Building supply chain resilience through collaborative innovation: An information processing theory perspective

COVID-19 has brought unprecedented impacts on global logistics and left supply chain management on the verge of collapse, which highlights the research importance of supply chain resilience (SCRE). To provide more insights into SCRE in the pandemic context, this paper uses information processing theory (IPT) as a theoretical lens and attempt to explore how SCRE can be achieved through information processing ‘fit’, that is, the fit between information processing capability and its information processing capability. We conducted a single-case analysis by choosing Zong-Teng Group, one of the biggest cross-border e-commerce enterprises in China, as our sample. Data were mainly collected from interviews with Zong-Teng’s managers and open online resources. Through this single-case analysis, this paper identifies supply chain collaborative innovation as a new mechanism between information processing ‘fit’ and SCRE. Specifically, a firm’s information processing ‘fit’ can lead to three modes of innovative collaborations (i.e., technology, management and market innovation), which further improves SCRE. These findings provide some valuable implications for both researchers and practitioners in operations and supply chain management (OSCM) realms.