Search results

This paper examines the nexus between supply chain social capital (relational social capital and structural social capital), supply chain responsiveness (operations system responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness) and firm performance. Additionally, the study examines the mediating role of supply chain responsiveness on the relationship between supply chain social capital and firm performance.

The authors test their hypotheses on a sample of 120 firms operating in Ghana. The measurement model and hypothesized paths were assessed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The findings revealed that structural social capital had a significant direct effect on firm performance, but relational social capital did not. It was also revealed that both relational and structural social capital have significant effects on operations system responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness. Additionally, operations system responsiveness fully mediated the effect of relational social capital on firm performance and partially mediated the effect of structural social capital on firm performance. Supplier network responsiveness, on the other hand, partially mediated the effect of both relational and structural social capital on firm performance.

This study contributes to the limited literature on supply chain social capital by unearthing the mechanisms through which supply chain social capital enhances firm performance. Specifically, the study demonstrates the intervening role of operations system responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness in the supply chain social capital–firm performance link.

The purpose of this paper is to review existing research on retail supply chain responsiveness, develop categories to be included in a retail-specific responsiveness framework, and identify future research areas within the scope of retail supply chain responsiveness.

This paper presents an inductive systematic literature review of 46 academic, peer-reviewed articles. Based around the two major review questions on retailers’ role in the creation of supply chain responsiveness and future research areas, an inductive, qualitative, content analysis was conducted. Further analysis was conducted by using the software NVivo 11.

Existing research are grouped into a framework of four categories that together span the existing research. The categories are labelled supply chain orchestration, market orientation, supply chain operations and supply management. Two to three subthemes in each category are presented. Thereafter, promising future research areas are outlined, covering methodological issues, theoretical underpinnings, inclusion of context variables and outcomes of retail supply chain responsiveness.

The conducted systematic literature review has been limited to academic, peer-reviewed articles.

The findings of the paper constitute a promising initial step towards a retail-specific framework on retail supply chain responsiveness.

The paper questions the comprehensiveness of established models in responsiveness, and argues that existing “general” literature on supply chain responsiveness gives little guidance and structure to retailers’ specific role and involvement in supply chain responsiveness. In particular, the paper focusses on the retailers’ role for creation of supply chain responsiveness, which has not previously been addressed in research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the moderating effect of uncertainty impacts the relationship of operational responsiveness and firm performance. Research on the relationship of supply chain fit and firm performance is discussed in isolation in different streams of research – such as in studies on responsiveness, agility, flexibility, efficiency and lean – without promptly recognising cross-stream contributions. This, at worst, prevents theory development. Therefore, the authors build a synthesis of literature from these streams. Grounded in the synthesis, a well-positioned empirical study that uses best research practices of past studies on the phenomenon is presented.

A cross-sectional survey sample of 875 Russian manufacturing firms was analysed with hierarchical regression.

The findings show that operational responsiveness leads to superior organisational performance if the relationship is moderated by uncertainty and supply chain responsiveness. Additionally, a direct relationship between operational responsiveness and operational performance was found. These results imply that efficiency is a precursor to responsiveness.

This paper contributes to the unification of practice–performance studies on lean, agility, flexibility, efficiency and responsiveness into a single stream of research: supply chain fit. The empirical results support contingency theory in the context of supply chain design. This paper also contributes by shedding light on supply chain dynamics of an under-researched national context. For managers, this paper offers concrete advice on decision-making regarding supply chain strategy trade-offs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of strategic supplier partnership and customer relationship on supply chain responsiveness and then to analyse the influence of supply chain responsiveness on operational performance in the manufacturing industry in India. In addition to that, this study also investigates the moderating effects of demand uncertainty on the relationship between strategic supplier partnership–supply chain responsiveness and customer relationship–supply chain responsiveness.

A structured self-administered questionnaire was developed to collect data from manufacturing companies in India. This study performed the structural equation modelling and moderated regression for testing the hypotheses after ensuring the validity and reliability of identified constructs.

