Supply chain integration and collaboration for performance improvement: an agency theory approach

In today’s challenging business environment, organisations not only need to continue to leverage their internal sources of competitive advantage but also should strive to harness synergies across the multiple supply chains that they are part of. However, this has to be achieved through effective collaboration between partner organisations. This paper contributes to the current scholarly discourse on this topic by the application of the “Agency Theory” to the issues around supply chain integration and collaboration, towards enhancing operational performance. The paper presents a classification of supply chain integration and collaboration, as well as a conceptual framework, for understanding and explaining the relational aspects of supply chain collaboration, and links to performance.