TY - JOUR
T1 - Supply chain integration and firm financial performance
T2 - A meta-analysis of positional advantage mediation and moderating factors
AU - Chang, Woojung
AU - Ellinger, Alexander E.
AU - Kim, Kyoungmi Kate
AU - Franke, George R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Supply chain integration (SCI) is recognized as strategic process management that can be instrumental for creating positional advantages associated with improved firm performance. However, despite rigorous execution, recent meta-analyses derive different conclusions about the benefits of SCI. We propose that these inconsistencies may be associated with selection bias, failure to consider the mediating routes by which SCI affects financial performance, and lack of investigation of moderators. To address these issues, we apply positional advantage theory and the resource-based view, and focus on mitigating the potential selection bias by aggregating findings from 170 previous investigations in a comprehensive meta-analysis, to examine how discrete dimensions of SCI enhance firm financial performance through three types of intermediate firm performance. The moderating effects of time, relationship quality, and national culture are also assessed. The findings confirm that each dimension of SCI indeed improves financial performance. However, contrary to expectations, relational and strategic types of intermediate performance associated with superior customer value positional advantage have stronger mediating effects than operational performance associated with lower cost positional advantage. In addition, time, relationship quality, and collectivist national culture strengthen the associations between some dimensions of SCI and firm performance. Our study findings are reconciled with those from recent meta-analytic studies, and implications arising from our conclusions that may inform practice about how to effectively leverage SCI are presented.
AB - Supply chain integration (SCI) is recognized as strategic process management that can be instrumental for creating positional advantages associated with improved firm performance. However, despite rigorous execution, recent meta-analyses derive different conclusions about the benefits of SCI. We propose that these inconsistencies may be associated with selection bias, failure to consider the mediating routes by which SCI affects financial performance, and lack of investigation of moderators. To address these issues, we apply positional advantage theory and the resource-based view, and focus on mitigating the potential selection bias by aggregating findings from 170 previous investigations in a comprehensive meta-analysis, to examine how discrete dimensions of SCI enhance firm financial performance through three types of intermediate firm performance. The moderating effects of time, relationship quality, and national culture are also assessed. The findings confirm that each dimension of SCI indeed improves financial performance. However, contrary to expectations, relational and strategic types of intermediate performance associated with superior customer value positional advantage have stronger mediating effects than operational performance associated with lower cost positional advantage. In addition, time, relationship quality, and collectivist national culture strengthen the associations between some dimensions of SCI and firm performance. Our study findings are reconciled with those from recent meta-analytic studies, and implications arising from our conclusions that may inform practice about how to effectively leverage SCI are presented.
KW - Firm performance
KW - Internal integration
KW - Meta-analysis
KW - Positional advantage
KW - Resource-based view
KW - Supply chain integration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84953245032&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.emj.2015.11.008
DO - 10.1016/j.emj.2015.11.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84953245032
SN - 0263-2373
VL - 34
SP - 282
EP - 295
JO - European Management Journal
JF - European Management Journal
IS - 3
ER -