The impact of supply chain management on competitive advantage and organizational performance at Starwood Industries

Abstract

[EN] The notion of supply chain management has recently received much attention as one of the key topics in the arena of operations management. The increasing interest in this topic by academics, researchers, and practitioners all over the world is due to several reasons including, but not limited to, highly competitive markets, more globalization, product diversity, outsourcing, short production cycles, technological development, and demanding customers (Lockamy & McCormack, 2004). Thus, several empirical studies have examined the effect of supply chain management on many variables including, among other variables, competitive advantage and organizational performance (e.g. Lawson et al., 2009; Martin & Paterson, 2009). Several empirical studies indicate that effective supply chain management enhances competitive advantage and improve overall performance of companies. In addition, findings confirm that there is direct association between competitive advantage and organizational performance (Li et al., 2005; Spina et al., 2015). Supply chain management refers to managing and negotiating of product and information processes among suppliers of material, manufacturers, and customers (Scannell et al., 2000). Competitive advantage, on the other hand, denotes the extent to which an organization can create a strong position relative to its competitors in a way that enables the organization to achieve more profits than its competitors do (McGinnis & Vallopra, 1999). Finally, organizational performance is the extent to which an organization attains its goals including market and financial ones. Based on this definition, the key performance indicators are market share, rate of growth, and return on assets (Vickery et al., 1991). In 1997, the Starwood Industries was established in the United Arab Emirates. Since its establishment, Starwood Industries has become one of the most important companies in the design, manufacturing, and installation of wooden products including doors and kitchens. The company has a total labor force of more than 800 employees working in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Recently, the company has been facing severe competition locally and regionally. Therefore, the primary aim of the current study is to examine the effect of supply chain management on the competitive advantage and organizational performance in Starwood Industries. Specifically, the supply chain management practices of Starwood Industries, its competitive advantage, and its organizational performance will be assessed, and the different associations between these variables will be examined. This in turn will help the company improve its supply chain management, enabling the company to strengthen its competitive advantage relative to its competitors and enhance its organizational performance.

[ES] El objetivo principal de este estudio es investigar el impacto de la gestión de la cadena de suministro en la ventaja competitiva y el desempeño organizacional en Starwood Industries. Esto incluye evaluar desde el punto de vista de los empleados cómo se gestiona la cadena de suministro, el nivel competitivo de la empresa y el desempeño organizacional y relacionar el efecto de las variables medidas gestión y de nivel competitivo con el resultado de la organización. Este estudio requiere de la realización de un estudio del estado del arte en la materia, de la determinación de los indicadores que evalúan cada uno de los conceptos de interés, del establecimiento de las hipótesis del trabajo, su análisis de los datos y los resultados mediante la metodología adecuada y el establecimiento de las conclusiones y las limitaciones del estudio.