The Effect of Container Shipping Supply Chain Integration on Operational Performance: The Mediating Role of Information Sharing

Abstract

Purpose - Conventional supply chains (SCs) must identify facilitating roles, such as port/terminal operators, shipping companies, and freight forwarders in executing the various logistical activities that support the organizational strategies of shippers. Meanwhile, supply chain collaborative practices can facilitate the willingness to share relevant and mutually helpful information. To this end, this study seeks to identify the impact of supply chain integration (SCI) on the IS and operational performance (OP) of the container-shipping industry in Korea with social capital perspectives. Design/Methodology - Based on previous studies, we established the research model for this study. The survey administration yielded 149 valid responses from employees working in liner-shipping companies and freight forwarders in Korea. With the collected questionnaires, hypotheses test were carried out using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0 Findings – The results indicate the existence of a mediated relationship wherein the impacts of SCI on OP is mediated by IS. The effect of external integration (EI) on OP is fully mediated by information quality (IQ) and information-sharing contents (ISC). EI, IQ and ISC partially mediate the relationship between internal integration (II) and OP. Originality/value - This study expands SCI contexts, wherein ISC and IQ respectively serve as bridges between EI and OP. This has crucial implications for container-shipping companies in terms of improving their performance.