The impact of information technology and communication systems on the agility of supply chain management systems

Abstract

PurposeThe impact of information technology (IT) on the agility of supply chain management (SCM) systems is very noticeable in the business world nowadays. Competition and constant changes, including product/technological innovations, decreasing product lifestyles and product proliferation, create pressure that affects the business environment. Organizations are required for answering the changes in the market to gain a competitive advantage and business success. The organizations are able to answer to unexpected market changes through supply chain market, and these changes are converted to business opportunities. Using IT to achieve the agility of SCM is one of the important factors to help the organizations. Therefore, the adoption of IT and its efficient implementation can improve the cooperation between supply chain agility through the rapid transfer, the distribution of accurate information and the use of information. This paper aims to investigate the impact of IT on the agility of SCM.Design/methodology/approachA total of 120 employees of the Golasal firm are involved in collecting data using a questionnaire. Measurements were performed in all questionnaires using a five-point Likert scale. The causal model is evaluated by structural equationmodeling technique, which is used to examine the reliability and validity of the model.FindingsThe results have shown that IT has positive influences on the agility of SCM systems. In addition, the obtained results have shown that four variables, namely, IT skills and knowledge, IT-based systems integration, IT infrastructure and design of global position system and geographic information systems, affect the agility of SCM systems.Originality/valueIn this paper, the agility of SCM systems is pointed out and the approach to resolve the problem is applied into a practical example. The presented model provides a complete framework to examine the impact of IT on the agility of SCM systems.