Supply chain integration, information sharing and supply chain visibility-the remedy for supply chain uncertainty in australian organisations

The aim of this paper is to examine the current practices in supply chain management (SCM), in terms of supply chain integration (SCI), supply chain visibility (SCV) and information sharing (IS) among supply chain (SC) partners. The paper presents key areas of interests, in particular some of the SC uncertainties and risks faced by organizations; and state of play of SCV, SCI and IS in organizations. The methodology adopted in this research is a deductive reasoning approach, through a survey questionnaire for data collection and presentation of statistical data analysis with a series of hypotheses. The research, based on survey data across 64 organisations, found that SCV and SCI are affected by the size of an organization. Further, it was evident from statistical data analysis that the level of management and the number of end-to-end SC partners play a critical role in redesigning internal business processes to meet and sustain required SCV. Furthermore, SCV impacted on the outcomes of SCI such as a shift in power bases along the SC and the level of SCI determines the level of IS among SC partners. The paper concludes that influence of the organization size on SCV and SCI; and interplay between SCV, SCI and IS as well as their effects on outcomes can be used as a recommended guide for better managing of some of the SC uncertainties and risks faced by Australian organisations.