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The present manuscript assesses how firms should manage frequent supply chain disruption triggers and whether these firms should use existing supply chain competencies, develop new ones or both to mitigate any adverse consequences on financial performance.

Data for the study come from a survey administered to professionals in India. India was an appropriate base for the study because of its developing economy and businesses often facing SC disruptions in the marketplace.

The findings show that the negative association between the frequency of supply chain disruption triggers and financial performance is weaker when a firm utilizes supply chain exploitation competencies. Conversely, the negative association between the frequency of supply chain disruption triggers and financial performance becomes stronger when using supply chain exploration competencies. Most significantly, however, the authors show that a strategy of supply chain ambidexterity – one that combines both exploitation and exploration practices – is more beneficial in mitigating the impact of frequent disruption triggers on firm financial performance compared to the other strategies.

These findings contribute to the literature, extending the benefits of ambidexterity beyond domains of innovation, manufacturing flexibility, competitiveness and firm performance to include mitigation of supply chain disruptions.

The study examined the influence of small and medium enterprise (SME) owner-managers' managerial competencies on supply chain performance, the mediation role of information quality on the SME owner-managers' managerial competencies and supply chain performance relationship, the mediating role of information quality on the information sharing and supply chain performance relationship and the mediating role of both information sharing and information quality on SME owner-managers' managerial competences and supply chain performance relationship.

Data were collected from SME agro-processing firms. The determined sample size for the agro-processing firms was 200, while an effective sample size of 177 was obtained. The Covariance Structural Equation Modelling software was used to obtain results on the influence of SME owner-managers' managerial competencies on supply chain performance, the mediation role of information quality on the SME owner-managers' managerial competencies and supply chain performance relationship, the mediating role of information quality on the information sharing and supply chain performance relationship and the mediating role of both information sharing and information quality on SME owner-managers' managerial competences and supply chain performance relationship.

Findings indicated that a positive significant influence of SME owner-managers' managerial competencies on supply chain performance and the presence of partial mediation effects when the mediating role of information quality in the SME owner-managers' managerial competencies and supply chain performance relationship and the information sharing and supply chain performance relationship is tested. Also, a partial mediating role of information sharing and information quality is obtained in the SME owner-managers' managerial competencies and supply chain performance relationship.

The study mainly focused on SME agro-processing firms eliminating other SME manufacturing firms. Also, the research employed a wholistic approach when studying the SME agro-processing firms without focusing on how SME owner-managers' managerial competencies would affect information sharing, information quality and supply chain performance based on the market type (local or foreign) and the source of raw materials (local or foreign) and the impact of information sharing on information quality hasn't been given significant attention in the existing literature.

The research focused on the mediation role of quality of information shared by SME owner-managers in the relationship between information sharing and supply chain performance, the mediating role of information quality in the SME owner-managers' managerial competencies and supply chain performance and the mediating role of both SME owner-manager's information sharing and quality of information shared in the relationship between SME owner-managers' managerial competences and supply chain performance. These mediation effects haven't been given significant attention in previous research. Further, while information sharing and information quality have been studied, they have been studied at a supply chain level, not at a managerial level.

The relationship between supply chain management (SCM) competency and firm performance is not well established empirically. This is largely because proven metrics for quantifying the effects of SCM are scarce. Drawing on the strategic managerial concept of supply chain orientation as a source of competitive advantage, this paper aims to apply three independent sources of secondary data to examine the influence of SCM competency on two important firm performance metrics: customer satisfaction and shareholder value.

SCM competency is assessed with data from the expert opinion element of Gartner Supply Chain Group's (formerly AMR Research) supply chain top 25 rankings; the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) database and the recently developed Economic Value Added (EVA) Momentum financial metric are utilized as outcome measures.

Firms recognized by peers and experts for superior SCM competency exhibit higher levels of customer satisfaction and shareholder value than their respective industry averages.

Further evidence is required to prove causality does exist between these variables. Limitations associated with the use of secondary data restricted the number of top performer firms available for this analysis. Nevertheless, the strong correlations found between SCM competency and two critical firm performance metrics may help senior managers and managers from other functional areas to better understand potential advantages associated with developing greater SCM competency.

