Significance of the Study and Findings
Overview. The purpose of this research was to identify and analyze the organizational
factors associated with SCM performance outcomes. The original research question posed was:
which organizational factors are associated with SCM performance outcomes? In addition, the
research proposition stated that people orientation was the dominant organizational factor
associated with SCM performance outcomes. However, the study’s findings suggest that, while
people serve as a necessary input to SCM performance, all of the organizational factors
identified during the literature review are associated with SCM performance outcomes. The four
factors are: (a) people orientation; (b) process orientation; (c) information technology; and, (d)
external environment. For simplification purposes, the term supply chain manager will,
hereafter, be used to generically refer to all SCM positions throughout the organization.
The fifth factor: supply chain integration. Although the purpose of the research was
to identify and analyze the organizational factors (n=4) associated with SCM performance
outcomes, the body of evidence revealed that the key to SCM performance is the integration of
the organizational factors as opposed to simply any one or more factors. Therefore, a surprising
and interesting finding was the discovery of a fifth organizational factor: supply chain
integration.