The mediating effects of interfirm business process integration and joint teamwork on firm performance in supply chains

This paper empirically examines the influences of strategic interdependence and resource complementarity on operational performance and relational performance of Chinese suppliers based on the resource-based view and resource dependence theory. In particular, it analyses the mediating effects of interfirm business process integration and joint teamwork. We apply structural equation modeling to analyze the survey data collected from logistics and supply chain managers, and derive the best model with theoretical foundation and statistical significance. As a result, our work has identified the mediating effects of interfirm business process integration and joint teamwork, and validated the assertion that strategic interdependence and resource complementarity as supply chain resources are fundamental to firm performance. It is stressed that resource capitalization requires interfirm business process integration and joint teamwork to realize the value of supply chain resources. The findings not only contribute to research on interfirm resources and performance, but also have practical implications for operations and supply chain management. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013