The triple-a supply chain and strategic resources: developing competitive advantage

Impact of sustainable supply chain management practices on competitive advantage and organizational performance in the manufacturing sector

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices on both competitive advantage (CA) and organizational performance (OP) in the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the study were collected from a sample of 221 manufacturing companies operating in the four manufacturing groups/sectors in Ethiopia. In addition, data analysis was performed using the partial least squares method, which is a variance-based Structural Equation Modeling approach in the Smart-PLS software version (SmartPLS 4.0).

Findings

Based on the statistical analysis of the collected data, it demonstrates that SSCM has a significant and positive impact on both competitive advantage and organizational performance. Furthermore, statistical findings offer proof of the clear connection between competitive advantage and organizational performance. Moreover, competitive advantage indirectly mediates the relationship between SSCM and OP.

Research limitations/implications

The primary limitation of this research is its reliance on a cross-sectional design. The generalizability of the findings obtained from the present study may be hindered. The variable under investigation in this research assessed organizational performance, a concept that is widely acknowledged to be extremely dynamic.

Practical implications

The study provides managers and researchers with valuable information on Sustainable Supply Chain Management strategies and how they influence competitive advantage and organizational performance in commercial and industrial environments.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the body of knowledge by providing new data and empirical insights into the relationship between SSCM practices and the performance of manufacturing companies in Ethiopia.

How do creative assets affect overseas market entry modes of enterprises- the moderating role of internal and external factors

In the process of transnational investment management, the choice of entry mode is one of the key decisions, and creative assets will affect the choice of overseas market entry mode. However, few studies have analyzed how creative assets affect firms' overseas market entry patterns. This paper takes 480 overseas investment data of 134 Chinese listed enterprises from 2012 to 2019 as research samples and uses the Logistic model to study the influence of creative assets owned by enterprises on their choice of the joint venture and wholly owned modes. At the same time, we examine the formal and informal institutional distance between home and host countries, and the moderating effect of firms' own experience in the process of model selection. In addition, using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) from the perspective of configuration to explore the different paths of overseas market entry mode. The research results indicate that marketing intensity and technical intensity of enterprises have a positive and significant impact on overseas investment patterns, that is, higher marketing intensity or technical intensity will prompt enterprises to preferentially choose wholly-owned mode. Formal institutional distance and experience can moderate the relationship between creativity and investment mode to some extent, while informal institutional distance has no significant moderating effect on creative assets and investment mode. Three configurations can induce firms to choose the wholly-owned mode, and only one configuration can induce firms to choose the joint venture mode. This study lays a theoretical foundation for enterprises to enter the overseas market.

Supply chain agility and performance: evidence from a meta-analysis

Purpose

The link between supply chain agility (SCA) and performance has been tested in previous research with different samples and results. The present paper quantitatively analyses and summarises the impact of SCA on performance found in previous empirical papers and determines the influence of several identified moderators.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a meta-analysis approach based on a systematic literature review, a total of 63 empirical papers comprising a sample of 14,469 firms were meta-analysed to consider substantive (type of performance and SCA operationalisation) and extrinsic (economic region and industry) moderators.

Findings

Results confirm a significantly large, positive correlation between SCA and performance. None of the analysed moderators has enabled the identification of any significant differences between the SCA and performance correlations by subgroup. However, high heterogeneity in total variance, both in the full sample and the subgroups by moderator, demands further rigorously reported empirical research on this topic with clearly conceptualised variables and frameworks and the use of validated scales.

Research limitations/implications

Several research gaps and best practice recommendations have been indicated to improve future empirical research on this topic.

Practical implications

Practitioners in different economic regions and industries will find consistent evidence of improvements in performance through SCA.

Originality/value

No meta-analysis has been found in previous research to estimate the value of the correlation between SCA and performance and the influence of moderating variables.

In search of a suitable way to deploy Triple-A capabilities through assessment of AAA models' competitive advantage predictive capacity

Purpose

To determine how to best deploy the Triple-A supply chain (SC) capabilities (AAA-agility, adaptability and alignment) to improve competitive advantage (CA) by identifying the Triple-A SC model with the highest CA predictive capability.

Design/methodology/approach

Assessment of in-sample and out-of-sample predictive capacity of Triple-A-CA models (considering AAA as individual constructs) to find which has the highest CA predictive capacity. BIC, BIC-Akaike weights and PLSpredict are used in a multi-country, multi-informant, multi-sector 304 plant sample.

Findings

Greater direct relationship model (DRM) in-sample and out-of-sample CA predictive capacity suggests DRM's greater likelihood of achieving a higher CA predictive capacity than mediated relationship model (MRM). So, DRM can be considered a benchmark for research/practice and the Triple-A SC capabilities as independent levers of performance/CA.

Research limitations/implications

DRM emerges as a reference for analysing how to trigger the three Triple-A SC levers for better performance/CA predictive capacity. Therefore, MRM proposals should be compared to DRM to determine whether their performance is significantly better considering the study's aim.

Practical implications

Results with our sample justify how managers can suitably deploy the Triple-A SC capabilities to improve CA by implementing AAA as independent levers. Single capability deployment does not require levels to be reached in others.

Originality/value

First research considering Triple-A SC capability deployment to better improve performance/CA focusing on model's predictive capability (essential for decision-making), further highlighting the lack of theory and contrasted models for Lee's Triple-A framework.

COVID-19 pandemic: Supply chain risk management by integrating Interpretive Structural Modeling and Bayesian belief network

The paper proposes a theoretical framework, based on a literature review, that analyzes the links between COVID-19 impacts and supply chain risk mitigation strategies, investigating the role of digitalization as a potential key resource to improve the effectiveness of supply chain resilience. Then, the paper empirically tests the framework through a hybrid causal mapping technique using the frameworks of Interpretive Structural Modelling and Bayesian Belief Networks methods to support supply chain decision making approaches. The findings of this paper can support managers in developing simple and traciable models for assessing interdependences among supply chain disruption sources and to invest effectively in resilience strategies.

Applying agility to improve customer performance when supply and demand vary from core conditions

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to extend existing knowledge of supply chain agility by identifying the interrelationships among key elements of agility that may impact customer performance improvement when conditions of demand and supply vary from the core assumptions used to design supply chain networks.

Design/methodology/approach

The research employs the principles of middle range theorizing (Merton, 1968) to incorporate observations from field interviews and data collected from executives, managers, and analysts from six global manufacturing firms across a range of industries to form research propositions about the nature of relationships among cognitive agility dimensions, antecedent impediments to cognitive agility, and the relationships between cognitive and physical agility to improve performance that can later be subjected to deductive testing.

Findings

The supply chain designs used by the participating firms to deliver value for core products were not sufficiently agile to meet desired customer performance levels when certain supply or demand conditions varied significantly from the norm. In collaboration with partner firms, the findings suggest that improving cognitive abilities to see, think and act by deploying information-based tactical initiatives in planning, inventory positioning, and supplier lead time performance monitoring enable improved physical agility that enable a firm to respond to changes swiftly and flexibly in the demand and supply environment. Importantly, the findings also suggest that the dimensions of cognitive agility are correlated and are formative elements of the latent construct of cognitive agility, which is antecedent to physical agility.

Research limitations/implications

These findings are limited in scope to the six companies that participated in this research. Future explorations should generalize to a broader population of firms and conditions. The results do provide evidence of the relationships between the dimensions of agility that are both a contribution and should guide future research on the subject.

Practical implications

From a managerial standpoint, the research findings provide insight into how firms might manage agility to improve performance when demand and supply conditions vary from those for which the core supply chain was originally designed. The findings suggest that improving the ability to capture, process, and disseminate information, i.e. cognitive agility dimensions of alertness, accessibility, and decisiveness, facilitates improved information-based initiatives in planning, inventory positioning, and supplier lead time performance monitoring, which in turn enables improved physical initiatives to swiftly and flexibly respond to changes in the demand and supply environment. Such improvements ultimately result in heightened customer service and inventory performance.

Originality/value

Previous research is mute regarding the interrelationships among the identified dimensions of supply chain agility, specifically those considered to be “cognitive” elements and those that involve physical actions. The finding suggesting that the dimensions of cognitive agility are correlated and are formative elements of the latent construct of cognitive agility provides an important theoretical insight that contributes to enhanced understanding of the nature of supply chain agility to foster future quantitative explorations to better understand the phenomena.

The Influence of Knowledge Management Capacities on Pharmaceutical Firms Competitive Advantage: The Mediating Role of Supply Chain Agility and Moderating Role of Inter Functional Integration

This study investigates the factors such as knowledge management capacities and their positive influence on firm competitive advantage or the supply chain agility of the firm and the underlying mechanisms (supply chain agility) that facilitate the firm's performance and leads to firm competitive advantage. It also explores the moderating role of inter-functional integration. We have collected the data from the 308 supply chain managers of pharmaceutical firms in Pakistan and questionnaires were used for data collection with multi-item scales already developed and validated. The findings suggest that knowledge management capacities significantly influence a firm's competitive advantage or supply chain agility. The supply chain agility fully mediates between absorptive capacity, transformative capacity, and firm competitive advantage. Further, supply chain agility partially mediates between inventive capacity and firm competitive advantage. Meanwhile, inter-functional integration moderates the relationship between supply chain agility and firm competitive advantage, with their positive relationship strengthening when inter-functional integration is high. The study provides empirical evidence that knowledge management capacities (such as absorptive capacity, transformative capacity, and inventive capacity), supply chain agility, and inter-functional can be important factors in improving firm performance.

Understanding influence of supply chain competencies when developing Triple-A

Purpose

To be successful in the rapidly changing global business environment, supply chains (SCs) must be agile, adaptable and aligned (Lee, 2004), a practice known as Triple-A. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the dimensions of Triple-A SCs and their concurrent impact on all three Triple-A components.

Design/methodology/approach

The relationship among these factors is analyzed through Smart PLS-structured equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for which data have been collected from 243 SC professionals working in manufacturing organizations.

Findings

The findings of this study reveal that the relationship between visibility and adaptability are directly significant but that the negative relationship between velocity and alignment is insignificant; however, indirectly these relationships have a positive impact using the mediating effect of agility over visibility and adaptability, velocity and alignment. However, the relationship of flexibility over SC Triple-A is positively significant, visibility over agility and alignment is positively significant and velocity over agility and adaptability is also positively significant, and each impact agility over adaptability and adaptability over alignment which is significant.

Originality/value

There is a shortage of empirical studies to date that empirically provide evidence of possible relationships among Triple-A and its key dimensions when attempting to obtain Triple-A. This is the first authenticated Triple-A SC conceptual framework that provides direction to better understand the dimension and significance of Triple-A.

Critical Conditions Identification for Online Purchase Intention of Fruits: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

With the development of Internet technology, e-commerce platforms have emerged one after another, and the competition of the fruit e-commerce market is increasingly intensified. How to boost customer demand by improving their purchase intention has become a key issue. The study identified the critical conditions leading to high purchase intention of fruits through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The empirical analysis was conducted based on an online questionnaire of 344 Internet users. The results reveal that high purchase intention comes from high fruit quality, high fruit price concessions and supply service, and low perceived risk (peripheral conditions). In addition, high purchase intention can also be realized from high fruit quality, high fruit price concessions, high supply service, and high website information quality (peripheral conditions). This study provides more nuanced thinking of how to improve online purchase intention of fruits.

The impact of information sharing on supply chain adaptability and operational performance

Purpose

This study looks beyond firm boundaries to depict supply chain (SC) adaptability and classifies it into internal, customer and supplier dimensions to investigate their performance implications, respectively. This study also examines the enablers of SC adaptability based on information processing theory.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies the structural equation modeling method to investigate relationships among SC information sharing, SC adaptability and operational performance using data collected from 216 manufacturers in China.

Findings

Internal information sharing has a positive impact on three dimensions of SC adaptability, whereas supplier and customer information sharing only have a positive impact on supplier adaptability. Customer and supplier information sharing interact to positively influence the three dimensions of SC adaptability, while internal and customer information sharing interact to negatively affect customer adaptability. We also find that all the three dimensions of SC adaptability can enhance operational performance.

