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The purpose of this research is to identify the shape of the interactive relationship between corporate competitive capability and supply chain operational capability for performance improvement, and to investigate the effects of supply chain (SC) integration on such interactive relationships.

Separate moderated regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses of interest in this study on each of three SC integration groups: the independent operation group, the internal integration group, and the external integration group. Three models present the hierarchical addition of items addressing proposed corporate competitive capabilities, SC operational capabilities, and interacting effects, respectively.

The effect of interaction between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability on performance improvement becomes insignificant as the developmental stage of SC integration increases. In other words, in firms with a high level of internal integration or external integration, such integration substitutes for the role of the interaction effect between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability on performance improvement.

In order to characterize more precisely the dynamic positioning of a firm's SCM strategy this paper suggests detailed analyses of structural relationships among the constructs relating to corporate SCM initiatives, SC functional initiatives, performance measures, and the SC integration level are required. For this, replication of the study described in this paper with a sample of the US and European firms would be helpful.

Performance accumulation from customer satisfaction through market‐based performance to financial performance according to the developmental stage of SC integration suggests the migration path of matching type between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability from differentiation/customer service capabilities‐logistical capability through innovative marketing capability‐technological capability to cost leadership capability‐structural capability. Such a migration path can be a lever for establishing the dynamic positioning of a firm's SCM strategy.

This research identified the shape of the interactive relationship between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability for performance improvement and investigated the effects of SC integration on such interactive relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential role of innovativeness in determining supply chain (SC) integration and to foster the SC performance of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The study also proposes that the SC integration–performance relationship is contingent to the degree of environmental uncertainty (EU).

The data were collected from 321 manufacturing SMEs working in Pakistan. Respondents were owners/CEOs/managers of the firms. Considering the formative nature of indicators of SC efficiency and effectiveness, partial least square-based structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data.

The results indicate that innovativeness positively influences the dimensions of SC integration which in turn affects SC efficiency and effectiveness. The results support the presence of moderation for the relationship between the dimensions of both SC integration and performance. The findings suggest that firms should endeavor to accomplish innovativeness and SC integration, as they jointly promote SC performance.

SMEs can use innovativeness as an important tool to increase SC integration and SC performance. For SMEs with a highly volatile and dynamic environment, managers should achieve SC integration and include external integration orientation at the strategic level in order to reap the greatest advantages from SC integration.

This study contributes to the SC literature by exploring the effect of the nascent determinant (innovativeness) of SC practices and performance to expand and deepen current understanding of the potential role of innovativeness in the SC context. Furthermore, considering EU as a moderator opens up new avenues of research to elucidate the SC integration–performance nexus in the emerging market context.

This paper aims to investigate the interlinks between different forms of organisational culture (OC), supply chain (SC) integration, green supply chain management (GSCM) practices. It adopts a green human resource management (GHRM) perspective on knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) dynamics to shed light on the drivers that facilitate the implementation of green practices along with the SC.

The study adopts a quantitative approach through a survey administered to 381 formally appointed Italian SC managers, combining two methodological approaches, namely, the collection of self-reported information regarding the perceived OC, SC integration and GSCM practices in respondent’s organisations and an experimental design aimed at collecting the expected links between GHRM and the firm’s performance in different neutral conditions.

The results highlight that it is necessary to observe the disaggregated paths that link the different types of OC and dimensions of SC integration to benefit from a path-specific rationale for each GSCM practice. Insights on how different dimensions of SC integration mediate the relations between different OCs and GSCM practices, in the light of the role played by KSAs in the pursuit of the firm’s sustainable performance, reveal the relative importance of establishing strong relationships with customers and among the actors involved in the production process.

This paper provides directions for collaboration among SC and HR managers in the pursuit of GSCM.

This paper adopts an original classification of both OC and SC integration, identifying the existence of previously unrevealed nexuses. Additionally, it provides an original contribution to the extant literature by separately analysing each GSCM practice and, thus, offering detailed insights on their drivers.

Effective mass customization (MC) depends on accurately identifying customer needs and procuring appropriate components from supply base to manufacture the required product configurations in a timely manner. In essence, effective MC for a focal firm is contingent on effective supply chain management. However, extant literature is not very clear on how supply chain (SC) planning and integration activities affect MC. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap by examining the impacts of SC-planning and SC-integration on MC.

