Enhancing SMES Performance through Supply Chain Collaboration and Mediation of Collaborative Risk Management

ABSTRACT

The increasing globalization and smooth supply chain across industries have led to greater international competition. The limited inter-firms sharing of resources has created challenges for Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They have recently been attracted to supply chain management applications for the smooth flow of inventory. However, insignificant attention has been devoted to a comprehensive understanding of supply chain collaboration (SCC) in the context of SMEs operating in developing countries, particularly in Pakistan. This study investigates the antecedent effects of collaborative culture on supply chain collaboration and furthers the direct effect of SCC on SMEs firm performance (financial and non-financial) in developing countries. The paper used a closed-ended questionnaire to gather data, from randomly selected respondents from SMEs operating in Pakistan. The SMART PLS 3.0 was used for the path analysis of 227 responses from SMEs’ owners and managers. The findings revealed a direct positive relationship between Supply chain collaboration (SCC) and SMEs’ performance. Complementary mediation among the variables was examined. This means that collaborative risk management is a process that provides SMEs to identify and forecast potential risks during the inter-firm relationship and provide suitable solutions to achieve performance. Findings supported the concept that if the organization has a supportive culture towards supply chain collaboration adoption, then SMEs will improve their performance. This paper has implications for practitioners and researchers interested in investigating supply chain collaboration adoption in SMEs.

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