The Impact of Digital Technology Characteristics on Operational Decision Optimization: The Mediating Role of Information System Agility in Healthcare Supply Chains

Jing-Yan Ma and Tae-Won Kang ()
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Jing-Yan Ma: School of Business, Nantong Institute of Technology, Nantong 226002, China
Tae-Won Kang: Department of Supply Chain and Logistics, College of Social Sciences, Kunsan National University, Gunsan 54150, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-26

Abstract: Healthcare supply chains operate in highly dynamic environments characterized by fluctuating demand. Digitalization, by enhancing the agility of information systems, can shorten information processing cycles, strengthen environmental sensing, and improve rapid response capabilities, thereby becoming a critical pathway and urgent requirement for achieving decision optimization in supply chains. The objective of this study is to analyze the mediating role of information system agility between digital technology characteristics and the optimization of operational decisions in healthcare supply chains in China. A questionnaire survey was conducted, yielding 360 valid responses from managers in Chinese healthcare supply chain enterprises, representing a response rate of 94.48%. The hypothesized paths were analyzed through the application of structural equation modeling. The results reveal that compatibility and visibility significantly promote operational decision optimization both directly and indirectly through improved information system agility, whereas reliability influences decision optimization only indirectly through the full mediating role of agility. This study provides a robust theoretical model that extends organizational information processing theory to the healthcare supply chain while offering practical insights into digital transformation and decision optimization.

Keywords: healthcare supply chain; digital technology characteristics; compatibility; reliability; visibility; information system agility; operational decision optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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