The Effect of Social Media on Supply Chain Sensing Capability: An Environmental Scanning Perspective

Abstract

Supply chain management relies on sufficient and relevant information. To acquire and supplement such information, organization’s sensing capability of business environments becomes a core aspect of the organization. A burgeoning avenue to sense surrounding environments is through social media. Researchers are beginning to recognize the ability of social media in environmental scanning (ES) activities and witness its impact on business performance. However, published evidence detailing the effect of social-media-enabled ES on firms’ sensing capabilities is sparse. From ES perspective, we propose a research model to bridge this gap under the supply chain background. Results from 117 survey responses indicate that turbulent environments increase a firm’s scanning activities on supply market, while intense competition increases the firm’s scanning on both supply and customer markets via social media. The social-media-enabled ES on both markets boosts the sensing capability of firms’ supply chain management. Research implications and limitations are also discussed.