Originality/value

This study contributes to providing a holistic definition of SC adaptability and classifies it into three dimensions. It also investigates antecedents and performance outcomes of SC adaptability.

Performance Implications of Aligning Supply Chain Practices with Competitive Advantage: Empirical Evidence from the Agri-Food Sector

During this pandemic crisis, supply chain management (SCM) has emerged as a critical source of competitive advantage driving organizational performance, especially in the agri-food sector, since public health and consumers’ confidence as well as firms’ survival depend on the effectiveness of supply chain networks. This study adopts two central SCM practices, namely strategic suppliers’ partnerships and partners’ information quality & sharing and tests their relationships with competitive advantage (quality, process flexibility, and time to market) and business performance (profitability and market share), based on an empirical study of 300 enterprises in the agri-food sector in Greece. After data collection, we deploy a diagnostic-exploratory model, utilizing fuzzy cognitive mapping, with agent-based modeling following up for development for data prediction and simulation. Consequently, we found that supply chain firms’ compelling and robust relationships with supply chain partners and suppliers can promote their profitability and market share. Relationships of this kind focus on quality information sharing and are strongly connected with businesses’ quality, process flexibility, and time to market competitive capabilities. Hence, our study provides salutary info to supply chain firms regarding potential implementation to existing and new collaborators.

Strategic supply chains: a configurational perspective

Purpose

Drawing on configuration theory and adopting a holistic perspective, the authors aim to explore strategic supply chain elements' interaction with internal and external contextual conditions. Specifically, they evaluate multivariate co-alignment of supply chain's capabilities (agility, adaptability, alignment), adhocracy organizational structure and environmental uncertainty (dynamism, munificence and complexity) that lead to superior performance outcomes (supply chain cycle time, financial performance, market performance).

Design/methodology/approach

A survey research design is adopted to collect primary and secondary data from 182 international firms. Cluster analysis and profile deviation techniques are employed first to derive a taxonomy of strategic supply chains and then examine multivariate co-alignment.

Findings

The analysis reveals that four groups of triple-A supply chains could emerge. It is found that strategic supply chains exhibit a flexible/organic/fluid organizational structure and a high level of triple-As in their processes. These supply chains perform superior to a higher level of environmental complexity, munificence and dynamism.

Practical implications

This study's results provide insights for practitioners by informing their investment decisions for developing strategic supply chains. Specifically, this research highlights the contextuality of triple-A supply chains and offers best practices to capitalize on strategic supply chains.

Originality/value

Executives in organizations require a holistic understanding of various elements to ensure that the organizational system as a whole performs effectively. This research offers insights into the interdependencies of triple-A supply chains with other organizational and external environmental elements. Noteworthy implications for scholarship in operations/supply chain management and supply chain practitioners are presented.

Synergistic effect of cooperation and coordination to enhance the firm's supply chain adaptability and performance

Purpose

To address how organizations should be malleable, the purpose herein is to draw on complementarity theory to examine the interaction effect of customer integration (i.e. coordination) and shared relationship governance (i.e. cooperation) on supply chain adaptability and firm's performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey research design is adopted to collect primary data from 177 automotive components suppliers. After assessing the measures' psychometric properties, the hypothesized relationships are evaluated using hierarchical regression analysis supplemented by structural equation modeling and complementarity test.

Findings

In the context of industrial markets, and specifically the automotive component industry, a complementary interaction effect is found between coordination and cooperation. The complementary impact was significant in affecting the supply chain adaptability and the firm's performance. Our results refine the existing supply chain integration by highlighting the complementary effect of coordination and cooperation.

Practical implications

Understanding the true interaction effect between cooperation and coordination to develop supply chain integration avoids decision-makers' misperception over or underinvesting in activities. This research also provides key insights on the complementary effect of coordination and cooperation to establish structural flexibility in the supply chain and the ability to respond to the disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

Understanding the true interaction effect between cooperation and coordination to develop supply chain integration avoids decision-makers' misperception over or underinvesting in activities. The implications for theory and practice are also presented.