The impact of supply chain quality leadership on supply chain quality integration and quality performance

Abstract

Purpose As quality issues become more prominent in supply chain (SC) management, understanding the factors driving SC quality integration (SCIQ) and quality performance has become increasingly important, shifting the focus of quality management to firms in SCs. This study aims to examine the role of SC quality leadership (SCQL) in facilitating SCIQ and its direct and indirect relationship with quality performance. Design/methodology/approach Data on 400 Chinese manufacturing firms were collected using survey questionnaires. The hypothesised relationships between SCQL, SCIQ and quality performance were tested using structural equation modeling in AMOS 22.0. Findings Empirical results show that SCQL has a positive and significant effect on quality performance and all three dimensions of SCIQ: supplier quality integration, internal quality integration and customer quality integration. The results also show that SCIQ mediates the relationship between SCQL and quality performance. Practical implications Executives should develop SCQL to improve SCIQ in their SCs and ultimately improve quality performance. In particular, nurturing SQI can potentially lead to unique capabilities, relative to competitors. They should be aware of their important role in integrating and coordinating between functional units within the firm and between SC members. Originality/value This study enriches the SCM literature by identifying SCQL as a new and significant antecedent of SCIQ in manufacturing firms. It contributes to the SC leadership literature by conceptualizing both the quality and social responsibility aspects of SC leadership, conceptualizing SCQL at the firm level and positioning SCIQ as a mediator between SCQL and quality performance.

Assessing educational methods for tomorrow's supply chain leaders with the integration of skill development priorities: a fuzzy decision-making approach

“…(2020) for undergraduate students of Ireland and Spain. The SC users can benefit from this methodology application in reducing the time to find the professionals with the necessary skills and in avoiding high expenses in the reskilling and upskilling current employees, factors identified by studies focused on the changes in the SC talent and labour on the rise (Luo et al. , 2022; Michel, 2022).…”

“…Results from the case study have significant importance in the process of fulfilling the SC talent demand in Brazil; thus, the proposed methodology can help SC educators in developing EMs in order to act anticipatory rather than reactive to the industry's skillsets requirements, a finding similar to the results obtained by Wagner et al (2020) for undergraduate students of Ireland and Spain. The SC users can benefit from this methodology application in reducing the time to find the professionals with the necessary skills and in avoiding high expenses in the reskilling and upskilling current employees, factors identified by studies focused on the changes in the SC talent and labour on the rise (Luo et al, 2022;Michel, 2022). Regarding the SC's interest, the talent with necessary skill may increase visibility in ongoing and upcoming disruptions, a finding that echoes most of the literature, regardless of the country, sector and size of the companies analysed by Thorn (2021).…”

“…Supply chain users, on the other hand, have been resilient and have taken actions to mitigate the risks of not finding these professionals with the required high skill level (Luo et al. , 2022).…”

“…A dearth of coverage of supply chain disruptions include the retirement age of a third of current workers (Joseph, 2021), the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and reopening (van Hoek et al, 2020), global climate and environmental crisis (Ansari et al, 2020), container shortage due to a foreign supplier (Aserkar et al, 2017), digitalisation and automation in logistics processes (Caiado et al, 2022) and leveraging shippers' assets so others can use them when idle (Thorn, 2021). Supply chain users, on the other hand, have been resilient and have taken actions to mitigate the risks of not finding these professionals with the required high skill level (Luo et al, 2022). Implementing new technologies has helped enhance the skillsets of the current labour (Michel, 2022).…”

Drivers of consumer protection practices: implications for operational performance

“…improper storage or handling) (Bode and Wagner, 2015; Giunipero and Aly Eltantawy, 2004). Global sourcing also presents challenges associated with maintaining consistency of product quality (Luo et al , 2023) and makes firms more susceptible to product recalls (Bruccoleri et al , 2019). In response to these challenges, previous research has found that firms operating global supply chains, compared to firms operating domestic supply chains, were more likely to invest in education programs for suppliers and customers to protect against problems associated with product safety and supply chain security (Whipple et al , 2009).…”