The impact of human capital on supply chain integration and competitive performance

Abstract

With the rapid development of theories and practices in supply chain management (SCM), supply chain integration (SCI) has become a popular research topic. Many studies have examined the relationship between SCI and firm performance; however, few have investigated the enablers of SCI. Considering the important role of people in SCM, investigation of the antecedents of SCI from a human resources perspective is needed. Using the resource-based view as a theoretical lens, this study investigates the impact of human capital (e.g., organizational commitment and multi-skilling) on SCI (e.g., internal integration, supplier integration, and customer integration) and competitive performance. On the basis of data collected from 317 manufacturers in 10 countries, we test the proposed model using structural equation modeling and regression analysis. We find that organizational commitment is positively related to the three dimensions of SCI. Manager’s multi-skilling and employee’s multi-skilling are positively related to internal integration. We also find several interactive effects. The results show that internal integration is related to customer and supplier integration and that internal and customer integration are related to competitive performance. This study contributes to the SCM and human resources literature and has managerial implications for the implementation of SCI.