The effects of organizational learning culture and decentralization upon supply chain collaboration: analysis of covid-19 period

Crises cause delays in supply chain management with resulting changes to organizations’ internal structures. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the global supply chain and, with it, the organizational structure of companies. This research discusses supply chain collaboration (SCC) by considering two important organizational competencies: organizational learning culture (OLC) and decentralization (DC). It investigates the potential impact of these intangible resources upon SCC after the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical model was tested by variance-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using results of a questionnaire which was completed by 245 respondents. In fact, this study explores which organizational capabilities determine the SCC level specifically within the current COVID-19 pandemic period. We believe that this contribution is significant, as the level of collaboration between companies can change during risk periods. The results show that OLC have significantly positive effects on SCC. Moreover, DC plays a critical role for the relationship between OLC and SCC. In other words, this study reveals the importance of DC to observe the positive effects of OLC on SCC. Unlike previous studies which explored SCC, this research demonstrates the importance of an organization’s inherent intangible resources in order to improve relationships with suppliers. The article ends with a discussion of the findings and their implications.