The Mutual Interaction of Supply Chain Practices and Quality Management Principles as Drivers of Competitive Advantage: Case Study of Tunisian Agri-Food Companies

Recent research has increasingly emphasized the synergies between Supply Chain Management Practices (SCMPs) and Quality Management Principles (QMPs), particularly through the emerging concept of Supply Chain Quality Management (SCQM). Despite this recognition, empirical evidence on how these practices interact to influence performance remains very limited, especially in the context of developing countries. This study addresses the gap by interviewing 70 Tunisian agri-food companies to investigate the relationships between five dimensions of SCMP, strategic supplier partnerships, customer relationship, information sharing, information quality and postponement, and the seven principles of ISO9001 QMP: leadership, engagement of people, improvement, customer focus, process approach, evidence-based decision making, and relationship management. Using factor analysis and structural equation modelling, the study explores the mediating role of competitive advantage (CA): price/cost, product quality, product innovation, delivery dependability and time-to-market—on operational performance. The findings indicate that analyzing SCMP, QMP, and CA as aggregated blocks does not produce significant explanatory correlations. Instead, judiciously reorganizing their sub-constructs into five integrated groups provides a more effective model: (1) information and decision capacity, (2) customer-centric innovation, (3) process management and agility, (4) supplier and network management, and (5) leadership and workforce engagement. This integrated classification offers managers a coherent framework for implementing SCMP and QMP to enhance competitiveness results.