تریپل A و مزیت رقابتی در زنجیره های تامین
Abstract
1- Introduction
2- Theoretical background, literature analysis and research hypotheses
3- Methodology
4- Results
5- Discussion and conclusions
References
Abstract
Based on his own experience in a number of companies, Lee (2004) posits that the Triple-A (agility, adaptability and alignment) is essential for supply chain (SC) management to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage (CA). However, there is a lack of empirical research that analyzes the Triple-A SC and its impacts on CA. The objective of the present work is to address this omission and to provide empirical evidence on this topic using a multiple-informant, international sample from eight developed countries. A consistent partial least squares structural equation model (PLSc) is used on data for 151 manufacturing plants in three industrial sectors to determine whether agility, alignment and adaptability have individual and/or joint effects on achieving a CA in SCs. In relation to the individual effects, different CAs are achieved by each of the Triple-A variables. SC adaptability has been shown to have a significant positive relationship with all the dimensions of CA. SC alignment affects most of these dimensions, but SC agility only affects financial CA and flexibility CA. This research does, however, confirm the positive relationship for the joint effect of the Triple-A SC variables and CA. The effects are significant on all the CA measures except quality. Important implications can be drawn for managers by showing how SC levers can be set to improve performance indicators.
Introduction
Firms with operations, suppliers and customers located in any part of the world have been forced to seek new ways to manage their operations outside the strict limits of the individual company, and the supply chain (SC) has come under increasing scrutiny. In the struggle to achieve the competitive advantages that enable rapid positioning in the customer’s preferences and greater cost-effectiveness, there has been a shift from competition between companies to a framework in which it is the SCs that compete with each other (Ketchen and Hult, 2007; Alfalla-Luque et al., 2013). Competitive advantage (CA) is considered to be a capability developed from a company’s attributes and resources that allows the firm to achieve a higher level of performance than the competition (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1984). In a new context of high SC competition, Lee (2004) made a major statement that contrasted with current knowledge on the matter: “Ceteris paribus, companies whose supply chains became more efficient and cost-effective did not gain a sustainable advantage over their rivals’. He asserted that “only supply chains that are agile, adaptable, and aligned provide companies with sustainable competitive advantage”. However, this assessment was based on his professional experience and he conducted no formal empirical research to confirm his hypothesis. In spite of its evident interest in the current SC global context, theory development in this topic has been very limited. When analyzing the literature (see Section 2), it can be observed that there are almost no studies on this topic and that none have analyzed the CA’s sustainability. Furthermore, it should be stressed that most studies on the topic have focused on the effect of Triple-A SC variables on different performance measurements (e.g., operational performance, organizational performance, cost performance, firm performance, SC performance, etc.) but not on CA indicators. In other words, they do not show any comparison of a company’s performance with its main competitors.