Relational capital and supply chain collaboration for radical and incremental innovation: An empirical study in China
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
ISSN: 1355-5855
Article publication date: 10 May 2019
Issue publication date: 21 August 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between relational capital and supply chain collaboration (SCC) and how this relationship relates to innovation. The authors propose a theoretical framework to illustrate the effect of relational capital on three dimensions of collaboration and radical and incremental innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper has a quantitative approach. The authors conducted the survey to collect the data from 225 suppliers in the Hunan province of China. The proposed model is tested with exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings show that relational capital can facilitate information sharing and benefit/risk sharing when firms work together to achieve innovation. Furthermore, the results indicate that relational capital leads to radical innovation through facilitating information sharing among firms and helps in generating incremental innovation by encouraging firms to share risks and benefits with their partners.
Practical implications
The findings of this study give some suggestions for managers of the firms in terms of building their collaborative strategies. Managers should exploit relational capital to build successful and long-term collaboration. Also, through relational capital, managers can share information to create radical innovation or pool risks and share benefits with their customers to achieve incremental innovation.
Originality/value
This study provides a nuanced understanding of the relationship between relational capital, different dimensions of SCC and innovation in the context of a developing economy. Moreover, the findings provide a clearer understanding of the collaborative mechanism of relational capital and collaboration to achieve radical and incremental innovation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 71272208, 71521061 and 71790593; the Ministry of Education foundation for humanities and social sciences (No. 17YJA630041); Collaborative innovation platform project in Hunan province (Hunan finance teaching means (2016) No. 141); and the Special project of think tank in Hunan province (No. 16ZWC29).
Citation
Thi Mai Anh, N., Hui, L., Khoa, V.D. and Mehmood, S. (2019), "Relational capital and supply chain collaboration for radical and incremental innovation: An empirical study in China", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 1076-1094. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-10-2018-0423
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited