Supply chain innovation: Conceptualization, instrument development, and influence on supply chain performance

Abstract

AbstractA supply chain (SC) is seen as a source of competitive advantage, and SC innovation has become a critical research topic in business‐to‐business marketing and production. However, the main obstacle to empirical research on SC innovation is a lack of validated and well‐developed scales to measure it. Therefore, developing a measurement scale for the SC innovation construct is necessary. This paper describes the development and validation of a third‐order SC innovation scale based on the collection of primary quantitative and qualitative data. SC innovation was then operationalized as a multidimensional construct with three aspects, namely, marketing, technology development, and logistics‐oriented innovation activities, resulting in 31 measurement items. The developed SC innovation scale applies to the textile and apparel industry primarily. Business‐to‐business marketers can apply this empirically validated scale to evaluate their SC innovation efforts and identify areas for improvement.