Quality in supply chains: an empirical analysis

Purpose - To analyze the state of supply chain quality management in manufacturing companies by testing several hypotheses regarding the knowledge these companies have about their different supply chain partners, the attributes that characterize customer-supplier relationships and the factors that determine the development of quality specifications in a supply chain, and the effect of supply chain quality management activities of companies on product quality. Design/methodology/approach - Six hypotheses related to supply chain quality management have been developed through literature review and tested using survey data from US manufacturing companies. Findings - Provides information about the results of each hypothesis, their implications, and how these findings relate to the previous literature. Research limitations/implications - The study offers insights into what the findings suggest and provides guidelines for future research to tackle issues raised by these findings. There were also some research limitations. For instance, the study relied on the perceptions of the respondents to operationalize the survey instrument, and the variables were mostly operationalized using single measures. Practical implications - The study recommends ways managers can use the study's findings to improve supply chain quality. Originality/value - This paper fills a void in the literature by focusing on quality in supply chain management.