How Switching Costs with Process Monitoring and Operational Integration Affect Sustainable Supplier Relationship

Abstract

Building on sustainable supply chain management and operations strategy literature, our study seeks to identify structural relationships between switching cost and sustainable supplier relationships from a demand-side perspective. More specifically, this study looks at the impact of the switching cost on process monitoring, operation integration, and sustainable supplier relationships. To test the structural relationships in our research model, we used Manufacturing Productivity Survey data from Korea to conduct an empirical analysis based on 351 data that fit our study’s purpose. The results show that the indirect effect of switching cost on sustainable supplier relationships through process monitoring and operational integration is positively valid. Additionally, the results emphasize that the social exchange theory can be explained in the perspective of the switching cost.