Strategic supplier partnership and customer relationship positively influence supply chain responsiveness, and supply chain responsiveness also positively impacts operational performance. In addition to that, demand uncertainty negatively moderates the relationship between strategic supplier partnership and supply chain responsiveness. However, demand uncertainty does not significantly affect the relationship between customer relationship and supply chain responsiveness.

Strategic supplier partnership and customer relationship are firstly investigated as antecedents of supply chain responsiveness. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine the moderating effect of demand uncertainty on the relationship between supply chain practices (strategic supplier partnership and customer relationship) and supply chain responsiveness.

The study examines how supply chain responsiveness (logistics process responsiveness, operations systems responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness) impacts the ability of firms to attract, satisfy and retain customers.

Using a quantitative approach, a total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to firms in the Kumasi metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, with 100 useable responses retrieved. The effect of supply chain responsiveness on customer development was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The findings showed that operations systems responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness drive the logistics systems responsiveness of firms as hypothesized. It was also revealed that operations systems responsiveness and logistics process responsiveness enhanced customer development, but supplier network responsiveness did not. Logistics process responsiveness additionally partially mediated the effect of operations systems responsiveness on customer development.

To the best of the researchers' knowledge, no previous studies have empirically examined interrelationships between the dimensions of supply chain responsiveness. Additionally, no previous study has examined the effect of supply chain responsiveness on customer development.

The automotive industry appears to overcome much of its obstacles, despite the constant struggle facing COVID-19. The pandemic has resulted in significant improvements in the habits and conduct of consumers. There is an increased preference for personal mobility. In this dynamic environment with unexpected changes and high market rivalry, automotive supply chains focus more on executing responsive strategies with minimum costs. This paper aims to identify and model the drivers to the responsiveness of automotive supply chain.

Seventeen drivers for supply chain responsiveness have been identified from the extensive literature, expert interview. An integrated methodology of fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory–interpretive structural modelling (DEMATEL–ISM) is developed to establish the interrelationship between the drivers. The cause–effect relationship between the drivers was obtained through fuzzy DEMATEL technique, and a hierarchical structure of the drivers was developed using the ISM technique.

The result of the integrated methodology revealed that strategic decision-making of management, accurate forecasting of demand, advanced manufacturing system in the organisation and data integration tools are the critical drivers.

This study has conceptual and analytical limitations. In this study, a limited number of drivers are examined for supply chain responsiveness. Further research may examine the role of other key performance indicators in the broad field of responsiveness in the automotive supply chain or other industry sectors. Future study can uncover the interrelationships and relative relevance of indicators using advanced multi-criteria decision-making methodologies.

The authors proposed an integrated methodology that will be benefitted to the supply chain practitioners and automotive manufacturers to develop management strategies to improve responsiveness. This study further helps to compare the responsiveness of the supply chain between various automotive manufacturers.

While the concept of supply chain responsiveness (SCR) has received considerable attention in the operations management literature, mostly under the auspices of concepts such as build‐to‐order, mass customisation, lean and agility, so far there is a lack of comprehensive definition of SCR, as well as a defined relationship between “responsiveness” and “flexibility”. Also, the frameworks at hand tend to consider only a subset of factors previously identified in the literature, and thus do not comprehensively portray the cause‐and‐effect relationships involved. This paper aims to address these gaps.

The paper synthesises the existing contributions to manufacturing and supply chain flexibility and responsiveness, and draws on various related bodies of literature that affect a supply chain's responsiveness such as the discussion of product architecture and modularisation.

Four types of responsiveness are identified: product, volume, mix, and delivery, all of which can relate to different time horizons, and can be present as either potential or demonstrated responsiveness. It is argued that a supply chain can feature different levels of responsiveness at different tiers, depending on the configuration of the individual nodes, as well as the integration thereof. Furthermore, a holistic framework is proposed, distinguishing between requiring and enabling factors for responsiveness, identifying the key relationships within and between these two categories.

The definition and framework proposed provide novel insights into the concept of SCR as well as a clear terminology that will inform future research. The framework developed in this paper is suitable for both qualitative and holistic quantitative studies.