Organizational information processing theory is used to link SC-integration with MC ability, and a link is hypothesized between SC-planning and SC-integration. The structural equation model is then analyzed using data from 262 manufacturing plants.

It is found that SC-integration fully mediates the relationship between SC-planning and MC-ability.

The SC-integration measure is from a focal manufacturer’s standpoint, rather than the standpoint of the entire SC.

The results indicate that using a SC perspective in planning activities helps a focal firm integrate with key stakeholders along the SC, which subsequently helps the firm mass customize. Practitioners should recognize the added importance of SC-planning and SC-integration if they want to mass customize.

This study provides a theoretical foundation for the relationship between SC-integration and MC. It also provides a more comprehensive conceptualization of SC-integration, which includes supplier integration, customer integration, as well as internal functional integration which was neglected in many previous studies.

Due to the rapid increase in environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources, there has been a recent shift in global focus from economic concerns to environmental ones. The purpose of this research is to examine the relevant literature on the use of blockchain technology to promote environmental sustainability through customer integration.

The proposed framework is based on the theoretical lens of systems theory (ST) and knowledge-based view (KBV) theory, and is developed by conducting a systematic literature review of 51 articles, (16) from 2022, (17) from 2021, (10) 2020, (5) 2019, (2) 2018 and (1) from 2017 on blockchain technology (BCT), environmental supply chain performance (ESCP) and customer integration.

Three main propositions are formulated and demonstrated using the developed framework, which shows that BCT has the potential to revolutionize the supply chain from an environmental sustainability perspective through facilitating waste management, reduction of energy consumption and reduction of carbon emissions/pollution. The technology will not only enhance the environmental sustainability but also facilitate customer integration through resolving transparency issues, protecting data/enhancing security, database decentralization, promoting trust and immutability.

The effects of blockchain on supply chain performance has been studied in the past; however, no studies were found which shed light on how BCT can affect ESCP through the mediation of customer integration.

The idea of implementing supply chain management (SCM) principles for the construction industry was embraced by construction stakeholders to enhance the sector's performance. The analysis from the literature revealed that the implementation of SCM in the construction industry enhances the industry's value in terms of cost-saving, time savings, material management, risk management and others. The construction supply chain (CSC) can be managed using the pull or push system. This chapter also discusses the origin and proliferation of SCM into the construction industry. The chapter revealed that the concept of SCM has passed through five different eras: the creation era, the use of ERP, globalisation stage, specialisation stage and electronic stage. The findings from the literature revealed that we are presently in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era. At this stage, the SCM witnesses the adoption of technologies and principles driven by the 4IR. This chapter also revealed that the practice of SCM in the construction industry is centred around integration, collaboration, communication and the structure of the supply chain (SC). The forms and challenges hindering the adoption of these practices were also discussed extensively in this chapter.

This paper aims to focus on systematically analysing and synthesising the extant research published on supply chain integration (SCI) area, given the significance of SCI research area. More specifically, the authors aim to answer three questions: “Q1 – What are the factors (e.g. both driving and inhibiting) that influence SCI?”, “Q2 – What are the key developments (e.g. both in research and industry) in SCI area?” and “Q3 – What are the approaches employed/discussed to integrate supply chains?”. Over the past decade, SCI has gained increasing attention in the supply chain management (SCM) context, both from the practitioners’ perspective and as a research area. In realising the global transformations and competitive business environment, a number of organisations are collaborating with their supply chain (SC) partners, to conduct seamless SC operations.

A systematic and structured literature review is carried out to observe and understand the past trends and extant patterns/themes in the SCI research area, evaluate contributions and summarise knowledge, thereby identifying limitations, implications and potential directions of further research. Thus, to trace the implementation of SCI practices, a profiling approach is used to analyse 293 articles (published in English-speaking peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2013) extracted from the Scopus database. The Systematic Review Approach proposed by Tranfield et al. (2003) was followed to analyse and synthesise the extant literature on SCI area.

The analysis presented in this paper has identified relevant SCI research studies that have contributed to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth to the SCI and SCM area. Each of the 293 papers was examined for achieving the aim and objectives of the research, the method of data collection, the data analysis method and quality measures. While some of the papers provided information on all of these categories, most of them failed to provide all the information, especially for Q2 and Q3 that resulted in 23 and 21 papers, respectively.

