The direct and contingency effects of supplier coordination and customer coordination on quality and flexibility performance

Abstract

In today's highly competitive environment, a goal-oriented supply chain needs coordination to manage the interdependent activities of supply chain partners. The role of coordination mechanisms is critical in achieving supply chain performance. We thus suggest that supplier coordination and customer coordination influence performance, operationalised in this paper under two dimensions, e.g., quality and flexibility. Moreover, drawing on contingency theory, we suggest that the relationships are contingent upon factors such as firm size and clockspeed. Using empirical data collected from 197 production/operations managers of Chinese manufacturing firms, a regression analysis approach is employed to test the theoretical framework. The results provide support for the four direct and positive relationships between each coordination mechanism studied and quality and flexibility performance. The interaction between supplier coordination and size was directly and positively related to quality performance (large size effect). However, the interaction between customer coordination and size was directly and negatively related to flexibility performance (small size effect). The interaction between supplier coordination and clockspeed was directly and positively related to only flexibility performance. Implications for managers and academics and suggestions for future research are offered.

The Influence of Green Supply Chain Integration on Firm Performance: A Contingency and Configuration Perspective

“…Contingency theory is often employed to understand organizational issues from a contextual perspective [11]. Contingency theory suggests that organizations should align their structures and processes with environment to enhance performance [12].…”

“…In a supply chain, customers and suppliers can be deemed as important parts of a firm's environment. According to structural contingency theory, the performance of an organization is influenced by how its practices are aligned [11]. Suggested by structural contingency theory, the individual dimensions of GSCI should be aligned to enhance firm performance.…”

Managing supply chain integration: contemporary approaches and scope for further research

“…The importance of SCI for performance enhancement is emphasised by academics who have studied manu-facturing companies in different countries (Kim 2006, Mahama 2006, Welker et al 2008, Wong and Boon-Itt 2008, Kim 2009, Jayaram et al 2011. Droge et al (2004) state that the extent of external as well as internal integration processes and practices impacts positively on flexibility factors, including product development time, product cycle time and delivery time.…”

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Coordinated supplier bid selection based on customer order placement using an autonomous F-AHP–QFD-oriented methodology

“…Earlier researches have been limited to supply chains up to two-level (Niranjan et al 2010, Bayo-Moriones et al 2011, Jayaram et al 2011, Liu and Zhang 2011, Silver and Zufferey 2011, Wu et al 2011 consisting of some competing suppliers and one buyer; they have typically developed analytical/conceptual models to investigate suppliers' performance without direct consideration of customer preferences, quality issues and information sharing. There is a lack of concentration on autonomous hybrid mechanisms.…”