Strategic Supplier Partnership Research Articles

The Proposed Conceptual Model for Investigating Moderating Effects of Contextual Factors on Supply Chain Management Practice-Performance Link in Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are playing an increasingly important role in sustaining economic growthand generating employment in Malaysia. SMEs also play a very crucial role in supply chain management (SCM)as they may serve the roles of suppliers, producers, distributors and customers. However, adoption of SCM inMalaysian SMEs has not been broadly explored. Therefore, the authors propose a conceptual model byexamining the moderating effects of contextual factors (firm size, firm age and supply chain length) on therelationship between SCM practices, namely, information sharing, strategic supplier partnership, customerrelationship, material flow management, corporate culture and SCM performance in a single study. The studyhas important managerial implications as the findings will enable management of SMEs to understandprogressive and highly varied SCM practices and contextual factors that contribute to the SCM performance andits effective implementation.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, SUPPLY CHAIN FLEXIBILITY AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Supply chain performance and effective management of supply chain have been increasingly recognized as critical factors in enhancing bottom-line performances. More and more firms are beginning to adopt supply chain management (SCM) to improve performances of their organizations. This study examines the importance of incorporating supply chain management in Malaysian manufacturing companies. The study measures senior production or SCM managers’ perceptions regarding SCM practices and performances of their companies. The paper specifically investigates relationship between SCM, supply chain flexibility and business performance and these associations are analyzed through statistical methods such as Pearson’s correlation and structural equation modeling (SEM). The overall result suggests that supply chain management has significant correlations with supply chain flexibility and business performance. Specifically, supply chain flexibility and business performance have high correlations with SCM comprising programs such as ‘strategic supplier partnership’, ‘lean production’, ‘postponement concept’ and ‘technology and innovation’. In addition, the SEM result also demonstrates that two supply chain management proxies specifically ‘new technology and innovation’ and ‘lean production’ appear to be of primary importance and exhibit most significant impact on supply chain flexibility and business performance. Findings of the study provide striking demonstrations of the importance of SCM programs in enhancing performances of Malaysian manufacturing companies. The result indicates that manufacturing companies should emphasize greater attention to the technology aspects of SCM as well as waste reduction program through lean production and a greater degree of management support for SCM enhancement initiatives.

The Structural Influence of Supply Chain Managementon Product Quality and Business Performance

Supply chain management (SCM) has been increasingly recognized as a critical factor in improving bottom-line performances. In addition, more and more firms are making use of SCM to improve their performance. The study aims to understand and determine critical variables of SCM that would be able to enhance product quality and business performance in manufacturing companies in Malaysia. The study measures senior production or SCM managers' perceptions regarding SCM and level of performances in their companies. Two hundred and fifty responses are received and data are analyzed using SPSS. The study specifically investigates relationships between SCM, product quality and business performance and these associations are investigated utilizing parametric statistical analyses such as Pearson's correlations and structural equation modeling (SEM). The SEM result demonstrates that SCM dimensions namely 'lean production', 'new technology and innovation', 'strategic supplier partnership' and 'postponement concept' appear to be of primary importance and exhibit significant effects on product quality and business performance. Findings of the study provide a striking demonstration of the importance of SCM in enhancing bottom line performances of Malaysian manufacturing companies. The result indicates that manufacturing companies should emphasize greater attention to the waste elimination program through lean production as well as the technological aspects of SCM and a greater degree of management support for SCM implementation initiatives.

Coping with customs clearance uncertainties in global sourcing

PurposeSeeks to show how developing countries are becoming important links in global sourcing networks. However, inefficient functioning of governments as customs‐clearance agents adversely impacts the flow of goods to and from these countries. This uncertainty not only impacts firms in the developing countries, but also seeps into the global supply networks in which these firms participate. Existing strategic supplier partnership (SSP) models do not address the role of government.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilizes observations gathered from a field study to understand better the mechanisms that companies use to cope with government‐induced import uncertainty. The paper draws insights from a buyer‐buyer collaboration mechanism found among a few firms in the printed circuit board manufacturing industry in India. To generalize the findings to other settings, the paper investigates how such a mechanism came to be, and how others in different settings might benefit from similar mechanisms.FindingsThe paper advances nine theoretically grounded propositions regarding other situations in which such buyer‐buyer collaboration may be suitable in other industries or countries.Research limitations/implicationsThe propositions advanced here need to be subjected to empirical examination, to test and extend the theory's boundaries to other industries and countries. Several “original” concepts generated here need to be developed into researchable constructs, and valid, reliable instruments need to be generated.Originality/valueThe propositions advanced here regarding buyer‐buyer cooperation among competing firms represent a clear extension of the traditional buyer‐supplier cooperation extensively studied in SSP models. Moreover, the results are highly usable and add value to supply chain practices.

Development and validation of a measurement instrument for studying supply chain management practices

It is widely argued that competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. Effective supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially valuable way of securing competitive advantage and improving organizational performance. This research conceptualizes, develops, and validates six dimensions of SCM practices (strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, information sharing, information quality, internal lean practices, and postponement). Data for the study were collected from 196 organizations and the measurement scales were tested and validated using structural equation modeling. It is hoped that this study will provide a parsimonious measurement instrument to assess the performance of the overall supply chain.

The impact of supply chain management practices on competitive advantage and organizational performance

Effective supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially valuable way of securing competitive advantage and improving organizational performance since competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. This research conceptualizes and develops five dimensions of SCM practice (strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, level of information sharing, quality of information sharing, and postponement) and tests the relationships between SCM practices, competitive advantage, and organizational performance. Data for the study were collected from 196 organizations and the relationships proposed in the framework were tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that higher levels of SCM practice can lead to enhanced competitive advantage and improved organizational performance. Also, competitive advantage can have a direct, positive impact on organizational performance.