In addition to a detailed review of the factors associated with SCR, a generic definition of responsiveness is developed. The paper proposes a definition of four types of responsiveness which will support further empirical studies into the concept and its application. Furthermore, a holistic framework is developed that allows for cause‐and‐effect relationships to be investigated and dependencies to be identified.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of strategic supplier partnership and postponement respectively, on the relation between lean and agile supply chain strategy and supply chain responsiveness. Also, the authors look at the relation between supply chain responsiveness and firm performance.

Applying the strategic-choice theory and the resource-based view of firms to the supply chain, the authors develop a research model to demonstrate the premise that implementing proper supply chain practices to support and execute supply chain strategy will enhance the responsiveness of the supply chain and the performance of the focal firm. The study utilizes survey data from 205 senior executives and managers in the purchasing and supply chain functions from manufacturing firms in the USA. The results are based on covariance-based analysis and structural equation modeling using AMOS software.

The study finds that strategic supplier partnership fully mediates the relationship between a lean supply chain strategy and supply chain responsiveness, and that postponement partially mediates the relationship between an agile supply chain strategy and supply chain responsiveness. It is also shown that supply chain responsiveness is associated with enhanced firm performance.

For supply chain practitioners, the results indicate that firms benefit greatly if they consider the resources of their supply chain, such as postponement and strategic supplier partnership in conjunction with their supply chain strategy and that such a matching yields improved supply chain responsiveness and firm performance.

The paper theoretically develops logic for and empirically shows that strategic supplier partnership and postponement are appropriate practices for mediating the impact of lean and agile supply chain strategies, respectively, on supply chain responsiveness. Considered at a higher level of abstraction, these relationships indicate a contribution to theory that explains how supply chain strategy can beget supply chain responsiveness, through the concurrent deployment of appropriately matched supply chain practices.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether responsible purchasing (relational commitment and supplier evaluation) and responsible supply (supplier firm information sharing and supplier performance) affect the two factors of supply chain responsiveness including process efficiency and customer knowledge management capability, which, in turn, affect other three factors of supply chain responsiveness, such as dyadic quality performance, innovation capability and buyer‒supplier relationship improvement.

This study used questionnaire survey and statistical analytical methods. Employing path analysis, this study tested hypothesized relationships using data collected from manufacturers.

The findings of this study support the theorized links. Responsible purchasing and supply enhance supply chain responsiveness, which is reflected through process efficiency, customer knowledge management capability, dyadic quality performance, innovation capability and buyer‒supplier relationship improvement.

Grounded in the goal interdependence theory, this study investigates the effects of responsible purchasing and supply on supply chain responsiveness in the context of Chinese manufacturers. This study offers managerial implications and theoretical contribution.

As measuring returns on intangible assets has become more and more crucial in the contemporary business environment, this study seeks to explore the impact of a firm's supply‐chain specific intangible assets on firm performance, drawing on the dynamic capabilities view of the firm.

As an exploratory study that links supply chain activities with firm brand, the study investigates how a firm's supply chain characteristics, such as interfirm activity integration, interfirm system integration, and supply chain responsiveness, affect brand equity and ultimately firm performance, based on responses from 184 US supply chain managers.

The results of the study indicate that both interfirm system integration and supply chain responsiveness have a direct positive effect on brand equity. However, the effect of interfirm activity integration on brand equity is totally mediated by supply chain responsiveness.

The study relied on a single informant from each business unit in testing the study framework, investigating a selected few supply chain specific antecedents of brand equity only. The supply chain specific characteristics of the firm the study explored deserve more research attention in the literature as they directly or indirectly help enhance brand equity. Supply chain integration is multidimensional: interfirm activity integration and interfirm system integration. The effect of interfirm activity integration on brand equity is totally mediated by supply chain responsiveness.

Managers should understand the importance of their supply chain activities in improving and managing brand equity.

The study explores supply chain specific antecedents of a firm's brand equity for the first time.