Procedural Rationality And Supplier Operational Performance

This paper firstly explored the antecedents of procedural rationality(a scientific decision-making approach based on process rationality),including organizational characteristics,situational characteristics,personal characteristics.Then it built the model of subsequent supplier management based on procedural rationality.The conceptual model included antecedents and outcomes of procedural rationality.The outcomes consisted of perceived supplier control and supplier operational performance.Simultaneously,it found the influences of cooperative behavior with supplier and supplier uncertainty on operational performance.176 valid questionnaires collected in manufacturing industry in Yangtze River delta are investigated.The validity and reliability of the questionnaires are examined in SPSS 17.0.Considering the characteristics of the conceptual model,the paper used the method of structure equation modeling to test the relationships among these latent variables.AMOS 22.0 was used.The results indicated that:(1)Product complexity is positive related to procedural rationality;(2)Product familiarity is positive related to procedural rationality;(3)Experience in supplier management is positive related to procedural rationality;(4)Procedural rationality is positively related to perceived supplier control;(5)Perceived supplier control is positively related to supplier operational performance;(6)Cooperative behavior is positively related to supplier operational performance;(7)Supplier uncertainty is negatively related to supplier operational performance.The study enriched the theoretical research on supplier management.And it provided insights and suggestions for subsequent supplier management process,especially on supplier operational performance.