The Impact of Internal Integration on Logistics Speed and Reliability: The Mediating Role of Customer Integration
Ahmet Çetindaş, Mazlum ÇelikThe objective of this research is to investigate the impact of internal integration on speed and reliability in logistics and the mediating role of customer integration. Toward this aim, the study collected data from 161 manufacturing companies operating in Gaziantep by applying the scales through questionnaires. The analysis essential to the research have been conducted using the programs SPSS and AMOS. The results prove internal integration to positively impact customer integration, and customer integration to positively impact logistics speed and reliability. Internal integration’s impact on logistic speed and reliability could not be proven with the structural equation model. However, the process macro results revealed internal integration to positively impact speed and reliability in logistics. Furthermore, the results from the mediation test that was applied using the process macro method have proven customer integration to have an intermediary role in internal integration’s impact on speed and reliability in logistics.
İç Entegrasyonun Lojistik Hız Ve Güvenirlik Üzerindeki Etkisi: Müşteri Entegrasyonun Aracı Rolü
Ahmet Çetindaş, Mazlum ÇelikBu çalışmanın amacı firmalarda birimler arası iç entegrasyonun lojistik hız ve güvenirlik üzerine etkisinde müşteri entegrasyonunun arracı rolünü araştırmaktır. Bu kapsamda Gaziantep’de faaliyet gösteren 161 üretim firmasından anket ile veri toplanmıştır. Araştırma için gerekli analizler, SPSS ve AMOS paket programları ile yapılmıştır. Analiz sonucunda iç entegrasyonun müşterientegrasyonunu ve müşteri entegrasyonun lojistik hız ve güvenirliğini pozitif yönde anlamlı olarak etkilediği bulgusuna ulaşılmıştır. İç entegrasyonun lojistik hız ve güvenirlik üzerindeki etkisi yapısal eşitlik modelinde bulunamazken process macro yöntemi ile bulgulanmıştır. Ayrıca process macro yöntemiyle yapılan aracılık testi neticesinde iç entegrasyonun lojistik hız ve güvenirlik üzerindeki etkisinde müşteri entegrasyonunun aracı rolünün bulunduğu ispatlanmıştır.
With the accelerated consumption and increased demand these days, manufacturers are expected to have quick reliable logistics services. Making deliveries where and when they are needed has been a distinctive feature for companies. The purpose of this study is to analyze how much manufacturers’ speed and reliability in logistics is explained by internal integration and customer integration and whether or not customer integration mediates the relationship internal integration has with speed and reliability in logistics. As emphasized in this study, increasing speed and reliability in logistics is possible through integration. Integration is an accepted strategy businesses implement and involves applying key business processes from the raw material supplier to the end user in an integrated and harmonious manner throughout the supply chain (Gimenez & Ventura, 2005, p. 22). Integration starts with customers and extends throughout the entire supply chain, from the distribution of finished products to the production and sourcing of raw materials, as well as service suppliers. Therefore, integration is necessary both between departments and with customers (Stank et al., 2001, p. 29). Internal integration refers to the information sharing, harmony, and cooperation that takes place within the internal processes between departments. Through internal integration, functional units share information such as sales forecasts, production plans, and inventory with each other using digital systems (Narasimhan & Kim, 2001). Because of the very rapid changes in environmental conditions, the unpredictability of demand, and customers’ high expectations for delivery, speed in logistics has become ever more important. Meanwhile, the expectation of having deliveries be made on time as promised makes reliability important. The reason why both concepts represent one dimension is that reliability is actually considered in terms of the reliability of fulfilling the promises that are made about delivery times. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect internal integration has on speed and reliability in logistics, as well as the mediating role of customer integration. The following hypotheses have also been developed:
H1. Internal integration positively impact speed and reliability in logistics.
H2. Internal integration positively impacts customer integration.
H3. Customer integration positively impacts speed and reliability in logistics.
H4. Customer integration has a mediating role in the effect internal integration has on speed and reliability in logistics.
The research has been applied to medium and large companies operating in Gaziantep, with the sample of the research consisting of 161 industrial companies. The study has applied confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and reliability analyses to test the validity and reliability of the scales. The EFA results reveal the KMO values to be greater than 0.70 and the factor loads to exceed 0.50 for all scales. The reliability analysis reveals the alpha of reliability value for all scales to be greater than 0.70. Thus, the CFA has proven the scales to meet the goodness-of-fit criteria. The results from the structural equation model (SEM) show internal integration to positively affect customer integration but to not affect speed and reliability inlogistics, as well as customer integration to affect speed and reliability in logistics. The process macro method was used to test the mediating role of customer integration in internal integration’s impact on speed and reliability in logistics. According to the findings obtained from the analysis, internal integration affects customer integration positively and significantly (B = .5341, 95% CI [.3813, .6866], t = 6.9149, p < .001). Customer integration has been determined to significantly affect speed and reliability in logistics (B = .1602, 95% CI [.0165, .3039], t = 2.2025, p < .001). While SEM was unable to prove internal integration to havean impact on speed and reliability in logistics, the process macro method did support this (B = .2053, 95% CI [.0457, .3649], t = 2.5404, p < .001). Thus, customer integration can be said to mediate the impact internal integration has on speed and reliability in logistics (B = .0856, 95% CI [.0023, .1845], p < .001). The study results thus support hypotheses H1, H2, H3, and H4.
