The Mediation Effects of Purchasing Strategy and Supplier Integration on the Relations Between Purchasing Skills and Corporate Performance

The objectives of this study are to: 1) test the influence of purchasing skills on corporate performance; 2) test mediation effect of strategic purchasing on the relationship between purchasing skills and corporate performance; and 3) test the mediation effect of supplier integration on the relationship between purchasing strategy and corporate performance. This research carried out in 105 restaurants as micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Dili, and questionnaires were used to collect data. SMART-PLS 3.0 was used to test hypothesis. The findings revealed that purchasing skills had no significant impacts on corporate performance, while supplier integration fully mediated the relationship between purchasing strategy and corporate performance. By contrast, strategic purchasing has no significant impact on the relationship between purchasing skills and corporate performance. This research extends the empirical works of Carr and Smeltzser (2000), Carr and Pearson (2002) and Cho et al. (2019) by using a combined strategic purchasing and supplier integration as mediation variables to enhance the relations between purchasing skills and corporate performance. This study also contributes to the debate on firm’s resources and capabilities and their impacts on competitive advantages and firm performance in emerging countries. The study practically contributes to the restaurant regulators and managers which aim to enhance corporate performance by using supplier integration and strategic purchasing.

Purchasing and supply management skills revisited: an extensive literature review

PurposeResearch on purchasing managers and their skills requirements supports the training and education of purchasing professionals. This paper offers an in-depth analytical review of the purchasing skills reported in the supply chain management (SCM) literature. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the most important skills and factors that influence these skills.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs a systematic literature review methodology. Two databases, Scopus and Web of Science, are searched for relevant articles. The selected journal articles are used as sources to obtain a view not only on the relevant purchasing and supply management (P/SM) skills, but also on factors that emphasize certain P/SM skills. This paper also summarizes the ten skills ranked as most important (often described as the “top ten”) among the sample articles.FindingsThe paper highlights the essential skills for purchasing professionals, verified both by their frequent appearances in rankings and by citation frequency in the literature. Generic managerial skills, such as communication, cost analysis, teamwork, problem-solving, negotiation, influencing, and persuasion, as well as information technology skills, received the most attention in the literature and rankings of the “top ten” P/SM skills. This paper provides a refined categorization of purchasing skills, which have merged recently with other discussed skills, such as political and entrepreneurial ones, into this categorization. This paper identifies factors that affect purchasing managers’ skills requirements.Originality/valueThis paper presents a structured overview of 57 peer-reviewed articles from high-quality journals about purchasing skills. The review contributes to the purchasing skills literature by showing the most relevant skills and the factors that influence skills requirements. These factors also provide arenas for further research related to purchasing skills.