Supply chain management scholar’s research impact: moderated mediation analysis

Zhang, Yucheng, Wu, Yenchun Jim, Goh, Mark and Liu, Xinhong (2019) Supply chain management scholar’s research impact: moderated mediation analysis. Library Hi Tech, 37 (1), 118-135. (doi:10.1108/LHT-07-2017-0149).

Abstract

Purpose: the purpose of this paper is to draw on social capital theory to develop a model to explain the determinants of a supply chain management scholar’s academic research impact.

Design/methodology/approach: drawing from a database of 450 supply chain management scholars in different countries collected from ResearchGate and the World Bank, the bootstrapping method was applied on the moderated mediation analysis.

Findings: analysis of the mediating role of a scholar’s social capital suggests that social capital theory has a strong explanatory power on the relationship between a scholar’s research skill and academic impact. To account for the boundary effect at the country-level, the authors further examine if this mechanism differs by country in the supply chain management research context.

Research limitations/implications: the findings from this study are from a single research area, which limits the generalizability of the study. Although the data are collected from different sources, including ResearchGate and the World Bank, it is cross-sectional in nature. The variables in this model do not have strong causal relationships.

Practical implications: the results suggest that supply chain management scholars can reap the benefits of their social capital. Specifically, scholars can enhance their academic impact by increasing their social capital.

Originality/value: the results provide a reference for supply chain management scholars keen on enhancing their academic research impact. It also provides a reference to explain why country-level differences can influence these scholars.

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Contributors

Author: Yucheng Zhang

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