Identification and Prioritization of the Components Explaining Financial Supply Chain Management for the Sustainable Development of Industrial Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to identify and prioritize the components explaining financial supply chain management for the sustainable development of industrial small and medium-sized enterprises, and the research method was sequential qualitative. The participants in the identification phase included faculty members in the fields of financial engineering, financial management, industrial management, and business management at higher education institutions, senior and middle managers, and subject-matter experts in small and medium-sized enterprises across the country, as well as scholars and specialists in the field. In the prioritization phase, participants included faculty members in the aforementioned disciplines at higher education institutions and senior managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in Mazandaran Province. In the identification phase, 21 experts were selected using snowball sampling, and in the prioritization phase, 16 experts were selected through purposive sampling. For data analysis, the grounded theory method with the Corbin and Strauss (1998) approach was employed in the identification phase, using open, axial, and selective coding through semi-structured interviews. In the prioritization phase, the Delphi method based on the Helmer and Dalkey (1997) approach was applied over three rounds using an expert evaluation checklist in SPSS software. To establish validity and reliability in the identification phase, necessary assessments including credibility (expert review), confirmability (expert audit), and intersubjective agreement (0.81) were utilized. In the prioritization phase, the content validity of the expert evaluation checklist was confirmed in terms of clarity and comprehensibility by several academic and organizational experts, and its reliability was calculated and confirmed at 0.84 using the test–retest method. According to the results, the study’s paradigmatic model comprised 11 main categories and 27 subcategories, including causal conditions (financial and credit constraints; structure and quality of the supply chain; environmental and institutional pressures; technological maturity and financial digitalization; and behavioral and managerial characteristics of firms), contextual conditions (structural characteristics of firms; social capital and communication networks; level of organizational culture and learning; infrastructure and support services; and market conditions and industry demand), the core category (central phenomenon) (financial supply chain integration and alignment with sustainable development principles), intervening conditions (government support and policymaking; alternative and innovative financial resources; predictability of the macroeconomic environment; maturity of the banking system and financial institutions; and flexibility of suppliers and customers), strategies (diversification of financing sources; digitalization of financial processes; strengthening participation among supply chain members; improvement of financial and credit risk management; and institutionalization of sustainable development principles), and consequences (improvement of financial performance and firm liquidity; enhancement of resilience and financial sustainability; strengthening of competitive advantage in the market; development of innovation and technological capabilities; and sustainable development and social responsibility), along with 118 indicators.