This dissertation studies the impact of different network structures and the structural positions of supply chain entities on their performance. The first essay focuses on the performance of buyers by examining the relationship between buyers' supply network structures and their performance. We use two network-level measures (network density and network centralization) as indicators of different supply network structures to study this relationship. We investigate how the interplay between network structure and firm performance differs in various industry settings. Our ego-centric network panel dataset from 2015 to 2018 included focal companies from three industries: automotive (n = 76), pharmaceutical (n = 66), and food & beverage (n = 105). Our results suggest that supply network structures have differential effects on buyer performance contingent upon industry context. We provide specific recommendations to focal companies' managers on what specific network structures would enhance their operational performance under various business environments.The second essay investigates what specific aspects of first-tier suppliers drive their performance. We consider two multi-factor efficiency measures: operational efficiency and structural efficiency. We investigate the direct effects of structural and operational efficiencies on first-tier supplier performance as well as the moderating role of structural efficiency in the relationship between operational efficiency and supplier performance. We test these relationships using a panel dataset of 278 observations obtained from 75 first-tier suppliers in the global automotive supply network over four years. Our findings demonstrate synergies between suppliers' internal resources and external relationships in enhancing their performance. Building on the first two essays, the third essay investigates the supply network structures that are robust to disruptions from the focal company's standpoint. By considering network density and network centralization, and modeling supply chain disruptions using simulations, we assess the impact of disruptions by investigating changes in the structural efficiency of the focal company. Our findings suggest that dense and decentralized supply networks are more robust to disruptions than sparse and centralized supply networks. We also find that this result becomes more evident as the magnitude of the disruption increases. Our findings have important implications for resource allocation and fortification strategies to design and operate robust and resilient networks.
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