a b s t r a c tThis paper extends prior supply chain research by building and empirically testing a theoretical model of the contingency effects of environmental uncertainty (EU) on the relationships between three dimensions of supply chain integration and four dimensions of operational performance. Based on the contingency and organizational information processing theories, we argue that under a high EU, the associations between supplier/customer integration, and delivery and flexibility performance, and those between internal integration, and product quality and production cost, will be strengthened. These theoretical propositions are largely confirmed by multi-group and structural path analyses of survey responses collected from 151 of Thailand's automotive manufacturing plants. This paper contributes to operations management contingency research and provides theory-driven and empirically proven explanations for managers to differentiate the effects of internal and external integration efforts under different environmental conditions.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework that synthesizes approaches and contingency variables to manage the sustainability of multi-tier supply chains and sub-suppliers. Design/methodology/approach – Using a systematic literature review, the authors analyse 39 studies and relevant theories to develop a comprehensive framework that integrates research efforts so far. Findings – The authors build a conceptual framework that incorporates four approaches to manage the sustainability of multi-tier supply chains. They also identify several contingency variables (e.g. power, dependency, distance, industry, knowledge resources) and their effect on the proposed approaches. Research limitations/implications – Based on the framework, six research propositions that advance the theories on multi-tier supply chain management, allow lead firms to develop comprehensive sustainable supply chain strategies and set the ground for future research in the area were developed. Originality/value – This study provides a novel framework for studying sustainability in multi-tier supply chains that goes beyond the single-tier perspective and incorporates the extended supply chain.

This study investigates the mediating effects of environmental and operational performance on the relationship between green supply chain management (GSCM) and financial performance. The proposed relationships are analyzed using survey data from a sample of 126 automobile manufacturers in China. The results suggest that GSCM as an integral supply chain strategy is significantly and positively associated with both environmental and operational performance, which then indirectly leads to improved financial performance. The results indicate the possible complementarity effects between various internal and external GSCM practices.

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Purpose-The importance of supply chain alignment has been discussed since the birth of Supply Chain Management (SCM). Yet it remains a major challenge for supply chains. This paper aims to systematically review the cross disciplinary literature on supply chain alignment in order to identify, and develop constructs for enablers to alignment, and an associated set of hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach-A systematic approach has been taken to the literature review which ensures it is auditable and repeatable. The selection criteria are clearly aligned with the review question ensuring all literature pertinent to the question is identified and reviewed. Relevant information is extracted from the selected papers and synthesised into a set of hypotheses. Findings-Six main constructs for the enablers of alignment are identified and defined: organisational structure, internal relational behaviour, customer relational behaviour, top management support, information sharing and business performance measurement system. While the literature is disparate, across different disciplines there is good support for these enablers. The relationships between supply chain alignment and shareholder and customer value are also argued with the support of the literature. Though each of the enablers is argued to positively affect shareholder and customer value, their interactions with each other are not well supported in the literature, either theoretically or empirically, and therefore this could be an area for further research. Research/practical implications-While the hypotheses remain theoretical, it is now possible to test them and understand the relative significance of the various enablers to alignment. Further, the significance of shareholder and customer alignment on the delivery of shareholder and customer value can be examined, thus moving towards a theory of supply chain alignment. This is needed since in practice companies are struggling with supply chain alignment. Originality/value-The existing literature on supply chain alignment is disparate and multidisciplinary as our descriptive analysis shows, with 72 papers published in 43 different journals. Moreover, most of the papers focus on particular enablers, while this paper brings together six key enablers from the literature to produce a set of hypotheses.