A Structural Approach to Developing a Scale to Measure Uncertainty in Supply Chains

Rapid changes in business and the advent of Internet, have made supply chain management (SCM) important in determining the sustainable growth of companies. However, in a complex hierarchical network that links upstream to downstream firms, several uncertain factors affect the performance of a supply chain. Accordingly, mitigating the deleterious impact of uncertainty is important in planning a supply chain strategy. Additionally, a structural framework is needed to address constructs of supply chain uncertainty. This study adopts a structural approach to measuring constructs of supply chain uncertainty, including demand, manufacturing and supply aspects, from the perspective of the leading company in a supply chain. The development procedure was carried out through an exploratory to a confirmatory phase. In this process, experts’ knowledge and supply chain theories are applied to provide the theoretical basis for the scale of uncertainty. This investigation also included a questionnaire survey on industry supply chain activities, leading to related statistical analysis and a procedure for confirming the measurement of the constructs. Based on the constructs of supply chain uncertainty, companies can evaluate the uncertainty in their situations, and plan their own strategies for coping with the environmental impacts.