The roles of supply network centralities in firm performance and the moderating effects of reputation and export-orientation

Abstract

This study explores how supply network degree, closeness, and betweenness centralities affect firm performance, and the moderating effects of organizational reputation (measured by PageRank centrality) and export-orientation. The supply chain relationship empirical data are drawn from manufacturing and manufacturing service companies in Hong Kong, China. Social network analysis and moderated regression analysis were adopted to test the hypotheses for a sample of 814 focal firms with 3086 supply chain ties. The results indicate that in-degree and closeness centralities improve firm performance. Reputation is found to positively moderate the relationship between closeness and sales performance, but negatively moderates the relationship between betweenness and sales performance. Export-orientation has no effect on relationships. This study contributes to the literature by providing additional empirical evidence on the role of supply network position in firm performance. It also introduces PageRank centrality as a new measure of organizational reputation in a supply network.

Keywords:

• Supply network
• social network analysis
• reputation
• PageRank
• export orientation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by Korean Government (MOE) [NRF-2016S1A2A2912137]. This work was supported by the General Research Fund funded by Research Grant Council in Hong Kong (Project No.: 693013).

Notes on contributors

Antonio K. W. Lau

Antonio K. W. Lau is an Associate Professor in the School of Management at Kyung Hee University, Korea. He obtained his Ph.D. at City University of Hong Kong. He has published articles in International Journal of Operations and Production Management, International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Product Innovation Management, and Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. His current research interests are in the areas of innovation systems, supply chain management and corporate social responsibility.

Yuya Kajikawa

Yuya Kajikawa is a Professor at School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and a Professor at Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo. He is also a Visiting Professor at Strategic Innovation Office, Nagoya University. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo. His research interests include development of methodology for technology and innovation management, and innovation for sustainability. He has a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, which cover a variety of disciplines including engineering, information science, environmental science, and technology and innovation management. He serves as an Associate Editor of Technological Forecasting and Social Change, an Editor of Sustainability Science, and a member of editorial boards in other five international journals.

Naubahar Sharif

Naubahar Sharif is an Associate Professor in the Division of Public Policy and Division of Social Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He earned his doctorate in ‘Science and Technology Studies’ from Cornell University (USA) in 2005 and completed the Executive Education programme in ‘Innovation for Economic Development’ at Harvard University (USA) in 2011. He has published numerous research and theoretical articles in leading academic journals and has been awarded external funding from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong under its various schemes (including Collaborative Research Fund, General Research Fund, and the Public Policy Research scheme).