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This study aimed to investigate how different supply chain integrations (SCIs) (i.e. information integration and organisational integration) would impact product- and service-oriented mass customisation capability (MCC) differently and the moderating role of characteristics of customer needs (i.e. customer need tacitness and diversity).

From the perspective of information processing theory (IPT), the authors tested the hypotheses using survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturers.

The findings indicate that both information and operational integration contribute to product- and service-oriented MCCs. Operational integration promotes product-oriented MCC more, whereas information integration has a greater impact on service-oriented MCC. In addition, customer need tacitness negatively moderates the impact of operational integration on both product- and service-oriented MCC. Customer need diversity negatively moderates only the impact of operational integration on service-oriented MCC.

Managers should focus on not only the position (internal or external) but also the function of SCI when making decisions towards enhancing MCC. Diverse abilities to integrate with different functions are associated with different MCCs.

This study distinguishes between product- and service-oriented MCCs and provides novel insights for understanding how to enhance MCC from a SCI perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between logistics park platforms, logistics location and operational performance. Relationship analysis helps managers respond to the changes that today’s logistics companies face, which include limited resources and facilities, market uncertainties and financial instabilities.

A structured questionnaire is developed based on the resource-based view. Qualitative data collected from 273 companies in China are used in a structural equation model to test the conceptual model.

In logistics parks, logistics park platforms and location positively influence companies’ resource integration, which is positively related to operational performance. While logistics park platforms can improve operational performance directly, logistics location cannot. Resource integration is thus a full mediator between logistics location and operational performance, while it is a partial mediator between logistics park platforms and operational performance.

This study fills a gap in the literature on logistics parks, particularly on the relationships among operational performance, resource integration, logistics park platforms and the location of logistics parks in China. The authors provide guidelines for logistics park managers to organize their resources and develop capabilities for improving the operational performance of companies in logistics parks.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Using the assumptions of the resource-based view, relational view and swift, even flow theories and the overarching principles of supply chain management, the study aims to test the role of information technology (IT) capability (cross-functional application, supply chain application and data consistency) in enabling supply chain integration (SCI; internal, customer and supplier integration) and the impact of SCI on firm's operational performance in terms of quality, delivery, production cost, inventory level, customer service and product-mix flexibility.

The structural equation modeling approach is used to test theoretical predictions underlying the relationship among dimensions of IT capability, SCI and operational performance based on data obtained from senior executives of 108 large manufacturing firms listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The results suggest that IT capability has positive impact on SCI, except for data consistency, which is found to have negative impact on internal integration. The results further indicate that SCI, especially customer integration, has positive and significant impact on all operational performance indicators.

The findings inform future initiatives associated with the SCI improvement via specific IT capabilities. When undertaking such initiatives, managers are advised to consider the differential impact of the following IT capabilities on SCI: cross-functional applications, supply chain applications, and data consistency capability.

The study makes an empirical contribution to the body of knowledge by demonstrating the value of the multidimensional representation and analysis of IT capability, SCI, and operational performance given a differential and even opposed influence by some of the dimensions in specific business contexts.

This study aims to empirically investigate the impact of operational risk (i.e. supply, manufacturing and demand risks) on supply chain performance and the moderating role of integration (i.e. supplier, internal and customer integrations) in mitigating the impact of these risks, respectively.

A research framework of hypotheses is tested by structural equation modeling with data collected from the fourth round of the high-performance manufacturing project.

It is revealed that manufacturing and demand risks negatively impact operational performance, and more importantly, internal and customer integrations help to reduce the impact of these two risks. Additionally, the effects of both supply risk and supplier integration are only significant for large firms.

Supply chain managers need to appropriately develop the levels of integration to mitigate the adverse impact of operational risk.

Operational performance is always threatened by different types of risk that adversely affect the supply, production and demand sides of manufacturing firms. Despite this fact, large-scale data-based empirical research on the impact of operational risk on the performance of supply chains has been scarce. This study aims to fill this literature gap.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of two technologies, cloud computing and Web 2.0, on a firm’s operational performance, examining the relationship between these two technologies and operational performance, and the mediating role played by supply chain integration.

A random sample of 394 companies taken from the DUNS 50,000 database in Spain is used to test the paper’s hypotheses. The data were gathered by telephone survey using the CATI computerized system to manage interviewees’ answers, obtaining a 19.36 percent response rate. Factorial analyses and structural equation modeling were used to test the hypotheses.

The results suggest that cloud computing requires the mediating support of supply chain integration. However, there is no concluding evidence that Web 2.0 has a positive effect on either supply chain integration or operational performance. A positive, significant relationship was found between supply chain integration and operational performance in all the models used.

Further research and longitudinal analyses should be carried out in a range of industrial and geographical settings to confirm the findings of this study. Further analyses could also extend the scope and generalizability of results by analyzing the assimilation of supply chain integration-related inter-organizational information systems, such as the effect of ERP systems on performance. Another future direction for research is a study of the impact of the joint assimilation of internal and external integration practices on operational performance.

