Allam Yousuf

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences,

Netherlands;

Erasmus University College, Netherland

allam.yousuf@wittenborg.eu

ORCID 0000-0003-0262-1890

Is flexibility a dual mechanism? Evidence from the Hungarian food industry

Judit Oláh

John von Neumann University Hungary,

Department of Public Management and Governance, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

olah.judit@uni-neumann.hu

ORCID 0000-0003-2247-1711

Imran Sarihasan

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology (ifispan)

Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) Poland

imran.sarihasan@ifispan.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0002-1608-4144

Abdul Rauf

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences,

Netherlands 

rauf.abdul@wittenborg.eu

ORCID 0000-0003-4269-7275

Janos Felföldi

University of Debrecen,

Faculty of Economics and Business

Hungary 

felfoldi.janos@econ.unideb.hu

ORCID 0000-0002-3895-6636

Abstract. There is a body of evidence that flexibility as a mechanism can help to increase a company’s performance when an unexpected situation occurs. The food industry is considered one of the best industries and the performance of food industry undertakings accounts for 2.2% of Hungarian GDP. Food companies make up the third-largest manufacturing sector in Hungary. This study aims, therefore, to investigate the impact of operational flexibility on the performance of the Hungarian food industry by considering environmental uncertainty as a moderator. The research is cross-sectional. A customized questionnaire was used to obtain primary data. The questionnaires were distributed to a purposive group of managers, and there were 301 valid replies for statistical analysis. The findings revealed that operational flexibility has a beneficial impact on company success, while uncertainties in supply and demand do not have an effect on this link.

Received: April, 2022

1st Revision: February, 2023

Accepted: March, 2023

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2023/16-1/6

JEL Classification: O01, M10, M1

Keywords: mix flexibility, volume flexibility, product development flexibility, competitiveness, performance, food industry