Exploring supply chain infrastructures for supply chain innovation: the roles of supply chain transformational leadership, supply chain collaboration and entrepreneurial emphasis

Supply chain (SC) innovation is crucial for organisations to gain competitive advantage, limited research has investigated the core factors that facilitate member participation in SC innovation practices. Drawing on the 'Context – Drivers – Sources of advantage – Positional advantage' framework, we posit that SC transformational leadership, as a SC organisational infrastructure, is a critical driver of SC innovation. SC collaboration as a key inter-organisational infrastructure, is a source of advantage, explaining the effect of SC transformational leadership on SC innovation. We also examine the boundary condition that maximise the effectiveness of SC transformational leadership and SC collaboration, demonstrating the driving role of entrepreneurial emphasis. Based on survey data from 288 Chinese machinery manufacturing firms, we utilised structural equation modeling and interaction analysis to validate our hypotheses. The research findings provide empirical evidence supporting our viewpoints, contributing to the existing literature and offering practical guidance for firms' SC innovation management practices.