What Matters Most, Culture or Process? Investigating the Determinants of High-Performing Global Supply Chain Teams

Abstract

The proposed research investigated specific cultural attributes of supply chain teams that enable the transformation of a firm’s working supply chain into a high-performing supply chain (what is considered “best-in-class” in its peer group), thereby increasing the overall firm value. The findings of the research indicate that throughout global supply chains, the practice of leadership is considered more impactful and more value creating than the practice of process. Moreover, specific leadership influences cultural attributes and, when practiced, can also generally increase firm value. A comprehensive review of current literature about supply chain teams and organizational culture as well as supply chain team engineering was conducted to determine the significance of culture in high-performing firms, regardless of industry. In the discipline of supply chain management (SCM), significant research exists for the usual business focus areas of improving cost, quality, and service. However, there is limited research about the construct of culture and, in particular, high-performing supply chain culture. Furthermore, this research examined the extent to which the combination of supply chain team culture, as influenced by leadership and a highly engineered supply chain team process contribute to a firm’s success. Data were collected from senior supply chain executives from a cross-section of low, mid, and large market capitalization firms. Additionally, stakeholder value-added metrics of two-year firm performance were used to define successful, sustainable public firm performance. The implications of this research, when practiced, can act as enabler for increasing firm supply chain performance, thereby assisting firms with a successful value-creating framework.