The impact of lean and agile supply chain strategies on business performance: A study on the manufacturing sectors in Azerbaijan and Turkey

While lean supply chain strategies aim to reduce waste and increase operational efficiency, agile supply chain strategies aim to provide rapid response and flexibility to changing market conditions. However, uncertainty about the effects of these strategies on business performance, indecision about which strategy is more effective and which strategy should be adopted by businesses under what conditions, may also be related to the lack of analysis of the factors that will be determined as performance criteria. Therefore, this study aims to comparatively examine the effects of lean and agile supply chain strategies on business performance (financial and non-financial performance) in the manufacturing sectors in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Within the framework of data collected from a total of 200 participants working in managerial positions in the manufacturing sector, the theoretical model created was tested with PLS-based structural equation modeling. Additionally, to make comparisons between two different countries, the relationships defined in the model were tested with multiple group analysis (MGA). According to results, the most striking situation is that in order for agile and lean supply chain strategies to have a meaningful impact in terms of financial performance, non financial performance must first be affected and improved by these strategies. MGA results reveal that there is no significant difference between the two countries considering the relevant model variables and relationships. The reason for this result is that the manufacturing and commercial processes of the two countries are similar to each other. As a result, within the scope of the current thesis study, the effect of lean and agile supply chain strategies on business performance was examined by considering two different performance criteria. This study offers new contributions to both theoretical and practical knowledge as a result of its findings.