THE ROLE OF IoT iN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRATEGIC LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

ABSTRACT Purpose: Against the backdrop of the transaction costs and theoretical strands of thought in authors of the strategic logistics management (SLM), operational performance (OP), and the internet of things (IoT), the purpose of this study is to verify if the IoT performs a mediating effect on the relationship between SLM and OP. Originality/value: The bibliometric study indicated that studies on the IoT aimed at the business area are still scarce. Therefore, there is a prospect of expansion of the knowledge frontier of the administration field. This article seeks to show whether the IoT has a mediating influence on the relationship between SLM and OP, in addition to highlighting the most significant variables of each construct. This study can help business managers and researchers to identify the benefits of adopting IoT. Design/method/approach: For that, a quantitative research was carried out. The research collected data through a semi-structured questionnaire with a sample of 76 companies. Data were treated by descriptive statistics and multivariate statistics with the modeling technique in structural equations. Before the application of the modeling technique in structural equations, data were submitted to tests of convergent and discriminant validity. Findings: The IoT plays a mediating but partial role in the relationship between SLM and OP. Implementing the IoT provides better efficiency by enabling proactive decisions, interconnecting resources, automating, streamlining, remotely controlling, generating customer information, and eliminating errors.