Sales and operations planning culture and supply chain performance : the mediating effects of five coordination mechanisms

This paper investigates the role of culture as an antecedent of superior outcomes in Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP). By viewing S&OP coordination mechanisms as an S&OP team’s internal means of coping collectively with challenges to be resolved in a supply chain, five S&OP coordination mechanisms were hypothesised to act as mediators between ‘S&OP Culture’ and Supply Chain Performance in a multiple mediator model. Results from a global survey of S&OP practitioners suggest that while a strong S&OP culture leads to better overall coordination outcomes, the former’s effects are primarily transmitted indirectly via the Strategic Alignment and Information Acquisition/Processing coordination mechanisms. However, S&OP Culture may simultaneously suppress Supply Chain Performance through the S&OP Procedure/Schedule mediator. Organisations implementing S&OP can therefore benefit from a culture of contextual ambidexterity by allowing S&OP teams to make their own judgments to strike a balance between alignment and adaptability during production planning.