THE IMPACT OF SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION ON COMPANIES’ PERFORMANCE AMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought immeasurable losses to the global market in various industries. Manufacturing companies that rely on the nature of the supply chain are also facing a huge crisis brought about by the epidemic. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the supply chain integration of suppliers, internal, and customers implemented by Chinese manufacturing companies before the epidemic on their performance after the epidemic. Supply chain resilience was introduced as a mediating variable to investigate whether the supply chain resilience could combat the risk of the epidemic as a result of the pre-epidemic implementation of supply chain integration. The instrument was a questionnaire completed by 317 respondents. The results revealed that 1) internal integration and customer integration expressed positive effects on the performance of companies while supplier integration and firm performance did not. 2) Supplier integration, internal integration, and customer integration expressed positive effects on supply chain resilience. 3) Supply chain resilience expressed a positive effect on firm performance, and 4) expressed a mediating effect among supplier integration, internal integration, customer integration, and performance. Based on the results of the test, relevant supply chain management insights were recommended.