Investigating the Effect of Social Networks on Supply Chain in Industrial Enterprises (Food Industry) of Kermanshah Province

Abstract

Competitive advantage of an organization depends to a large extent on the efficiency of the supply chain of that organization. Today, supply chain management is a growing body of tools and technologies for coordinating and optimizing key processes, including cost reduction, quality improvement, facilitation of distribution and increase of customer satisfaction and in this regard, supply chain management in order to achieve these goals and increase opportunities, should promote the coordination of the supply chain. With the growth of information technology in recent years, social networks have evolved in the elements of supply chain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of social networks on supply chain in industrial enterprises (food industry) of Kermanshah province. The statistical population of this research included all the employees of the small and medium industrial enterprises (food industry) of the province that were equal to 272 people and using the Cochran formula, 160 people were selected as the statistical sample. A standard questionnaire has been used to perform the analysis that its formal validity and content validity has been confirmed by experts, and its reliability with Cronbach's alpha index was calculated 0.81. The hypotheses examined the impact of five dimensions of social networks (Internet advertising factor, performance factor, market share factor, competitive advantage and knowledge function) on the supply chain. Non-parametric tests of Binomial test were used to test the assumptions of the research. The results showed that all four factors had a significant effect on the supply chain and internet advertising has had the most effect. Also, the LISREL software was used for confirmatory factor analysis of the questionnaire and endorsement of the final model of research.