Supply chain responsiveness in the context of integration, continuous improvement, and environmental uncertainty: An empirical study

Supply chain responsiveness describes the ability of businesses to quickly adapt to market conditions, logistics disruptions, and supplier issues. The main purpose of the research is to analyze the factors that affect the responsiveness of supply chains and the effects of supply chain responsiveness on customer satisfaction and competitiveness. In addition, this study also discusses strategies and tools that can increase supply chain responsiveness. The study aims to determine the factors necessary for more effective management of the supply chain and to provide guidance to managers to develop a more proactive and agile approach to environmental changes. A quantitative method was adopted in the study. Data were collected from 290 companies operating in Turkey through the developed survey. In the discovery phase, explanatory factor analysis was performed with SPSS (v18), and in the verification phase, measurement models and structural model were evaluated with Smart-PLS (v3). According to the results, a significant and positive relationship was found between supplier integration, continuous improvement and environmental uncertainty and supply chain responsiveness. No relationship was found between customer integration and supply chain responsiveness. In addition, a significant and positive relationship was found between supply chain responsiveness and customer satisfaction and competitiveness. The findings show that managers should invest in processes related to supplier integration and continuous improvement. In addition, it can be said that it is necessary to realize that supply chain responsiveness depends on the dynamics of the environment in which the supply chain is located and to take action accordingly. In order to increase customer satisfaction and competitiveness levels, actions should be taken to increase supply chain responsiveness. In the detailed literature research, it is seen that there are limited studies on the relationship between supply chain responsiveness, continuous improvement and environmental uncertainty. It has been seen that the concept of supply chain responsiveness is not given enough place in the studies conducted in Turkey and its importance is not recognized as much as it should be. This study will contribute to these gaps in the literature.