Supply chain digitisation and supply chain performance: the role of operational capabilities, supply chain complexities and top management team diversity

Abstract

Purpose This study explores the influence of supply chain digitisation on supply chain performance, from the perspectives of supply chain complexities, operational capabilities and top management team diversity. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 294 manufacturing firms in Ghana using validated multi-item scales. Structural equation modelling (AMOS v23) and Hayes’ PROCESS macro were used to examine the hypothesised direct, mediating, moderated and moderated mediation effects. The measures were sourced from previous studies and refined through expert review. Diagnostic tests confirmed that neither non-response bias nor common method bias compromised the data, thereby ensuring reliability and integrity of the empirical results. Findings The findings suggest that supply chain digitisation (SCD) significantly improves supply chain performance (SCPERF) with operational capabilities (OPCAP) acting as essential mediators. This mediating effect is amplified in contexts of high supply chain complexity (SCCOMP) and further enhanced by the diversity of the top management team (TMTD). These results underscore the interdependence of digitisation, absorptive routines, environmental complexity and leadership diversity in advancing supply chain performance. Originality/value This study distinctively integrates absorptive capacity theory with socio-technical systems Theory to conceptualise supply chain digitisation (SCD) as a co-evolving synthesis of digital technologies and organisational social systems. This combined perspective elucidates not only the mechanisms through which operational capabilities convert digital resources into quantifiable performance improvements but also how managerial diversity and environmental complexity enhance a firm’s ability to absorb, adapt and innovate. Consequently, it provides context-specific strategies for firms in developing economies to transform SCD into sustained competitive advantage in supply chains.