Modelling Attitude as a Delighter in Supply Chains: A Kano-Based Perspective

Background: Global supply chains operate in increasingly volatile and technology-intensive environments shaped by digital transformation and artificial intelligence integration. While prior research has emphasized structural and technological enablers of flexibility, the behavioral foundations of supply chain adaptability remain insufficiently explored. Methods: This study develops a conceptual integration of the Kano model and the Cobb–Douglas production function to position managerial attitude as a strategic “delighter” within supply chain systems. The proposed framework models supply chain flexibility as a function of capital, labor, artificial intelligence integration, and managerial attitude within an extended economic representation. Results: The model suggests that managerial attitude acts as a behavioral amplifier that strengthens the performance effects of technological and economic inputs, potentially generating nonlinear gains in responsiveness and adaptive capacity. By distinguishing human-driven, algorithmic, and hybrid attitudinal configurations, the framework clarifies how behavioral orientations influence artificial intelligence adoption and supply chain flexibility, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprise contexts. Conclusions: Although conceptual in nature, the framework provides a formal analytical foundation for future empirical testing and elasticity-based sensitivity analysis in supply chain research.