Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to identify the antecedents of firm’s supply chain agility (SC agility) and how SC agility impacts on firm’s performance. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a comprehensive literature review, a conceptual model was proposed, in which the interrelated hypotheses were tested by structural equation modelling methodology using a dataset collected from 266 Chinese electronics firms. Findings – Initially, it was found that SC integration and external learning positively influenced SC agility. Second, the results indicated that firm’s performance is positively impacted by SC agility. Moreover, SC agility also fully mediated the effect of SC integration on firm’s performance and the effect of external learning on firm’s performance. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of this research sample might be the major limitation of this study. Therefore, future research can adopt other industry sectors samples, such as automobile manufacturing, or other country samples to validate the research model. Practical implications – This research outlines strategies for better preparedness to achieve SCs to be agile which is a core competency of electronic firms in emerging market. Findings reveal that the external coordination practices – external learning and SC integration – are important factors of SC agility. In addition, the findings contribute to understanding the important role of SC agility in improving firm’s performance. Originality/value – This research examines the impact of two antecedents (i.e. SC integration and external learning) on SC agility and is the first empirical research to analyze the mediation effect of SC agility on the relationship between SC integration and firm performance and the relationship between external learning and firm performance.
Highlights
Over the last decade, increasing attention has been paid to supply chain disruption
We propose a conceptual model and adopt a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test the relationships between supply chain integration and external learning, which impact on SC agility and firms’ performance, using data collected from 226 electronics manufacturing firms in the China Pearl River Delta region (PRD) region
The major aim of this research is to establish a conceptual model for investigating the antecedents of SC agility and the impact of SC agility on firm performance in China’s electronics industry
Summary
Over the last decade, increasing attention has been paid to supply chain disruption. The reason is undoubtedly that, with a higher degree of global sourcing, longer supply chains and shorter delivery time requested by the customer, there are more opportunities for disruption and lower tolerance if an interruption occurs (Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005). Trkman and McCormack (2009) suggest that preparing backup sourcing can ensure a continuous flow of products/materials These approaches increase the redundancy in a supply system and require large resources for risk mitigation. SC agility is an externally focused capability (Swafford et al, 2006), while increased learning from the market, customers and suppliers helps the company to improve its responsiveness to uncertainty. Given the increasing importance of product individualization, the lot-size of supply materials is small These three factors all present a challenge to supply chain management and require SC agility. We propose a conceptual model and adopt a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test the relationships between supply chain integration and external learning, which impact on SC agility and firms’ performance, using data collected from 226 electronics manufacturing firms in the China PRD region.
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