Managers should be aware of the key role that trust plays in the information-sharing process in conjunction with supply chain management. Trust and information-sharing are two inextricably linked elements that enable greater supply chain integration to translate into better operational performance. This paper can also make managers more aware of the powerful tools that exist in the cloud computing universe and those that come under the umbrella of Web 2.0. Companies can use the findings of this paper to create new applications to facilitate supply chain integration. Some examples are also given of how cloud applications can be applied to better integrate the supply chain and, ultimately, to improve overall operational performance.

This is one of the first attempts to disentangle the effects exerted by cloud computing on company performance through the mediating role of a higher supply chain integration. The value of this study relies in that academics and practitioners may have a supporting evidence on the role played by a new, disruptive technology such us cloud computing in, internal, operationally linked structures such as supply chain integration and how this combination transforms into better operational outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a business model related to NPD for improving performance by testing the relationship between external involvement and operational performance, as well as the mediating role of internal integration.

To test the research hypotheses about the relationships above, survey data were collected from 176 Chinese manufacturing companies. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypotheses.

The results indicate that both customer and supplier involvement have significant effects on internal integration. Internal integration has a significant effect on operational performance. In addition, internal integration partially mediates the relationship between customer and supplier involvement and operational performance.

First, the relative effectiveness of external involvement may be contingent on various factors (e.g. involvement timing and innovation strategy). Second, the authors did not identify the different effects of external involvement practices on different dimensions of operational performance. Finally, the hypothesized relationships may be different across different firm sizes, ownership types, industries or regions.

Customer and supplier involvement are both important for improving organizational performance, which provides guidelines for managers to innovate business model in the product development process. Moreover, this study suggests that firms will not be able to capitalize on the capability of their customers or suppliers unless they are able to build high level of internal integration.

This study provides support for both organizational learning theory and information processing theory. This study also contributes to external involvement literature by examining both the direct and indirect effects of external involvement on operational performance.

Based on the resource-based view and organizational capability theory, we examine the effect of information technology (IT) on company performance through supply chain integration (SCI) from the upstream and downstream perspective of the whole supply chain.

Based on data collected from 296 cross-border e-commerce (CBE) companies in China, we used structural equation modeling with LISREL to test the conceptual model.

The results show that supplier and customer IT significantly promote supplier and customer system and process integration. Supplier system and process integration enhance operational performance. Meanwhile, IT indirectly affects financial performance through operational performance. Customer system integration has positive effects on operational and financial performance, with an indirect effect on financial performance through operational performance. However, customer process integration only improves financial performance.

We only use cross-sectional data from Zhejiang province of China to investigate relationships of related constructs. Future studies can also use longitudinal data in combination with secondary data from other provinces, regions and countries.

The results provide important managerial insights for CBE companies to sustain their competitive advantages by improving their performances through IT and SCI practices throughout the upstream and downstream data-driven supply chain.

This study contributes to the IT and SCI literature by exploring the effectiveness of IT in improving SCI and company performance from the upstream and downstream perspective and the perspective of IT.

This study aims to examine the impacts of the novelty-centered business model design (NBMD) and efficiency-centered business model design (EBMD) on mass customization capability (MCC), as well as the mediating role of supply chain integration.

Using survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturing firms, we test the hypothesized relationships by conducting structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that both NBMD and EBMD have significantly positive impacts on product-oriented MCC and service-oriented MCC. In addition, three dimensions of supply chain integration play different mediating roles in the relationship between BMD and MCC. Specifically, relational integration partially mediates the impacts of NBMD and EBMD on service-oriented MCC, information integration partially mediates the impact of NBMD on product-oriented MCC and service-oriented MCC and operational integration partially mediates the impact of NBMD and EBMD on product-oriented MCC.

This study opens the “black box” in the relationship between business model design and MCC, which offers insights on the complex process of supply chain integration and considers business ecosystem for operational performance.

Many leisure boat manufacturers have thrived on designing and building highly customized boats based on longstanding traditions of craftsmanship. To achieve efficient value chains, it is not enough to optimize each process step, but also important to achieve a smooth flow through the dependencies between each process steps. The purpose of this paper is to focus on assessing enablers and disablers for operational integration in a craft-oriented small enterprise.

One case company has been studied, to identify enablers and disablers for operational integration in the value chain. The research methodology is based on semi-structured interviews with selected persons from different levels within the company.

The results indicate the importance of management promotion and support of integration and a strong relationship between foremen and operators. Furthermore, to avoid functional myopias, mechanisms to encourage horizontal integration could be useful. Small company and informal culture make integration easier. However, to further establish a common standardized platform, could be necessary. Even small physical barriers in the layout were experienced to affect the integration negatively.

This has been an exploratory study of one single craft-oriented enterprise; hence it is difficult to generalize.

Based on empirical findings from the case study, recommendations on how to achieve better operational integration will be presented.

The research initiative provides knowledge experience of operational integration from a case study in one company within craft and artisan sector in Norway.