دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی اثرات مدیریت زنجیره تامین بر نوآوری های تکنولوژیکی: نقش واسطه ای گوانگسی - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the relationships between supply chain management (SCM) practices (i.e. strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, information sharing, information quality, postponement, internal operations) and technological innovation (TI) in a R&D manufacturing setting in Malaysia, with guanxi being the intervening variable. A conceptual model was developed and tested using data collected from 197 Malaysian manufacturing firms for the study. Data set was examined and hypotheses were tested by employing Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis. The results revealed that internal operations, postponement, strategic supplier partnership, and guanxi have positive and significant relationships with TI; while guanxi mediates the relationships between four SCM practices (i.e. strategic supplier partnership, information quality, postponement, and internal operations) with TI. Findings show that through proper implementation of SCM practices, firms are able to achieve better TI performance. These findings are useful for decision-makers when formulating SCM strategies and focusing on practices that will help them achieve greater TI. This paper also contributes to existing operations management research by empirically validating guanxi as the mediator between SCM practices and TI. From a developing nation perspective, this paper identifies the important relationships that exist between SCM, guanxi and TI. The findings will be of interest to both emerging and other developing nations.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The study of the relationships between SCM, guanxi, and TI is an emerging field. In this research, we have investigated which SCM practices will help organizations improve their TI performance, and whether guanxi plays the role of a mediator. This research has several implications. First, the practical, and then theoretical implications are discussed below. Practically, internal operations was found to be the most important SCM practice to improve a manufacturer’s process and product innovations. Firms should focus on improving their internal SC integration first, if they wish to achieve improvements in TI performance. In addition, our results have revealed that strategic supplier partnerships plays a significant role in facilitating the production of more competitive products with innovative processes. Therefore, manufacturers should continue to work closely with a few key “right” suppliers to expand the total gains for both parties through the production of new innovative products at a faster rate. Furthermore, postponement or the delaying of final product assembly until an order is received will also enable the chain to be more flexible in responding to customer orders and needs. Not only does it reduce holding cost of inventories, it also increases the rate of producing customized and innovative products that satisfy the needs of the end users. The outcome of this research serves to be a guide for Malaysian manufacturers to improve their TI performance by recognizing the key SCM practices to focus on. In addition to that, the intervening role of guanxi from an emerging nation perspective is the major highlight for this study. Having a close bond or guanxi with key suppliers was found to be a key determinant to unlocking a higher TI. Not only does guanxi directly influence TI, guanxi has also been found to partially intervene between three SCM practices (i.e. strategic supplier partnership, postponement, internal operations) and TI and a full mediation was found between information quality and TI. Our findings, if replicated successfully, have significant implications for developing supply chain partnerships, particularly in Asia.