mitigates the adverse effects of supply chain disruptions for both manufacturing and service firms. Supplier diversification exerts a noteworthy role in manufacturing firms, while product diversification is beneficial for service firms.

The study provides empirical evidence on the magnitude of financial consequences of supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 in both the short term and long term and enriches the current understanding of how to build resilience from the supply chain diversification perspective.

Supply chain finance (SCF) has become a vital ingredient that fosters growth and provides flexibility to the global supply chain. Thus, it becomes essential to understand the factors that contribute to the success of the supply chain finance ecosystem (SCFE). This study aims to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for the development of an efficient and effective SCFE. Based on their characteristics, the study intends to classify the factors into constructs and further establish a hierarchical relationship among the CSFs.

The study is based on empirical data collected from 221 respondents based on administered questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is carried out on 16 selected factors (out of 21 proposed factors) based on the feedback of the experts and the factors were classified into four constructs. The total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) model was developed by identifying and finalizing CSFs of the SCFE. The model developed a hierarchical relationship between the various factors.

The study identified significant CSFs for the efficient and effective SCF ecosystem. Four constructs were developed by analyzing CSFs using the EFA. The finalized 16 CSFs modeled through the TISM and further hierarchical relationship established between the CSFs concludes that governmental policies and sectoral growth are the strongest driving forces and financial attractiveness is the weakest driving force. Based on the CSFs and the constructs identified, it was found that for the success of the SCF ecosystem, the existence of an economic ecosystem provides a facilitating framework for the overall development of the SCFE. Also, the trustworthiness among the partners fosters better relationships and results in financial feasibility and offers business opportunities for all the stakeholders.

This study will help the SCF partners across the globe understand the CSFs that ensure development of mutually beneficial SCF ecosystems and provide flexibility to the supply chain partners. The CSFs would provide insights to the policymakers and the financial intermediaries for providing a conducive environment for the development of a better SCF ecosystem. Also, the buyers and sellers would understand the CSFs that would develop better relationships among them and ultimately help in development of business across the globe.

The study identifies the CSFs for the SCF ecosystem. The study ascertains the significant factors and classifies them into clusters using EFA. Unlike the literature available, the paper develops the hierarchical relationship between the CSFs and develops a model for an efficient and effective SCF ecosystem.

This paper aims to draw on the dynamic capabilities approach and aims to empirically investigate the impact of supply chain finance (SCF) on firm performance (e.g. operational risk and operational performance), the critical effect of environmental dynamism (ED) as moderator and supply chain risk (SCR) and a mediator in the relationship between SCF and organizational performance (OP).

This study is based on empirical data collected from a survey of 210 companies and their supply chains in mainland China. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed relationships.

The findings show that SCF significantly mitigates the SCR, which subsequently has a significant positive effect on OP (e.g. operational risk and operational performance). The findings also show that when ED is high, the relationship between SCF and SCR is stronger and vice versa. Moreover, SCR mediates the relationship between SCF and OP. The hypothesis regarding the moderating effect of ED on the paths joining SCF and SCR was also supported. SCR has a significant negative effect on OP. However, the hypothesis regarding the effect of ED on SCR was not supported.

This study has some limitations. First, this paper conducted the research with Chinese organizations. This may result in low generalizability in other contexts. In addition, this paper used the survey method and cross-sectional data design in this study, which may generate the potential issue of common method bias. However, the findings of this study will help organizations across China and other emerging economies to adopt SCF as a secure financing mechanism to enhance working capital and mitigate risk. In addition, the paper provides some new managerial insights for decision-makers in organizations, while exploring different factors such as SCF, SCR and ED and their effect on the organization.

This study has greatly developed a general SCF adoption model that helps to guide empirical research investigating the critical impact of SCF on firm performance.

A growing need for financing in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has become a significant obstacle to the development of firms. To remove this barrier, the purpose of this paper is to examine how supply chain finance (SCF) assists the firms to improve their performance by utilizing the resource-based view (RBV). Furthermore, the present study also pursues to test the effect of trade digitization as a moderating variable in the relationship between SC finance and the firm performance.

Using data from the textile sector, the authors run confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS 24 and hierarchical linear regression model in SPSS 23 to measure the proposed model and hypotheses, respectively.

The study suggests that SCF significantly improves the SMEs performance. Moreover, trade digitization strengthens the relationship between SCF and SMEs performance. Thus, the current study significantly describes the firm RBV through SCF and trade digitization to predict the SMEs performance.

SMEs entrepreneurs or executives can optimize the working capital through SCF and enhance the visibility of transactions through digitization for improving SMEs performance. Moreover, SCF protects the SMEs due to its nature of risk mitigation strategy.

This study covered the unexplored gap in the previous literature of supply chain management by establishing the relationship between SCF and the firm performance empirically while identifying the role of trade digitization as moderating variable in the context of textile SMEs by employing RBV theory.