This study would have benefited from the analysis of further journals; however, the analysis of 293 articles from leading journals in the field of operations and SCM was deemed sufficient in scope. Moreover, this research has implications for researchers, journal editors, practitioners, universities and research institutions. It is likely to form the basis and motivation for profiling other database resources and specific operations and SCM-type journals in this area.

This systematic literature review highlights a taxonomy of contextual factors driving and inhibiting SCI for researchers and SC practitioners to refer to while researching or implementing SCI. It also exemplifies some areas for future research, along with the need for researchers to focus on developing more practical techniques for implementing SCI and improving organisational performance.

The prime value and uniqueness of this paper lies in analysing and compiling the existing published material in relation to Q1, Q2 and Q3, including examining other variables (such as yearly publications, geographic location of each publication, type of publication, type of research methods used), which lacks in the recent published five SCI literature review-based articles (by Kim, 2013; Leuschner et al., 2013; Alfalla-Luque et al., 2013; Parente et al., 2008; Fabbe-Costes and Jahre, 2007). This has been achieved by extracting and synthesising existing publications using “Supply Chain Integration” keyword. This paper provides a critique of the conceptual and empirical works in SCI discipline and offers research agendas that can stimulate future researchers to carefully explore the topic.

Despite much research on supply chain (SC) integration and the growing emphasis on recent information technology advancements as an enabler of improved performance, there has been limited research focussed specifically on information integration in supply chains (SCs). The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the literature on information integration in the fresh food supply chain (FFSC) from a holistic perspective.

Literature review is done by systematically collecting and analysing the recent literature to identify various participant entities of the FFSC information network and their specific information needs.

The information needs of FFSC entities are diverse but the needs are common across multiple entities.

This study only reviewed the FFSC-related literature; an extended study of the food industry may reveal a more comprehensive view.

These findings are useful for practitioners in understanding the participant entities in the information network and their information needs and for policymakers in formulating FFSC development initiatives.

The authors are not aware of another study that investigates the FFSC in a holistic approach, one that identifies the actors, their interactions and information needs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of asymmetric environments on collaboration, integration, and performance during supply chain management processes.

The study conducted in the industrial sector of two markets – Spain and Poland – considering disparate behaviors among organizations and their managers. Using data collected from 133 firms and advanced partial least squares regression modeling, a number of direct and moderating effects are hypothesized and tested.

The authors found that existing asymmetry may prevent achievement of optimum equilibrium. Seven of the ten research hypotheses were validated, providing strong support for the significant role that asymmetry can play in managing supply chains (SCs). This result suggests that managers need to consider whether maximum collaboration or integration with SC partners is possible under the strong influence of asymmetry. The findings provide rational insights to SC managers regarding adequate measures to reduce imbalanced relationships and establish equilibrium between partners under varying contexts of collaboration and integration.

This study was conducted in only two countries, so generalizations are limited. Furthermore, there are improvements to be made in sample design to allow for further validation and enhancement of the model and method.

Findings provide rational insights to managers regarding when it is adequate to reduce imbalanced relationships with partners under varying contexts of collaboration and integration.

Collaboration and integration have been well studied in many fields but this research suggests that managers in asymmetric environments must understand that development of strategies based on integration might be impossible to realize.

The purpose of this research is to examine the causal linkages among supply chain management (SCM) practice, competition capability, the level of supply chain (SC) integration, and firm performance.

This is helpful in developing a framework for linking a firm's SC integration strategy to its competitive strategy, and in identifying how such a linkage can be connected to the improvement of organizational performance. Such effort also should enable us to derive a set of recommended strategies of SCM practices for SC integration.

From the results of LISREL analysis on small and large manufacturing firms, this paper finds that, in small firms, efficient SC integration may play a more critical role for sustainable performance improvement, while, in large firms, the close interrelationship between the level of SCM practices and competition capability may have more significant effect on performance improvement. It is concluded that, in early stage, the emphasis on systemic SC integration may be more crucial. Once SC integration has been implemented, it may be advisable to focus on SCM practice and competition capability.

Attempts to show how the potential benefits of integrating supply chain can no longer be ignored.