How China’s demand uncertainty moderates the respondence of operational performance to supply chain integration in automotive industry

摘要

This study aims at examining the dynamic response of the relationship between supply chain integration (SCI) and operational performance (OP) to demand uncertainty (DU). Based on a wide spectrum data sample with 357 participants in the China automotive supply chains, threshold regressions are used to examine the dynamic moderating effects. DU was found to moderate supplier integration (SI)–OP and customer integration (CI)–OP relationship. Internal integration (II)–OP relationship did not response to DU. The SI–OP relationship turned from negative to positive as DU increases, and CI–OP relationship responded to DU reversely compare to SI–OP relationship. Scholars now know the moderating effect of DU is not static and monotonic. Both of direction and magnitude of the correlations between SI, CI and OP change when DU changes. Managers of automotive supply chain recognize that their integrations’ strength should be properly managed subject to the level of DU for propose of achieving optimal OP. This study extends the current literature by delivering a field study of China and introducing dynamic capability theory for the first time to examine a dynamic response model that represents the SCI–OP relationships with respect to the DU as a moderating factor.