Influence of Partner Relationship and IT Integration on Supply Chain Capabilities: An Empirical Relational Paradigm

Abstract

Supply chain relationships are now becoming more important due to efficient and effective information sharing and leading to integration. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of trust and commitment on integrated logistics capabilities. A second purpose is to explore the influence of integrated logistics capabilities on supply chain agility, resilience and robustness. The study employed a cross-sectional web-based survey of 183 logistics and supply chain professionals from Indian Manufacturing firms for data collection. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed for testing the reliability and validity of the measurement instrument. Further, partial least squares was utilized for testing the proposed relationships. The study found positive effects of trust and commitment on integrated logistics capabilities which in turn positively affect the development of supply chain capabilities viz. agility, resilience and robustness. Further, trust was found to have a positive effect on commitment. The study is the first to empirically validate the relationship between integrated logistics capabilities and three dominant supply chain capabilities viz. agility, resilience and robustness. Secondly, it also addressed the impact of two dominant relational attributes that have not been explored. The study empirically explored that logistics is an integral part of supply chain management as suggested in its definition. Further, our study undersigned IT integration as a significant moderator in the enabler-mechanism-outcome paradigm.