Supply chain quality management and organizational performance: empirical evidence from telecom industry in the UAE

Abstract

Purpose: Supply chain quality management (SCQM) has gained less attention in the Arab world, and there is a clear dearth in existing research on this topic, particularly in service organizations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for investigating the impact of SCQM and associated indicators on organizational performance (OP). Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data have been collected through a survey distributed to a sample of major telecom companies in United Arab Emirates (UAE). To test the conceptual framework, structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used to analyze the data collected from 248 respondents of telecom companies. Findings: The empirical data showed that SCQM practices are significantly correlated with innovation and operations performance. Statistical analysis through SEM also revealed that customer satisfaction has highest direct impact on OP. Research limitations/implications: External factors (government regulations, policies and culture) also affect the SCQM practices. Hence, future work should incorporate these parameters as well. Practical implications: This is a contribution to the continuing research into SCQM, giving supply chain managers and designers a practical way for measuring and implementing SCQM practices across service supply chains. Originality/value: The contribution of this research, through successive stages of data collection, measurement analysis and refinement, is a set of reliable and valid framework that can be subsequently used in conceptualization and measuring quality of service supply chains.