Supply chain responsiveness and financial performance of logistics firms: a contingent dynamic capabilities perspective
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Date
2023
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KNUST
Abstract
Logistics firms are critical nodes in many supply chains but operate in time-based, dynamic competitive environments where customers expect high levels of supply chain responsiveness at low prices. Past research on manufacturing supply chains and competitive priorities literature suggests that increasing supply chain responsiveness can have costbenefit trade-off consequences on financial performance. However, besides the concerns that such trade-offs vary across (logistics) service and manufacturing supply chains, previous theoretical and empirical perspectives overlook the boundary conditions of the performance effects of supply chain responsiveness. Accordingly, this study uses contingent-dynamic capabilities arguments to develop and analyze a conceptual model to describe the relationship between supply chain responsiveness and logistics firms' financial performance under varying price strategy conditions and customer dynamism. Primary data from 226 logistics firms in Ghana and moderated regression analysis are used to test the proposed conceptual model. Findings from the study indicate that although supply chain responsiveness has a positive relationship with financial performance, conditions of high prices or high customer dynamism weaken the relationship. The broad research implication of these results is that the supply chain responsiveness-financial performance relationship is context-dependent and should be theorized and analyzed accordingly. Practically, insights from the study suggest that, while investing in supply chain responsiveness, managers should carefully consider the extent to which firms’ internal and external environmental factors foster the market value and profit-generation mechanisms associated with supply chain responsiveness. What is novel about this study is that, unlike previous studies, it uses a contingency approach to delineate and empirically demonstrate that supply chain responsiveness is not always a beneficial strategy for logistics firms.
Description
A thesis submitted to the department of supply chain and information systems, Kwame Nkrumah university of science and technology, school of business, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of master of philosophy in logistics and supply chain management