The Impact of 360 degrees Supply Chain Integration on Operational and Business Performance

Supply chain integration has been a topic of significant academic interest in the operational research discipline for the last few decades. Several scientists have conducted surveys investigating its relationship with operational and / or business performance. The present paper aims to explore supply chain integration on a 360 degree radius, thus, suggesting a Conceptual Framework that accounts for all aspects that have been neglected by most researchers. The introduction of the terminology "360 degrees supply chain integration" is being attempted on the basis of a literature review that accumulated measures and concepts used in the past into a holistic Conceptual Framework that aims to provide a guideline towards integrating the supply chain processes of a company. The examination of the proposed Conceptual Framework was made with the use of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to a group of Greek manufacturing companies. The empirical data were analyzed using the "Structural Equation Modelling" technique. Results offer both theoretical and empirical evidence.