IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/oprepe/v7y2020ics2214716020300610.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The mediating impact of sustainability on the relationship between agility and operational performance

Author

Listed:
  • El-Khalil, Raed
  • Mezher, Mohamad Ali

Abstract

Agility and sustainability are two philosophies that the North American manufacturing industry invested heavily in, since the beginning of the twenty-first century. The impact of the two philosophies go beyond operations and extend to innovation, employees, communities, and customer. This paper identified the lack of empirical research investigating the relationship between agility and sustainability as well as their combined interactions with operational performance metrics. Very few researchers investigated this relationship with limited depth and breadth. Therefore, this paper investigated the interaction between sustainability, agility, and their influence/impact on operational performance in the United States (US) automotive manufacturing Industry. Based on the literature review conducted and after consulting several particulars from the US automotive manufacturing industry a survey was developed, this survey reflects a comprehensive list of agility practices, sustainability practices, and top-five performance metrics utilized by the US automotive industry. A survey was carried out with a total of 212 respondents. Respondents are all top managers at 152 manufacturing facilities including assembly/manufacturing, Powertrain, and component plants. We established a comprehensive list that includes seven agility categories with 52 factors and identified the top five performance metrics. The results identify a significant and positive relationship between agility and sustainability, agility and operational performance, and sustainability and operational performance. The result shows a significant correlation between agility practices and sustainability. An agility performance index was determined by combining the analytic hierarchy process and partial least square. Utilizing the partial least square method, sustainability was identified as a mediator on the relationship between Agility and operational performance.

