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

Abstract

A 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.