The role of agility in responding to uncertainty: A cognitive perspective

Abstract

This research investigates the impact of external environment, cognitive factors, and behavioral dimensions in the context of implementing supply chain agility. It applies social cognitive theory to establish a link between various environments including business uncertainty and supply chain disruption risk, cognitive factors such as supply chain agility self-efficacy, trust, and supply chain cooperation, coordination, and communication attitude, and actions such as implementing supply chain agility as well as behavior to explain the decision-making process in implementation. Based on the survey data collected from 254 supply and purchasing managers in the Korean manufacturing industry, AMOS software with structural equation method was used for data analysis Our results support the concept that business uncertainty reduces self-efficacy in supply chain agility although both business uncertainty and supply chain disruption risk boosted trust in the supply chain as well as buyers’ positive attitude toward supply chain cooperation, coordination, and communication. The concept of supply chain agility, self-efficacy, trust, and supply chain cooperation, coordination, and communication attitude have a positive impact on firm performance. Supply chain agility, self-efficacy, and trust in suppliers positively affects implementation of supply chain agility as well as firms’ financial, operational, and supply chain performance. This research provides meaningful insights for considering external environments and cognitive factors while making decisions in implementing supply chain agility.