Supply chain information integration, flexibility, and operational performance

Abstract

Purpose Supply chain flexibility is crucial for firms to respond to uncertain circumstances caused by environmental factors, such as the diversity of customer demands, problems of product safety, and adjustments of industrial policies. To investigate the approach to enhance supply chain flexibility, the purpose of this paper is to propose that both internal and external information integration contribute to reactive and proactive supply chain flexibilities, which elicit high operational performance. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 84 food companies that have been listed three years in China and content analysis based on their annual reports, evidence was collected to test the hypotheses through hierarchical regressions. Findings The results reveal that external information integration results in both reactive and proactive flexibilities, which further improve operational performance. Internal information integration positively affects both reactive and proactive flexibilities, but its mediating role was not determined in the study. Originality/value The research provides insights into how supply chain flexibility mediates the effect of supply chain information integration on operational performance in the context of the Chinese food industry.

The effects of supply chain information integration on organizational performance in food small industry

“…Sharing information and knowledge is an important contributor to the integrated information flow for two-way communication (Yu et al, 2018). Information is a company asset that is very necessary for companies to get the advantage of costs and services in SCM.…”

“…SCII is defined as the condition where producers share information within organizational functions and across partners of the supply chain strategically (through information systems) to manage intraand inter-organizational processes collaboratively (Flynn et al, 2010). Supply Chain Information Integration (SCII) is defined as the extent to which companies focus on exchanging information during transactions or strategically with parties within departments or with supply chain partners outside the enterprise to facilitate streamlining inter-and intra-organizational processes (Yu et al, 2018). Supply Chain Information Integration (SCII) consists of two dimensions, namely internal and external information integration (Huo et al, 2016;Yu et al, 2018).…”

“…These studies have explained the importance of SCII in increasing performance. However, previous studies have shown that different dimensions of SCII can play various roles in pursuing different types of performance, among others, the results of research by Yu et al (2018) explained that dimensions of external and internal information integration affect reactive and proactive flexibility. Furthermore, the only dimension of external information integration indirectly affects operational performance (current assets turnover) through reactive and proactive flexibility.…”

“…In this study, we chose a food small industry as the object of research. Yu et al (2018) conducted the integration of supply chain information, flexibility, and operational performance in the food industry. However, Yu et al (2018) mentioned there were some limitations in their research, such as the dimensions of performance and the limitations of the number of samples.…”

“…Yu et al (2018) conducted the integration of supply chain information, flexibility, and operational performance in the food industry. However, Yu et al (2018) mentioned there were some limitations in their research, such as the dimensions of performance and the limitations of the number of samples. Therefore, they recommend further research to measure other dimensions of performance besides operational performance, such as customer and supplier satisfaction, and adopting larger samples.…”