Suggested Citation

  • El-Khalil, Raed & Mezher, Mohamad Ali, 2020. "The mediating impact of sustainability on the relationship between agility and operational performance," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 7(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:oprepe:v:7:y:2020:i:c:s2214716020300610
    DOI: 10.1016/j.orp.2020.100171
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214716020300610
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.orp.2020.100171?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yusuf, Y. Y. & Sarhadi, M. & Gunasekaran, A., 1999. "Agile manufacturing:: The drivers, concepts and attributes," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 33-43, May.
    2. Lu, Rainy X.A. & Lee, Peter K.C. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2012. "Socially responsible supplier development: Construct development and measurement validation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 160-167.
    3. BLOME, Constantin & SCHOENHERR, Tobias & ECKSTEIN, Dominik, 2014. "The impact of knowledge transfer and complexity on supply chain flexibility: a knowledge-based view," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2603, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    4. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    5. Antony Paulraj & Injazz J. Chen & Constantin Blome, 2017. "Motives and Performance Outcomes of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices: A Multi-theoretical Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 239-258, October.
    6. Sarkis, Joseph & Zhu, Qinghua & Lai, Kee-hung, 2011. "An organizational theoretic review of green supply chain management literature," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Esfahbodi, Ali & Zhang, Yufeng & Watson, Glyn, 2016. "Sustainable supply chain management in emerging economies: Trade-offs between environmental and cost performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(PB), pages 350-366.
    8. Ben Naylor, J. & Naim, Mohamed M & Berry, Danny, 1999. "Leagility: Integrating the lean and agile manufacturing paradigms in the total supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 107-118, May.
    9. Katiyar, Rajesh & Meena, Purushottam L. & Barua, Mukesh Kumar & Tibrewala, Rajen & Kumar, Gopal, 2018. "Impact of sustainability and manufacturing practices on supply chain performance: Findings from an emerging economy," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 303-316.
    10. Wong, Christina W.Y. & Lai, Kee-hung & Shang, Kuo-Chung & Lu, Chin-Shan & Leung, T.K.P., 2012. "Green operations and the moderating role of environmental management capability of suppliers on manufacturing firm performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 283-294.
    11. Gunasekaran, A., 1999. "Agile manufacturing: A framework for research and development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 87-105, May.
    12. Yusuf, Yahaya Y. & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Musa, Ahmed & Dauda, Mohammed & El-Berishy, Nagham M. & Cang, Shuang, 2014. "A relational study of supply chain agility, competitiveness and business performance in the oil and gas industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(PB), pages 531-543.
    13. Lin, Ching-Torng & Chiu, Hero & Tseng, Yi-Hong, 2006. "Agility evaluation using fuzzy logic," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 353-368, June.
    14. Chen, Lujie & Zhao, Xiande & Tang, Ou & Price, Lydia & Zhang, Shanshan & Zhu, Wenwen, 2017. "Supply chain collaboration for sustainability: A literature review and future research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 73-87.
    15. Lin, Ching-Torng & Chiu, Hero & Chu, Po-Young, 2006. "Agility index in the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 285-299, April.
    16. Stefanelli, Nelson Oliveira & Jabbour, Charbel José Chiappetta & Jabbour, Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa, 2014. "Green supply chain management and environmental performance of firms in the bioenergy sector in Brazil: An exploratory survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 312-315.
    17. Angappa Gunasekaran & Yahaya Y. Yusuf & Ezekiel O. Adeleye & Thanos Papadopoulos & Dharma Kovvuri & Dan’Asabe G. Geyi, 2019. "Agile manufacturing: an evolutionary review of practices," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(15-16), pages 5154-5174, August.
    18. Caroline Rodrigues Vaz & Tania Regina Shoeninger Rauen & Álvaro Guillermo Rojas Lezana, 2017. "Sustainability and Innovation in the Automotive Sector: A Structured Content Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-23, May.
    19. Geng, Ruoqi & Mansouri, S. Afshin & Aktas, Emel, 2017. "The relationship between green supply chain management and performance: A meta-analysis of empirical evidences in Asian emerging economies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PA), pages 245-258.
    20. Gunasekaran, A., 1999. "Design and implementation of agile manufacturing systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 1-6, May.
    21. Sharifi, H. & Zhang, Z., 1999. "A methodology for achieving agility in manufacturing organisations: An introduction," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 7-22, May.
    22. Vachon, Stephan & Klassen, Robert D., 2008. "Environmental management and manufacturing performance: The role of collaboration in the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 299-315, February.
    23. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    24. Yusuf, Yahaya Y. & Gunasekaran, A. & Musa, Ahmed & El-Berishy, Nagham M. & Abubakar, Tijjani & Ambursa, Hafsat M., 2013. "The UK oil and gas supply chains: An empirical analysis of adoption of sustainable measures and performance outcomes," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 501-514.
    25. Bottani, Eleonora, 2010. "Profile and enablers of agile companies: An empirical investigation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 251-261, June.
    26. Sharp, J. M. & Irani, Z. & Desai, S., 1999. "Working towards agile manufacturing in the UK industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 155-169, May.
    27. Blome, Constantin & Schoenherr, Tobias & Eckstein, Dominik, 2014. "The impact of knowledge transfer and complexity on supply chain flexibility: A knowledge-based view," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(PB), pages 307-316.
