Relational and Process Multiplexity in Vertical Supply Chain Triads: An Exploration in the U.S. Restaurant Industry

• Author: Susan Golicic,Chad W. Autry,Brent D. Williams
• Date: 01 March 2014
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12034
• Published date: 01 March 2014

Relational and Process Multiplexity in Vertical Supply Chain

Triads: An Exploration in the U.S. Restaurant Industry

Chad W. Autry

1

, Brent D. Williams

2

, and Susan Golicic

3

1

University of Tennessee

2

University of Arkansas

3

Colorado State University

Both supply chain relationships and process connections between organizational units have been studied in business research, to enhance

the understanding of supply chain integration, and to explore the differential outcomes of both types of connections for business and func-

tional performance. However, the extant research remains deficient in two ways: within individual studies, researchers have operationalized sup-

ply chain connectivity unidimensionally, with the concept of connectivity constrained to either social relations or operational/process ties while

disregarding the other viewpoint. Additionally, researchers have persistently designed studies to evaluate dyadic structures, while foregoing the

larger, more intricate structures representative of complex supply chains. We address these issues by modeling supply chain connectivity as hav-

ing multiple relational- and process-based threads comprising linkages, and by empirically testing a set of theorized relationships describing ver-

tical triadic supply chain networks (manufacturer, broker, retailer) within the U.S. restaurant industry. We find that increased supply chain

connectivity improves chain performance, but this improvement is more directly attributable to process-based linkages than relational linkages,

which impact performance only through the process mediator variable, suggesting that current theories of interorganizational relationalism may

lack complete conceptualization. Implications of these findings for managers and the academy are highlighted, and areas of follow-on research

are discussed.

Keywords: supply chain relationships; relational multiplexity; process multiplexity; supply chain triads

INTRODUCTION

Researchers across business disciplines generally agree that

firms’capability to construct and manage interorganizational con-

nections of various types is critical to achieving their desired

business outcomes (e.g., Im and Rai 2008; Borgatti and Li

2009). In describing interorganizational connectivity, two organi-

zational researcher groupings have developed unique theoretical

perspectives on the idea of connection. One research stream

focuses on the intangible, social relationships that join multiple

firms together to understand how relational content facilitates or

improves outcomes for either the focal firm or the network as a

whole (Uzzi 1997; Hoetker et al. 2007; Autry and Griffis 2008;

Forslund and Jonsson 2009). Another research stream addresses

the more tangible linkages that tie together organizations through

coordinated business processes, to better understand how process

links lead to performance advantages (e.g., Koufteros et al.

2005; Lambert et al. 2005; Im and Rai 2008). Evolving in rela-

tive isolation, each has enlightened managers and scholars as to

how different types of interorganizational connections are culti-

vated, maintained, and lead to desirable results, and yet few stud-

ies have examined multiple relation types acting concurrently

within networks.

We use the term multiplexity to describe the situation where

plural connections link organizations and/or organizational func-

tional areas (cf. Ansari et al. 2011). In this paper, we study mul-

tiplexity occurring within retail supply chains, where numerous

business units work together to deliver valued offerings to end

users (Bowersox et al. 2000). Two currently understudied issues

are of particular interest. First, the connections that develop

between supply chain firms are rarely built from purely relational

or purely process-based ties, yet the extant research has almost

invariably addressed only one connectivity paradigm within any

given single study while neglecting by design to consider the

influences associated with the other type. Thus, academics and

managers may possess an incomplete and/or biased understand-

ing of connectivity-related issues and outcomes in the supply

chain.

Second, researchers who have empirically studied either con-

nective type within the supply chain context have (with very few

exceptions) limited their focus to dyadic buyer–supplier connec-

tion(s) while ignoring the relational dynamics of more complex

supply chain structures (Galaskiewicz 2011). While conceptual

work has qualitatively described more complex networks (e.g.,

Hakansson and Snehota 1995), only recently have studies begun

to empirically explore more expansive structures; for instance,

how a buyer’s linkages with a focal supplier may affect its rela-

tionship with a different supplier, or how connections between

multiple suppliers influence each supplier’s relationships with

partners outside the focal network (Choi and Wu 2009; Wu et al.

2010).

Borrowing support from organizational sociology that has

been previously applied to the business of organizational rela-

tions—that is, social capital, social penetration, and social

exchange theories (SETs)—this study assessed multidimensional

supply chain connections occurring within vertical triadic supply

chains, inclusive of both relational- and process-based ties. Rela-

tional multiplexity is defined here as a status where two or more

formalized supply chain organizations are connected by multiple

types of relational content, such as communications, cooperative

Corresponding author:

Brent D. Williams, Department of Supply Chain Management, Sam

M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, Fayette-

ville, AR 72701, USA; E-mail: bwilliams@walton.uark.edu

Journal of Business Logistics, 2014, 35(1): 52–70

© Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals

norms, or mutual adaptation. Alternatively, process multiplexity

is a status where there is a presence of multiple integrated supply

chain processes, such as manufacturing flow or product develop-

ment, between the focal organizations. We develop and empiri-

cally test a model of antecedents to relational multiplexity, which is

subsequently connected to both supply chain process multiplexity

and supply chain performance. Within this nomological network,

we focus on relational multiplexity’s direct and indirect (mediated

through process multiplexity) associations with performance.

