Supply chain alignment for improved business performance: an empirical study
Supply chain alignment for improved business performance: an empirical study
Purpose: this study aims to explain how supply chain alignment, which remains a major challenge for supply chains, can be achieved and its implications for business performance (BP) by testing the strengths of the relationships between previously identified enablers, supply chain alignment and BP.
Design/methodology/approach: a literature review develops hypotheses on the relationships between enablers, alignment and BP. A survey of medium-to-large UK manufacturing companies was conducted where the sample comprised 151 randomly selected companies, and the response rate was 56 per cent. Partial least square regression was used to test the hypothesis.
Findings: two types of supply chain alignment are defined – shareholder and customer – but only customer alignment (CA) has a direct positive impact on BP, while shareholder alignment (SA) is its antecedent. Top management support was shown to be an enabler of both shareholder and CA, while organisation structure, information sharing and performance measurement system enabled SA, while internal relational behaviour enabled CA.
Research limitations/implications: supply chain management research lacks knowledge on exactly how supply chain alignment can be achieved and what BP implications it has. This research provides a tested conceptual model to address this gap. Practical implications – The refined conceptual model provides precise guidance to practitioners on how to improve BP through supply chain alignment.
Originality/value: whilst the strategic management literature emphasizes the importance of SA, this study reveals another crucial alignment – CA – and shows its direct positive impact on BP.
Alignment, Business performance, Customer, Enablers, Shareholder, Supply chain
511-533
Skipworth, Heather
5c4db909-8b3d-407a-add8-82cdb97df803
Godsell, Janet
cdf1f97d-c490-42f7-9f79-a66ffb1e1040
Wong, Chee Yew
5696e745-f2b1-4079-b92a-e2e6d24fcc6e
Saghiri, Soroosh
6bfd600c-bdd1-4dde-9f33-d3f138e85e9d
Julien, Denyse
327d881a-966e-46aa-8d72-03ff49f70691
10 August 2015
Skipworth, Heather
5c4db909-8b3d-407a-add8-82cdb97df803
Godsell, Janet
cdf1f97d-c490-42f7-9f79-a66ffb1e1040
Wong, Chee Yew
5696e745-f2b1-4079-b92a-e2e6d24fcc6e
Saghiri, Soroosh
6bfd600c-bdd1-4dde-9f33-d3f138e85e9d
Julien, Denyse
327d881a-966e-46aa-8d72-03ff49f70691
Skipworth, Heather, Godsell, Janet, Wong, Chee Yew, Saghiri, Soroosh and Julien, Denyse
(2015)
Supply chain alignment for improved business performance: an empirical study.
Supply Chain Management, 20 (5), .
(doi:10.1108/SCM-06-2014-0188).
Abstract
Purpose: this study aims to explain how supply chain alignment, which remains a major challenge for supply chains, can be achieved and its implications for business performance (BP) by testing the strengths of the relationships between previously identified enablers, supply chain alignment and BP.
Design/methodology/approach: a literature review develops hypotheses on the relationships between enablers, alignment and BP. A survey of medium-to-large UK manufacturing companies was conducted where the sample comprised 151 randomly selected companies, and the response rate was 56 per cent. Partial least square regression was used to test the hypothesis.
Findings: two types of supply chain alignment are defined – shareholder and customer – but only customer alignment (CA) has a direct positive impact on BP, while shareholder alignment (SA) is its antecedent. Top management support was shown to be an enabler of both shareholder and CA, while organisation structure, information sharing and performance measurement system enabled SA, while internal relational behaviour enabled CA.
Research limitations/implications: supply chain management research lacks knowledge on exactly how supply chain alignment can be achieved and what BP implications it has. This research provides a tested conceptual model to address this gap. Practical implications – The refined conceptual model provides precise guidance to practitioners on how to improve BP through supply chain alignment.
Originality/value: whilst the strategic management literature emphasizes the importance of SA, this study reveals another crucial alignment – CA – and shows its direct positive impact on BP.
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Supply_chain_alignment-2016
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Accepted/In Press date: 19 June 2015
Published date: 10 August 2015
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Keywords:
Alignment, Business performance, Customer, Enablers, Shareholder, Supply chain
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 472783
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472783
ISSN: 1359-8546
PURE UUID: d4c23535-d4de-4d7f-be21-7ac035bc3450
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Date deposited: 19 Dec 2022 17:32
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:16
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Contributors
Author:
Heather Skipworth
Author:
Janet Godsell
Author:
Chee Yew Wong
Author:
Soroosh Saghiri
Author:
Denyse Julien
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