Abstract:
The study presents a conceptual model that links customer orientation practices and supply
chain performance.
Rising competitiveness has motivated businesses to seek innovative and effective methods to
build competitiveness across all value enhancing activities of its operations. Recent research
have highlighted that ―Companies do not compete; supply chains do‖, leading the companies
to seek means of achieving sustainable business success through collaborative supply chains.
Further, identifying and satisfying, or rather going beyond satisfying customers‘ expectations
is essential for sustaining business performance.
Linking these two important notions; supply chain focus and customer orientation, this study
presents a model that enables assessing how the use of customer orientation practices, affects
supply chain performance. Several models on customer orientation and on supply chain
performance measurement were analyzed and subsequently combined and adjusted to suit the
specific requirement. Expert opinion was used in the process of refining the proposed model.
The presented model categorizes customer orientation practices in supply chain in to three
main categories as information sharing practices, operational practices and customer service
practices. Under each of these there are several sub categories of practices defined. This
multi-tier categorization allows specifically identifying which type of practices impacts the
most or least on supply chain performance in the context of a particular supply chain, or a
particular industry. Hence the use of the model is twofold, as it enables ascertaining if there is
a significant impact of using customer orientation practices, on supply chain performance in a
certain firm or industry, as well as identifying best practices of customer orientation in that
context. Therefore it is capable of providing guidance in implementing customer orientation
practices in supply chains, and thus effectively enhancing supply chain performance.
