Supply chain integration, customer satisfaction and firm performance: A survey research

Integration brings business functions together by establishing a strong coordination infrastructure and provides efficient use of information tools. This does not just refer to a single business function or process but setting up a solid relationship between all business functions, from purchasing to stock control, demand forecast to accounting recording. Integration, both internal and external integration, should be included in all processes of an organization. Supply chain entegration consists of customer integration, internal integration and supplier integration, thus includes both internal and external factors. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of supply chain integration (customer integration, internal integration and supplier integration) on supplier satisfaction and firm performance. For this analysis, online questionnaire data is collected from 106 production firms. Collected data is analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equality model. The first conclusion of our analysis is that the internal integration has a positive and meaningful impact on customer integration and supplier integration. Another conclusion is that there is a positive and meaningful relation between the customer satisfaction and firm performance. On the other hand, a meaningful relation between customer integration or supplier integration and customer satisfaction is not observed. Due to the fact that there has not been a field study performed on this topic before in our country, it is envisioned that this study is going to help supply chain managers and contribute to the academic literature