The assessment of two metrics that differentiate top SCM performers from their industry competitors may also help SCM professionals to better convey the impact of SCM competency to non‐supply chain managers and external participants in the supply chain whose support and cooperation are critical to the success of process improvement initiatives.

In addition to the study findings, blending qualitative expert opinion, formal customer satisfaction and quantitative financial performance secondary data represents a relatively novel and informative method that responds to contentions that different approaches should be employed to develop a more holistic understanding of SCM.

According to the most recent theories, the competitiveness of organizations is based on the development of competencies. Core competencies result from greater mastery than competitors of organizational abilities valued by customers. This paper seeks to investigate how a more thorough integration of the supply chain may be associated with greater mastery of operational competencies.

The study is based on a mail survey carried out among Canadian manufacturing companies.

The statistical analyses identified four clusters of respondents with regard to their supply chain management practices. These practices may be either distant or integrated with upstream or downstream partners. The other component of the study made it possible to identify four operational competencies – i.e. cost, delivery, logistic services, and design. It was observed that the group with the most highly integrated supply practices mastered an operational competency in logistic services.

The limited size of the sample and its regional character may limit the generalization of results. The study will therefore be reproduced in other regions of the world.

Very little research has been done on the impact of supply chain management on operational competencies. Using the results of an empirical study, the paper provides a better understanding of the relationship between supply chain management practices and the development of operational competencies. It also offers a somewhat different view of the concept of supply chain integration.

This research aims to understand how competencies for supply chain professionals are developed and how they can affect the manager's performance, especially the manager's resilience in times of significant supply chain disruptions.

A research model was developed based on a comprehensive literature survey in the area of individual competencies grounded in the knowledge-based view of the firm. We tested our research model using a quantitative, survey-based study with a sample of 175 Pakistani supply chain managers. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM).

The analysis identified corporate training and knowledge sharing as the main antecedents of supply chain professional's competencies. It also showed that these competencies result in higher performance in the form manager's resilience and job performance.

This study provides a valuable framework for organisations to focus on skill-developing training and promoting a knowledge-sharing culture among employees to achieve desired performance levels.

This study is unique as no prior research studied such a comprehensive model of antecedents and consequences of supply chain professionals' competencies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all manufacturing sectors from basic products to luxury goods including the automobile industry. This has necessitated a new line of research on competency building, transparency, and sustainability in automotive supply chains. In this study, the authors examine the competencies required to improve the automotive supply chain routine operations to address the parts supply crisis from multitier suppliers in the post-COVID-19 environment. The authors also propose a list of competencies required in the automotive supply chains to deploy the transparency for sustainability (TfS) framework on a long-term basis.

The authors have adapted a cross-case study process using intervention-based research and a design science approach for use in this study and used multiple sources for data collection such as published literature, operational experience, and critical opinions of original equipment manufacturer representatives. The research design includes interviews with global OEMs practitioners as one of the relevant sources of information.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak on automotive manufacturing operations and global supply chains is unprecedented. The TfS framework cycle has been validated using the real-world semiconductor supply crisis which deals with multitier sustainable supply chain management (MTSSCM), and the authors found that there are competency gaps when compared with existing literature. The list of key competencies identified along with the formulation of design propositions to facilitate both the supply crisis and collaboration among automotive firms to enhance their business performance were also presented.

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the automobile sector significantly. This situation has created many opportunities and obstacles, but this paper only considers the automotive semi-conductor shortage situation, which may be resolved in the near future when there are more installed capacities. Therefore, it is unclear whether the proposed responses will result in long-term solutions. Further adjustments may be needed to revisit the TfS framework. The research paper only addresses the automotive side of the current supply crisis, but more sustainability issues may arise in the future, which need to be dealt with separately.

Research findings may prove particularly interesting to global automotive vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and policy makers who are seeking to understand multitier supply networks to resolve the current challenges associated with the post-COVID-19 pandemic situation.

In addition to contributing to developing competency requirements, this study enhances the evolving research stream of MTSSCM by linking it to wider research applications of intervention-based research coupled with design science.

