The Influence of Inter-Organizational Collaboration on Supply Chain Agility and Buyer–Supplier Relationships: Evidence from Export-Oriented Firms in Pakistan

Abstract

This study analyzes the influence of inter-organizational collaboration on supply chain agility and buyer-supplier relationships quality among export oriented firms of Pakistan. The combined effect of Information sharing, joint planning and trust was examined on supply chain agility and buyer-supplier relationship is studied under Resource-Based View, Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Relational Exchange Theory. Although collaboration is a widely recognized concept in supply chain management, there is limited empirical evidence in developing economies like Pakistan. Primary data from 400 supply chain and operations professionals in export-oriented manufacturing and trading firms was collected to address this gap. A cross-sectional quantitative design was adopted using structured and validated scales, administered through physical and electronic surveys. IBM SPSS Statistics 29 and SmartPLS 4.0 were used to conduct Reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha), confirmatory analysis, correlation analysis and structured equation modeling for six hypothesis. The results show that information sharing), joint planning and trust each positively influence supply chain agility and buyer–supplier relationships, which shows that all six hypothesis were supported. The model explained 58.4% of variance in supply chain agility and 61.2% variance in buyer-supplier relationship. This study contributes an integrated empirical model of the collaborative antecedents of relational and operational supply chain performance in a developing-economy environment and proposes that export companies invest in digital information-sharing platforms, in standardized joint-planning processes, and in long-term partnerships with their supply chain. Limitations and directions for further research are discussed.