    28. Treacy, Raymond & Humphreys, Paul & McIvor, Ronan & Lo, Chris, 2019. "ISO14001 certification and operating performance: A practice-based view," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 319-328.
    29. Geyi, Dan’Asabe Godwin & Yusuf, Yahaya & Menhat, Masha S. & Abubakar, Tijjani & Ogbuke, Nnamdi J., 2020. "Agile capabilities as necessary conditions for maximising sustainable supply chain performance: An empirical investigation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nader, Joelle & El-Khalil, Raed & Nassar, Elma & Hong, Paul, 2022. "Pandemic planning, sustainability practices, and organizational performance: An empirical investigation of global manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    2. María D. López‐Gamero & José F. Molina‐Azorín & Jorge Pereira‐Moliner & Eva M. Pertusa‐Ortega, 2023. "Agility, innovation, environmental management and competitiveness in the hotel industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 548-562, March.
    3. Mircea Fulea & Bogdan Mocan & Mihai Dragomir & Mircea Murar, 2023. "On Increasing Service Organizations’ Agility: An Artifact-Based Framework to Elicit Improvement Initiatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-25, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Geyi, Dan’Asabe Godwin & Yusuf, Yahaya & Menhat, Masha S. & Abubakar, Tijjani & Ogbuke, Nnamdi J., 2020. "Agile capabilities as necessary conditions for maximising sustainable supply chain performance: An empirical investigation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    2. Ardian Qorri & Saranda Gashi & Andrzej Kraslawski, 2021. "Performance outcomes of supply chain practices for sustainable development: A meta‐analysis of moderators," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 194-216, January.
    3. Iqbal, Tahir & Huq, Faizul & Bhutta, M. Khurrum S., 2018. "Agile manufacturing relationship building with TQM, JIT, and firm performance: An exploratory study in apparel export industry of Pakistan," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 24-37.
    4. Ciampi, Francesco & Faraoni, Monica & Ballerini, Jacopo & Meli, Francesco, 2022. "The co-evolutionary relationship between digitalization and organizational agility: Ongoing debates, theoretical developments and future research perspectives," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    5. Anna-Theresa Walter, 2021. "Organizational agility: ill-defined and somewhat confusing? A systematic literature review and conceptualization," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 343-391, April.
    6. Pinho, Celso R.A. & Pinho, Maria Luiza C.A. & Deligonul, Seyda Z. & Tamer Cavusgil, S., 2022. "The agility construct in the literature: Conceptualization and bibliometric assessment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 517-532.
    7. Hossein Sayyadi Tooranloo & Sepideh Saghafi, 2019. "Investigating the Impact of Using Knowledge Management on Organisational Agility through Competitive Intelligence and Strategic Thinking," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(02), pages 1-31, June.
    8. Rebeca B. Sánchez-Flores & Samantha E. Cruz-Sotelo & Sara Ojeda-Benitez & Ma. Elizabeth Ramírez-Barreto, 2020. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management—A Literature Review on Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-27, August.
    9. Esfahbodi, Ali & Zhang, Yufeng & Liu, Yang & Geng, Duanyang, 2023. "The fallacy of profitable green supply chains: The role of green information systems (GIS) in attenuating the sustainability trade-offs," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    10. Ayoub Al-Zabidi & Ateekh Ur Rehman & Mohammed Alkahtani, 2021. "An Approach to Assess Sustainable Supply Chain Agility for a Manufacturing Organization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    11. Bikram Jit Singh Mann & Harmeet Kaur, 2020. "Sustainable Supply Chain Activities and Financial Performance: An Indian Experience," Vision, , vol. 24(1), pages 60-69, March.
    12. Yui-Yip Lau & Adolf Ky Ng & David Guerrero, 2014. "Becoming a major hub in the distribution of wine: Hong Kong as a gate to Asian markets," Post-Print hal-01069882, HAL.
    13. Katiyar, Rajesh & Meena, Purushottam L. & Barua, Mukesh Kumar & Tibrewala, Rajen & Kumar, Gopal, 2018. "Impact of sustainability and manufacturing practices on supply chain performance: Findings from an emerging economy," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 303-316.
    14. Sujan Piya & Ahm Shamsuzzoha & Mohammad Khadem & Nasr Al-Hinai, 2020. "Identification of Critical Factors and Their Interrelationships to Design Agile Supply Chain: Special Focus to Oil and Gas Industries," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 21(3), pages 263-281, September.
    15. Amer Saeed & Yun Jun & Saviour Ayertey Nubuor & Hewawasam Puwakpitiyage Rasika Priyankara & Mahabaduge Prasad Fernando Jayasuriya, 2018. "Institutional Pressures, Green Supply Chain Management Practices on Environmental and Economic Performance: A Two Theory View," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-24, May.
    16. Brusset, Xavier, 2016. "Does supply chain visibility enhance agility?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P1), pages 46-59.
    17. Wenwen Zhu & Zhiqiang Wang, 2018. "The Collaborative Networks and Thematic Trends of Research on Purchasing and Supply Management for Environmental Sustainability: A Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-28, May.
    18. Bottani, Eleonora, 2009. "A fuzzy QFD approach to achieve agility," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 380-391, June.
    19. Wilhelm, Miriam & Blome, Constantin & Wieck, Ellen & Xiao, Cheng Yong, 2016. "Implementing sustainability in multi-tier supply chains: Strategies and contingencies in managing sub-suppliers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 196-212.
    20. Rima Zitkiene & Mindaugas Deksnys, 2018. "Organizational Agility Conceptual Model," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 14(2), pages 115-129.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:oprepe:v:7:y:2020:i:c:s2214716020300610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/operations-research-perspectives .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.