Antecedent factors in supply chain relationships: evidence from Thailand

Abstract

This study explores the factors influencing trust, commitment, and firm performance in Thailand’s textile and apparel supply chains. The factors influencing supply chain relationships and performance may vary in terms of infrastructure, information technology, and culture across different industries and countries. In this study, exploratory factory analysis, analysis of variance, and regression analysis were conducted to analyse the data of 149 Thai firms, collected via questionnaires, online surveys, and postal surveys. The results show that information sharing, information availability, and information quality are important in improving trust among supply chain members. Additionally, higher levels of information quality and trust lead to higher levels of commitment, which in turn can improve performance. Further, the perception of supply chain relationships is higher in the upstream than in the downstream. Therefore, suppliers, or the upstream, concentrate more on enhancing information sharing, trust, and commitment compared to buyers, or the downstream supply chain.