Uncertainty, responsiveness and operational performance in supply chain: a conceptual study using contingency theory approach

Abstract

Amid uncertainty from customers and suppliers, academicians and practitioners have focused on building a supply chain that is robust enough to withstand the disruption damages. Given the several supply chain risk mitigation strategies like flexibilities, agility and postponement, this is the first such paper to analyse the relationship between supply chain responsiveness and supply chain uncertainty through contingency theory lenses. To arrive at a conceptual framework that aims to build the relationship among the constructs, this study in detail has studied the literature of selected articles on supply chain uncertainty from peer-reviewed journals. Findings not only draw attention to the role of responsiveness in the supply chain under uncertainty but also indicate towards analysing the effect of the relationship between uncertainty and performance. Therefore, we believe that supply chain responsiveness, being a mediator in the framework presented, might lessen the impact of supply chain uncertainty on operational performance.