Assessing the impact of business uncertainty on supply chain integration

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose: The main objective of this study is to investigate how business uncertainty affects the implementation of supply chain integration. More importantly, this research divides business uncertainty into four dimensions and supply chain integration into three dimensions to examine the role of each dimension. In addition, it investigates the moderating effects of manufacturing approaches, such as push and pull, in the relationship between supply chain integration and performance.Design/Methodology/Approach: Through a structured survey, this study collected 259 responses from supply executives, and supply and purchasing managers of US manufacturing firms. The empirical data analysis was done by using the partial least squares technique. Findings:The results empirically support the findings that business uncertainty positively affects implementation of supply chain integration. Among the four dimensions of business uncertainty, dynamism and hostility significantly affect implementation of internal integration, integration with suppliers, and integration with customers. In addition, manufacturing approaches, such as push and pull, have a moderating effect on the relationship between supply chain integration and performance. Research limitations/Implications:This study collected survey responses from a manufacturing firm in the supply chain to assist managers to find a solution while dealing with business uncertainty through the implementation of supply chain integration. It also emphasizes manufacturing approaches, such as push and pull, in implementing supply chain integration to improve performance. Thus, supply and purchasing managers should consider the business uncertainty that they are dealing with while developing their supply chain strategy.Originality/Value: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to provide meaningful insights on the effects of supply chain integration toward dealing with business uncertainty. More importantly, by dividing the dimensions of business uncertainty and supply chain integration, this study presents empirical evidence of the significant role of supply chain practices in uncertain business conditions. In addition, this study add...

The impact of interwoven integration practices on supply chain value addition and firm performance

“…A significant stream of research has pertained to a higher level of SC integration with increased SC responsiveness and superior performance. Kim and Chai (2016) identified business uncertainty as the primary cause of raising the need to explore and evaluate each type of SC integration for survival in highly competitive environments, while Zhu et al (2017) identified SC integration as a risk management strategy. Frohlich and Westbrook's (2001) presented a framework of "arcs of integration" which conceptualizes customers and suppliers' integration and measured performance.…”

Value Stream Mapping in Enhancing Operational Performance of Ghanaian Food ProcessingIndustry: Mediating Role of Supply Chain Collaboration

“…Moreso, Xu, Huo and Sun (2014) penned significant relationship between intra-organizational variable such top management support (TMS) and information technology (IT) influence supply chain integration (supplier and customer; information and involvement), which eventually affect business performance, even though both supplier and customer collaboration exert their influence in different ways. Kim and Chai (2016) reveal a positive relationship between internal and external chain collaboration on firms performance especially where changes in the market (dynamisms) and competition in the market (hostility) are very intense. Additionally, Cui and Wu (2016) postulate that SCC (firm-customer)ensures dissemination of important knowledge and information on product and process, which can lead to improvement in productivity product quality as well as market share.…”

Manufacturing and Supply Chain Flexibility: Building an Integrative Conceptual Model Through Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

“…Much of the work within this line examines, either theoretically (Garavelli 2003;Sawhney 2006) or through case studies (Scavarda et al 2015;Simangunsong et al 2016), how match the different flexibility strategies adopted by SC partners in response to various types of business uncertainties (Candace et al 2011). The limited quantitative studies explore either the direct (Wang et al 2006;Nagarajan et al 2013;Kim and Chai 2016) or the moderating (Wong et al 2011;Qu et al 2014) effects of business uncertainty on the MSCF-performance relationship, as well as the development of MSCF capability to respond to dynamic and turbulent environments (Zhang et al 2005;Lim et al 2010;. Theoretically, these quantitative studies tend to build on contingency theory (Wong et al 2011;Kim and Chai 2016) or Resource Based View (Zhang et al 2005;Sawhney 2006;Nagarajan et al 2013).…”

“…The limited quantitative studies explore either the direct (Wang et al 2006;Nagarajan et al 2013;Kim and Chai 2016) or the moderating (Wong et al 2011;Qu et al 2014) effects of business uncertainty on the MSCF-performance relationship, as well as the development of MSCF capability to respond to dynamic and turbulent environments (Zhang et al 2005;Lim et al 2010;. Theoretically, these quantitative studies tend to build on contingency theory (Wong et al 2011;Kim and Chai 2016) or Resource Based View (Zhang et al 2005;Sawhney 2006;Nagarajan et al 2013). This stream highlights the importance of matching flexibility strategies to the business uncertainty experienced (Candace et al 2011;Fayezi et al 2014).…”

“…inter-organizational uncertainty/risks); and finally, external uncertainties, which are outside a company's direct control. While the MSCF literature has investigated some of intra-organizational or external uncertainties such as those driven by business context including suppliers and customers (Nagarajan et al 2013;Kim and Chai 2016), other types of uncertainties have received insufficient attention, including human resource management practices (Lim et al 2010), management style (Lin 2003), business culture (Lim et al 2012), parallel interaction, partnerships quality and dependence (Chang and Huang 2012), knowledge ambiguity (Rojo et al 2016;Tse et al 2016), company's financial position (Bandaly et al 2012), customs dues (Braunscheidel and Suresh 2009) or country legislations (Fredriksson 2014). Furthermore, these uncertainties also need to be considered in relation to each other within the context of flexibility for two reasons.…”