The relationship between internal supply chain structure and operational performance: survey results from Japanese manufacturers
ISSN: 1359-8546
Article publication date: 9 August 2021
Issue publication date: 6 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the roles of a supply chain management (SCM) department. To achieve that, this study empirically examines the relationship between internal supply chain structure and operational performance, using survey data collected from 108 Japanese manufacturers.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a literature review of not only organizational theory but also other fields such as marketing, logistics management, operations management and SCM, this study focused on two structural properties, formalization and centralization and divided operational performance to firm-centric efficiency and customer-centric responsiveness. To examine the analytical model using these dimensions, this study conducted a structural equation modeling.
Findings
The correlation between centralization of operational tasks and centralization of strategic tasks, the impacts of centralization of both tasks on formalization and the effect of formalization on responsiveness performance were demonstrated. In addition, the reasons for formalization not positively influencing efficiency performance were explored through follow-up interviews.
Practical implications
Manufacturers need to formalize, as much as possible, a wide range of SCM tasks to realize operational excellence. To establish such formalized working methods, it is effective to centralize the authorities of both operational and strategic tasks in a particular department. In addition, inefficiency due to strict logistics service levels is a problem that all players involved in the supply chain of various industries should work together to solve.
Originality/value
The theoretical contribution of this study is that the authors established an empirical process that redefined the constructs of formalization and centralization, developed these measures and examined the impacts of these structural properties on operational performance.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express our appreciation to all the survey respondents and interviewees. In addition, the authors thank the editor, Professor Beverly Wagner and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments that improved earlier versions of this paper. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17K03904.
Citation
Nakano, M. and Matsuyama, K. (2022), "The relationship between internal supply chain structure and operational performance: survey results from Japanese manufacturers", Supply Chain Management, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 469-484. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-05-2020-0227
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited