The Relationship Between Strategic Supply Chain Integration and Performance: A Meta‐Analytic Evaluation and Implications for Supply Chain Management Research

Abstract

A lthough research evaluating the impact of supply chain integration on performance has advanced substantially in the last decade, inconsistency and considerable variability of empirical findings leave unanswered questions for both research and practice. Using a meta-analysis, we examine empirical studies to clarify the actual relationship, suggest new directions, and ultimately contribute toward the development of supply chain management theory. We focus on "strategic" supply chain integration rather than on functional or operational/tactical studies, which would weaken the practical value of the analysis and findings. To ascertain focus and homogeneity of the sample, we adopt a rigorous search protocol and sample construction. We find that integration-performance relationships are complex and nuanced such that integration should not be universally viewed as improving performance. We identify relationships that are more generalizable and also those that need additional scrutiny. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings and provide directions for future research.

Investigating the Path from Supply Chain Integration to Business Performance: Evidence from a Sub-Saharan African Economy

“…For example, the inter-variable correlational results (Table 2) indicate that manufacturing firms, firms with dedicated SC units, larger in size, and have longer industry experience do better in pursuing SCI. And thus it can be said that these factors could be antecedents of SCI and or serve as contingent factors in the link between SCI and business performance (Mackelprang et al, 2014). However this present study did not focus on investigating into these propositions.…”

“…Business performance outcomes of SCI has been discussed in previous literature (see Fabbe-Costes & Jahre, 2008;Mackelprang et al, 2014) as a multi-faceted construct, and often construed as comprising of operational, marketing and financial performance criteria. Along this line, this study conceives business performance as a broader construct, comprising of value creation and financial performance outcomes.…”

“…Over the years, literature has undermined and been unspecific in defining and conceptualizing SCI (Mackelprang et al, 2014), and thus making the concept unclear. This has invoked numerous questions on the concept (see for e.g., Fabbe-Costes & Jahre, 2006;Fabbe-Costes & Jahre, 2008;Vaart & Donk, 2008;Flynn et al, 2010;Leuschner et al, 2012) and it is believed that the incomplete definition of the concept has partly accounted for the inconsistencies in previous research findings (Flynn et al, 2010).…”

Environmental Sustainability as a Source of Product Innovation: The Role of Governance Mechanisms in Manufacturing Firms

“…These early studies initiated the theoretical investigations of how to leverage ES for innovation, but are associated with several limitations to serve as 'hands-on' guidelines. First, supply chain integration and corporate culture are still arguably vague concepts, due to their multi-level/scope definitions [30,31]. From the company's standpoint, therefore, it will not be an easy task to understand where they could start or what exact actions are needed.…”

The Risk Elasticity Measure Index Exploration of Supply Chain and Mechanism Research

“…The development of the company there are three main methods: elastic increase redundancy, establishing flexible and changing corporate culture. The utility of adding redundancy is limited, and the crucial role of flexibility and enterprise culture [9,10].…”