Customer integration and operational performance: The mediating role of information quality

• Information quality partially mediates the relationship between customer integration and quality.
• Information quality partially mediates the relationship between customer integration and delivery.
• Information quality partially mediates the relationship between customer integration and flexibility.
• Information quality fully mediates the relationship between customer integration and cost.

Much supply chain integration literature tends to be biased towards its positive impact on operational performance. However, inconclusive results demand investigation of the mechanisms through which supply chain integration can lead to superior operational performance. The purpose of this study is to identify empirically the mediating role of information quality on the relationship between customer integration and operational performance, and the direct relationship between customer integration and operational performance. The study is based on a questionnaire sent to 228 manufacturing companies in the Republic of Ireland, and the relationships between the constructs are analyzed through regression analysis. The results indicate that information quality partially mediates the relationship between customer integration and quality, delivery and flexibility. Further, information quality was found to fully mediate the relationship between customer integration and cost.