Linking organization design to supply chain responsiveness: the role of dynamic managerial capabilities

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how managers' abilities to design and implement organizational change initiatives affects supply chain (SC) responsiveness. Extant research focuses on specific process and resource options to address responsiveness, with only limited reference to managers' capabilities in adapting to new organization designs that organize processes and resources. Consequently, organizational theory that characterizes the implications of developing and implementing various designs is ignored. The study directly leverages organization adaption, organization design and the dynamic managerial capabilities literature to address the question of how to improve SC responsiveness. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data are used to identify specific dynamic managerial capability constructs, as well as the expected relationships depicted in our conceptual model. The authors test these relationships using quantitative survey data collected from 199 SC leaders. Findings The authors find that capabilities in organization design, functional leader negotiations and workforce communications foster SC responsiveness via improved structural adaptability (SA). The findings explain how and when organization design actions impact SA and responsiveness, and more importantly, why managers should invest in developing a workforce communication capability as the foundation for organizational adaptability. Originality/value By applying organization adaption, organization design and dynamic managerial capabilities concepts, the research expands the existing study of responsiveness in the SC organizational context.

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