Top managers' managerial ties, supply chain integration, and firm performance in China: A social capital perspective

Abstract

Firms are attempting to integrate with their supply chain partners to achieve superior firm performance. This study draws on social capital theory and supply chain literature to investigate how top managers' managerial ties influence supply chain integration, which consequently improves firm performance. This study further examines how the relationship between top managers' managerial ties and supply chain integration is moderated by market turbulence. By using triple-respondent, matched data of 176 Chinese manufacturing firms, we find that top managers' business ties are positively related to supply chain integration, whereas their political ties are not. Supplier and customer integration contribute to firm performance. Furthermore, market turbulence negatively moderates the business ties–supply chain integration relationship, but it positively moderates the political ties–supply chain integration linkage.