First, our study contributes primarily by operationalizing sup-

ply chain networks as connected through both social relations

and processes of multiple content types; we detect nuanced

effects of each connectivity type on supply chain performance.

Second, we employ a triadic firm-wise sampling procedure, pro-

viding details of this methodology for future use. More pragmati-

cally, we observe evidence that process multiplexity is more

directly predictive of successful supply chain outcomes than is

relational multiplexity, which is itself shown to indirectly impact

performance only through process multiplexity (i.e., a fully medi-

ated relationship), an intriguing finding that extends the existing

organizational relationships literature. Finally, we identify some

significant predictors of relational multiplexity, so that managers

might better understand how multiplex relational ties form, and

accordingly, can direct the construction of strategic business pro-

cess clusters that maximize desirable outcomes for the firm.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH

MODEL

Interorganizational networks are advantageous for firms to

develop and operate to the extent that the ties linking network

members are both strong and strategically configured (Gulati and

Gargiulo 1999; Provan et al. 2007; Majumder and Srinivasan

2008; Parmigiani and Rivera-Santos 2011). However, little is

known about how networks comprised of multiple/concurrent

connection types yield performance advantages for the focal firm.

It is noteworthy that though recent studies support interorganiza-

tional network connections through multiple different relation

and process types (e.g., Ansari et al. 2011), no known empirical

research assesses how multiple connections enhance or detract

from supply chain performance.

Researchers seeking to explain how interfirm connections pos-

itively influence supply chain outcomes have increasingly relied

on social capital theory (Payne et al. 2011). Some definitions of

social capital propose that actor linkages are increasingly valu-

able to the extent that they allow for greater resource exchange

to occur (Stam and Elfring 2008; Kor and Sundaramurthy 2009).

However, unidimensional operationalizations of “tie strength”

between firms have generally been used as proxy evidence for a

socially capitalized relationship (i.e., individual studies tapped

social capital/tie strength using such criteria as trust, exchange

volume, or relationship duration, but rarely more than one aspect

simultaneously). Though unidimensional tie strength is certainly

important, such measures are insufficient for explaining supply

chain performance because they are agnostic to any alternative

ties existing concurrently within the supply chain structure, and

both the breadth of these tie types as well as their strength

(depth) may influence connectivity dynamics between firms or

functions. Thus, we operationalize supply chain multiplexity as

an aggregation of multiple connection types. Within the supply

chain context, we define multiplexity as the extent to which mul-

tiple ties having differential content occur within a multiparty in-

terorganizational connection.

As previously noted, two types of supply chain multiplexity

are of focal interest: relational multiplexity and process multi-

plexity. To say that a supply chain is characterized by relational

multiplexity suggests that the structure linking its organizations

may be evaluated along multiple social dimensions of interest. A

typology of such dimensions posited by Cannon and Perreault

(1999) is informative in this regard. Their typology indicates that

several integrated relational ties are useful for capitalizing a sup-

ply chain relationship: legal bonds, information exchange, agreed

upon social norms, and partner-specific adaptations made to ben-

efit the business relationship.

1

Integrating social capital theory as

per Payne et al. (2011), we posit that firm-to-firm relationships

within an interorganizational system should increase in connec-

tivity to the extent that more of these relational connectors are

activated within all ties in the network.

In parallel, following the burgeoning literature on supply chain

process integration (e.g., Saeed et al. 2011; Wong et al. 2011),

the framework offered by Lambert et al. (2005) is also particu-

larly useful. Lambert et al. (2005) identify eight supply chain

processes that, when considered together, define connectivity

between supply chain firms through process linkages. It is impor-

tant to note that while process integration is a form of connection

in itself, it represents how well a single process assimilates

across the organizational interface, while multiplexity is consid-

ered to be a broader concept encompassing multiple such con-

nections. The six process connections used in this study to

operationalize process multiplexity are those that are defined as

being bidirectional in nature by Lambert et al. (2005): service

management processes, demand management processes, manu-

facturing flow management processes, order fulfillment pro-

cesses, product development and commercialization processes,

and returns management processes.

2

The argument for evaluating supply chain triads

For over two decades, researchers have empirically studied sup-

ply chain relationships from a monadic or dyadic view (e.g., Ell-

ram and Hendrick 1995; Golicic and Mentzer 2005). Though

1

We removed Cannon and Perreault’s (1999) fifth relational con-

nector, operational linkages, from consideration within this opera-

tionalization in the interest of discriminant validity. Operational

linkages are the very focus of our business process multiplexity

construct, and were more theoretically aligned with business pro-

cess than relational connectivity for the purposes of this study.

2

Lambert et al.’s (2005) two additional processes, customer and

supplier relationship management, were also removed from the pro-

cess multiplexity operationalization in order to facilitate clean dis-

crimination between the relational and business process orientations.

Though the business process implications of these activities are rec-

ognizable, it was determined that these hybrids could create confu-

sion in the current analysis in much the same way we describe

Cannon and Perreault’s (1999) operational linkages construct.

Relational and Process Multiplexity in Vertical Supply Chain Triads 53