Trust and commitment in supply chain during digital transformation: A case in Korea

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that the fundamentals of the supply chain relationships have not changed during the digital transformation period in Korea between 2006 and 2018. Design/methodology/approach - The data for this study were collected through a questionnaire-based survey during two different time periods in Korea, 2006 and 2018. Findings - This study reveals that supply chain professionals in 2006 regarded trust building process as the most important construct for the successful supply chain operations while in the 2018 survey, trust-based commitment became the most important construct. This paper concludes that supply chain sustainability will be enhanced based on strong supply chain relationship framework. Originality/value - This study reaffirmed that a supply chain relationship built on a trust-based commitment is still the pathway to successful supply chain implementation. As far as we know, no studies have been published in examining supply chain relationships during the digital transformation in two time periods.