The moderating role of industry clockspeed on the relation between supply chain integration practices and new product flexibility

Muddassar Sarfraz; Ghulam Hussain; Mian Sajid Nazir; Muhammad Ibrahim Abdullah; Muhammad Amir Rashid

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14484

The moderating role of industry clockspeed on the relation between supply chain integration practices and new product flexibility

Heliyon. 2023 Mar 13;9(3):e14484. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14484. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Muddassar Sarfraz¹, Ghulam Hussain², Mian Sajid Nazir³, Muhammad Ibrahim Abdullah², Muhammad Amir Rashid²

Affiliations

¹ School of Management, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, PR China.
² Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad-Lahore Campus, Pakistan.
³ Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.

Abstract

This study assessed the firm's new product flexibility in the recovery phase of COVID-19. Using the theoretical lens of organizational information processing theory, it established the relationship between supply chain integration practices (supply chain planning, internal integration, and supplier involvement) and new product flexibility. It also explained the moderating effect of industry clockspeed on supply chain integration practices and new product flexibility with the help of contingency theory. This study used an online survey method to collect data from plant managers, and we received 256 useable responses. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis to test the validity and reliability of the scales, and we tested hypotheses using moderated multiple regression technique. The results showed significant positive relationships between supply chain integration practices and new product flexibility. The moderating effects hypotheses showed that industry clockspeed significantly and positively moderated on supply chain planning-new product flexibility and internal integration-new product flexibility links. But it negatively moderated on supplier involvement and new product flexibility. Our study departs from earlier studies in the field that were conducted under normal circumstances. We conducted our study in the recovery phase of COVID-19 in Pakistan, when firms, after fourteen days of complete lockdown, resumed their operations and experienced a new business landscape.

Keywords: COVID-19; Industry clockspeed; New normal environment; New product flexibility; Supply chain integration practices.