THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SUPPLY-CHAIN RESPONSIVENESS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUPPLY-CHAIN INTEGRATION AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

. Background: The study investigated the impact of supply-chain integration on operational performance in the food manufacturing industry, specifically in East Java. That capacity for innovation did not directly affect operational performance or mediate the relationship between supply-chain integration and operational performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of supply-chain integration on operational performance in food manufacturing enterprises, both directly and through the mediation of inventory management reaction and capacity for innovation. Methods: The study employed a quantitative approach, distributing online questionnaires to 507 mid-scale food and beverage industries. A total of 121 valid responses were collected, which were then analyzed using partial least squares. Results: The results reveal that inventory management integration impacts efficiency in operation with a mediation process on network responsiveness. Capacities for innovation do not significantly affect operational performance directly or as a mediation of supply-chain integration because the food industry does not require scarce resources. Conclusions: This research is helpful in validating the theory and in proving empirically that operational performance can be improved by increasing supply-chain integration; therefore, food industry players can pay more attention to the above. Further studies can be conducted by focusing more on each dimension of each construct.