Role of management capability and web-enabled direct procurement in creating competitive direct procurement advantage

Developing appropriate management capability enables manufacturing firms to strengthen competitive direct procurement advantage. The purpose of this study is to investigate what management capabilities can enable firms to create competitive direct procurement advantage and how web‐enabled direct procurement moderates the competitive impact of management capabilities. This study conducted an empirical survey with a valid sample of 101 manufacturing companies in Taiwan to evaluate the research model of this study. The results revealed that process management, trust‐building, and coordination capabilities significantly influence the competitive direct procurement advantage. Moreover, this study observed that web‐enabled direct procurement alone does not directly influence the competitive direct procurement advantage. Web‐enabled direct procurement plays a complementary role in reinforcing the effect of management capabilities.