A Proactive Approach to Prevent Supply Chain Quality Risk in Food Supply Chains: The Interplay Between Buyer Prohibitive Voice and Operations Cognizance

Purpose: Reducing supply chain quality risk (SCQR) is of paramount importance for providing safe and quality products to the community. While abundant literature has considered the effect of relational factors such as knowledge and information sharing to manage supply chain (SC) risks, not much is known about the effect of buyers’ prohibitive voice behavior (PHVB) in this process. This study extends the existing literature on SCQR by examining the underlying mechanism between relational factors (i.e. PHVB and operations cognizance) and SCQR. Drawing on relational view (RV), we develop hypotheses that investigate the moderating effect of operations cognizance in the PHVB-SCQR relationship. Methodology: This study tested the proposed conceptual model using a survey questionnaire method. As a unit of analysis, food manufacturing firms were selected owing to the constant collaboration practices taking place between FSC members to increase relational outcomes. The necessary data was collected from medium- to senior-level respondents who hold SC decision-making authority inside their firms and are skilled at answering questions about PHVB, SCQR, and operations cognizance. The researcher expressly asked whether participants have regular and direct communication with key suppliers, and actively engage in SC operations. The individuals who did not fit these criteria were purged from final survey sample. Ultimately, 275 usable surveys were able to be collected by the researcher. In order to complete the aforementioned processes, this study employed Amos 22.0, SPSS 21.0, and the SPSS plugin “Process Analysis System.” In this study, Amos is used to conduct CFA, and SPSS is selected for data analysis. When testing hypotheses, which include direct and moderation effects, the Hayes Process is used. Findings: The findings of this study confirm that PHVB significantly and negatively affects SCQR. This indicates that establishing a speaking-up mechanism between buyers and suppliers significantly to reduces quality risks in FSC. In other words, buyers’ expression of their concerns regarding the suppliers’ maloperations can reduce the risk of obtaining poor-quality products. This study also indicates that operations cognizance strengthens the PHVB-SCQR relationship. Thus, the extent to which PHVB reduces SCQR may be explained by varying levels of operations cognizance. This supports the literature, which investigated the role of understanding the operational routines and working cultures of suppliers in reducing supply risks, including quality risks. Research implications: The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature and RV by defining and conceptualizing the buyers’ PHVB, which is postulated as a prosocial and proactive behavior in the SC context, and investigating its effect on SCQR in FSC. An extensive body of research has been conducted in the SC literature to examine the effects of knowledge and information-sharing practices (i.e. sharing technical knowledge or order and delivery time information) on managing SC risks. In addition, there exist a limited number of SCM studies that partially or indirectly imply the importance of addressing supplier-related issues to minimize supply risk. But there is a lack of studies that investigates this relationship through the lens of PHVB. Therefore, by utilizing RV, this research provides a nuanced understanding of PHVB in reducing SCQR. This study makes several contributions to RV and the SCM literature in several ways by analyzing the effect of operations cognizance in the PHVB-SCQR relationship. Although it was not hypothesized, the findings indicate that operations cognizance has a significant and positive effect on PHVB which is hardly studied in the literature. Additionally, whilst the extant literature commonly has focused on the role of monitoring on managing quality risk in SC, this study revealed the impact of operations cognizance to better manage SCQR. Finally, the findings unveil that the effect of PHVB on SCQR can be enhanced by operations cognizance. Practical implications: This study provides evidence to managers regarding the factors influencing SCQR. The success of food manufacturers is associated with the materials they receive from their suppliers. Therefore, it is important to maintain close ties with suppliers to obtain quality inputs. In this regard, this study suggests that buying firms should be willing to voice their concerns and opinions with their suppliers. In this way, they can reduce the risk of obtaining lower grad materials, so that prevent their SC performance from deteriorating and their company from losing its reputation. Risk occurrences can arise at any point in the FSC; hence, food quality risk control encompasses all links within the FSC. For this reason, managers need to have a proactive approach to detect the risks in advance and take preventive actions. This can be achieved by establishing a mechanism to thoroughly understand suppliers, including their operational processes and culture. In this way, managers can better know the shortcomings of their suppliers, be aware of the potential risks, and present PHVB based on the solid evidence they have. Originality/value/contribution: In this regard, this research makes a significant contribution to the field of supply chain management (SCM) and RV by introducing the concept of buyers’ PHVB and extending the discussion of factors that have an effect on SCQR. © 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.