Supply chain and operations practice and performance in Chinese furniture manufacturing

The relationship between supply chain/operations practice and operational/financial performance has been of interest to academics and practitioners for many years. We propose and develop a model exploring these connections, utilising data from a survey of 72 furniture manufacturers located throughout China. The industry is of particular interest in that, while labour productivity remains relatively low, exports have undergone substantial growth. Using a structural equation model (significant at p = 0.05), we highlight the relative importance of supply chain and operations practices and show that the impact of practice on business performance is mediated by capabilities on operations dimensions. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.