The effect of Supply Chain Integration on the performance ofcompaniesCase Study: Iranian Pharmaceutical Industry

PurposeSupply chain integration is one of the strategies that help companies to modify production processes,reduce costs and successfully compete in different types of business environments. The purpose ofthis research is to identify the status of supply chain integration and its effect on the performance ofpharmaceutical companies in Iran.Design/methodology/approachUsing the literature review of the research and surveys among the researchers in order to make thetools of the research, led to the development of a questionnaire with ۳۰ questions in the form of sixeffective indicators on supply chain integration that were provided to the managers ofpharmaceutical companies, ۱۸۰ responded to the questionnaires, and to confirm the components andanalyze the data, Pearson correlation tests and kmo factor analysis, regression test, and Friedmantest were used. In this research, the Multiple Linear Regression was used to evaluate the relationshipbetween dependent and independent variablesFindingsSurprisingly, skeptical statements from a low-expertise source toward a prescription drug madewhile selling dietary supplements was found to have an insignificant effect on selling effectiveness(willingness to recommend and perceived product effectiveness). However, when a high-expertisesource (doctor) did the same, selling effectiveness was reduced. The results of the research alsoshow that the two factors of organizational structure and management commitment have a direct andpositive effect on financial ratios of return on equity, operational profit, return on assets, and thefactor of organizational structure has a direct and positive effect on economic value added andexports.Research limitations/implicationsThe results derived from this paper are based on studies on just five Iranian pharmaceuticalcompanies.Practical implicationsBased on the results, all of the considered indicators were confirmed. The results of this study helpintegrated management of the supply chain in the country's pharmaceutical groups. The findingsshow that pharmaceutical companies, from the viewpoint of their managers, are committed,respectively, to the factors of mutual understanding, management commitment, information sharing,risk and reward sharing, communication and shared decision making and organizational structure.Originality/valueDistinguishing property of this research is that, identifying the status of supply chain integration andits effect on the performance, has not been investigated in Iranian pharmaceutical companies already

کلیدواژه ها:

supply chain ، supply chain management ، supply chain integration ، pharmaceutical industry