The present study conceptualizes and examines the interplay of transformational leadership, ambidexterity and wireless information technology (IT) competency for enhancing innovative capability.

Drawing primarily on the knowledge-based and dynamic capabilities view theory, the present study explored supply chains of a large global apparel company and their effect on innovative capability through a mixed methods approach.

The results show that transformational leaders strongly influence the development of ambidexterity and enhance radical innovative capability through wireless IT competency.

The results of this study suggest that supply chain integration through transformational leadership and wireless IT competency can promote simultaneous exploration and exploitation to enhance innovation.

The growth of cloud and/or virtual supply chains facilitated by digital wireless communications and Internet technology is advancing logistics and supply chain innovations. With increasing global competition, digitalized supply chains and ever-growing environmental uncertainty, leadership traits, especially transformational leadership and ambidextrous leaders, can be major contributing factors for successful development of wireless IT competency to support innovative capability.

Wireless IT competency facilitates knowledge integration particularly for combining prior internal knowledge of exploitative innovation with new external knowledge to develop explorative innovation.

This study empirically examines a model that describes the direct path from perceived understanding of supply chain integration (PUSCI) to perceived understanding of supply chain responsiveness (PUSCR) to leverage supply chain manager's communication and teamwork competencies. This study also examines whether knowledge and task skill and proficiency mediate the relationship between PUSCI and PUSCR to improve the communication and teamwork competency of a supply chain manager.

The data were collected using a survey questionnaire that was mailed to the 413 supply chain managers of global manufacturing companies in Indonesia.

The result from model testing shows that PUSCR significantly and positively affected the communication and teamwork competency of supply chain manager and knowledge, task skill and proficiency as mediating variables improved communication and teamwork competency. The results found that PUSCI was related to supply chain manager's competency.

Supply chain managers are advised to focus on PUSCI and consistently improve effective communication and teamwork competency.

This study will extend the literature by utilizing the competency-based theory to investigate the perceived understanding and communication capabilities of supply chain managers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of collaboration and information technology (IT) on the reverse logistics competency of firms. Through collaboration firms can improve their ability to handle returns, but this research introduces IT as providing a moderating influence over the impact of collaboration in the advancement of a reverse logistics competency.

A survey was administered to employees involved with supply chain relationships. Empirical evidence from 267 respondents is analyzed with structural equation modeling.

Support is found for the positive moderating influence of an IT competency on the relationship between collaboration and a reverse logistics competency. Additional benefits for logistics performance are also realized.

This research provides theoretical implications for the development of a reverse logistics competency through an application of resource-based theory/resource-based view of the firm. The study is limited to the selected research questions and sample of predominantly US firms.

This research assists managers as they attempt to develop a reverse logistics competency to address the growing problem of returns through collaboration with supply chain members and the development of an IT competency.

The framework developed in this research provides insights regarding the handling of product returns. Specifically, the moderating influence of an IT competency is addressed as it enhances the impact of collaboration on the development of a reverse logistics competency.

The purpose of this paper is to describe collaboration between businesses, universities and industry associations in Australia with the aim of developing an appropriate set of competencies for supply chain professionals.

Three related initiatives are described involving questionnaire surveys (Initiatives 1 and 3) and a series of meetings involving representatives from businesses, universities and industry associations (Initiative 2).

Initiative 1 identifies that although supply chain professionals in Australia are highly educated, they had limited training in relation to supply chain management. Initiative 2 developed a set of 20 competencies for supply chain professionals and their importance was then assessed in Initiative 3. Generally, high importance is highlighted for the set of competencies. Maintaining momentum of the collaboration is identified as a challenge.

One specific limitation is the somewhat low response rates achieved for the two questionnaire surveys conducted: 15 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively. Australia is unique in many respects; hence generalisation of the findings is limited.

The paper identifies Australian industry needs reflected in the set of competencies developed. The paper highlights the value of collaboration between business, universities/colleges and industry associations.

This paper identifies a set of supply chain competencies considered highly important by supply chain professionals in Australia. These can be used by academic institutions in developing future programs, by businesses for assessing performance of supply chain professionals that they employ and by industry associations in developing appropriate services for their members.