An Empirical Study on the Effect of Trust between Firms in the Supply Chain on Agility and Logistics Performance

An Empirical Study on the Effect of Trust between Firms in the Supply Chain on Agility and Logistics Performance

Purpose: This study explores the effect on supply chain agility and logistics performance of building mutual trust between manufacturing companies that have adopted supply chain management. Previous studies have categorized trust into affective and cognitive types, and speed, flexibility, and responsiveness are recognized as subfactors of supply chain agility. Methodology: A survey gathered responses from employees of domestic manufacturing firms with supply chain management implementations. 254 valid responses underwent statistical analysis using structural equation modeling (SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0). Results: Affective trust positively influences speed and responsiveness but not flexibility. Cognitive trust positively affects speed, flexibility, and responsiveness. Supply chain agility positively impacts logistics performance. However, neither affective nor cognitive trust significantly influences logistics performance. Conclusions: The study suggests that cognitive trust based on capabilities is more important than affective trust for flexibility in corporate relationships, a subfactor of supply chain agility. However, trust alone cannot enhance corporate performance. This research is significant as it examines the roles of trust and agility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated the manufacturing business environment.