Purpose The study applied resource orchestration and resource dependency theories to examine how firm resources affect supply chain performance in Ghana's food and beverage industry, as well as the mediating role of power. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach and explanatory design were employed using survey data collected from firms in Ghana's food and beverage sector. Out of the 427 questionnaires distributed, 395 usable responses were obtained. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling to assess direct and specific indirect effects. Findings The results indicate that human, financial and innovation resources significantly enhance supply chain performance, whereas relational and structural resources do not exert direct effects. Power positively influences performance and serves as a critical mechanism, with both partial and full mediation observed across resource categories. The findings reveal that resource value is heterogeneous and context-dependent, and that performance gains are realised when resources are effectively translated into influence that aligns with partner behaviour. Originality/value The study advances the literature by moving beyond the composite view of firm resources and demonstrating that resource effects are not uniform but context-specific. It further positions power as a central mechanism linking resource deployment to performance, offering a more context-sensitive explanation of supply chain dynamics in developing economies.
Purpose This study investigates whether EFQM Excellence Model recognition is associated with subsequent changes in firm performance, addressing the long-standing “chicken-and-egg” problem of whether superior-performing firms self-select into EFQM recognition or whether recognition is followed by performance improvements. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a longitudinal firm-level panel dataset covering 2016–2025, constructed by combining EFQM recognition records with financial and operational data from the ORBIS database. The sample comprises firms from manufacturing, services, wholesale and retail, and other business-related sectors across multiple European countries. A quasi-experimental design combines propensity score matching, difference-in-differences estimation and event-study analysis to distinguish pre-existing selection differences from changes associated with EFQM recognition. Firm performance is assessed using four complementary measures: return on assets, return on sales, revenue growth and labour productivity. Findings The results indicate that EFQM recognition is associated with statistically significant post-recognition improvements in profitability and operational performance. Event-study estimations further show no evidence of significant pre-recognition performance differences between treated and control firms, which supports the plausibility of the parallel-trends assumption and strengthens but does not establish the causal interpretation of the findings. Research limitations/implications Although the study employs a robust quasi-experimental design, the findings remain subject to the quality and completeness of the available firm-level financial and organisational data. In addition, the empirical design cannot fully eliminate the possibility of unobserved, time-varying organisational heterogeneity across firms and countries. Practical implications The results suggest that EFQM recognition is associated with measurable performance improvements, supporting its potential role as a managerial capability-building framework rather than merely a signalling mechanism. Originality/value This study contributes to the quality management and organisational performance literature by providing longitudinal quasi-experimental evidence on the relationship between EFQM recognition and firm performance, while explicitly addressing endogeneity concerns that have limited prior research.
Purpose This study aims to examine the role of leadership in enabling supply chain excellence (SCE) in the context of digital transformation. We identify key leadership traits, responsibilities, and mechanisms that support the successful deployment and sustainment of SCE, offers a clear conceptualization of SCE as the strategic integration of people, processes, and technology to achieve performance excellence. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a scoping review methodology to systematically analyze 56 rigorously sourced peer-reviewed publications from multiple leading databases, ensuring comprehensive coverage, quality, and academic credibility. Drawing on Dynamic Capabilities Theory, we synthesize existing literature on leadership practices, digital enablers, and operational strategies to develop an integrated conceptual model linking leadership with supply chain excellence for digital transformation. Findings The findings of this study highlight that effective leadership, particularly transformational and digitally competent leadership, is critical for aligning digital initiatives with strategic supply chain objectives. Leadership plays a central role in sensing opportunities, seizing digital innovations, and transforming organizational capabilities. Core leadership responsibilities include setting vision, fostering innovation, developing talent, and enabling cross-functional collaboration. The study also identifies key challenges, including resistance to change and digital skill gaps, and emphasizes the critical role of leadership in mitigating these barriers. Additionally, we highlight the recursive relationship between leadership and capability development, in which leadership drives continuous improvement while emerging capabilities reinforce leadership effectiveness. Research limitations/implications The study is limited by the constraints of the scoping review approach, reliance on past literature, and the absence of statistical synthesis. These limitations suggest future research opportunities to use mixed methods approaches, broaden data sources, and conduct more rigorous empirical validation. Practical implications The proposed framework serves as a diagnostic and developmental tool for researchers and practitioners seeking to align leadership strategies with digital supply chain objectives. It enables organizations to identify and cultivate essential leadership traits, such as digital literacy, emotional intelligence, and change management, and align them with investments and performance metrics across strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Ultimately, the study supports organizations in building adaptive, resilient, and digitally enabled supply chains that can sustain excellence. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by developing an integrated conceptual model that explicates how leadership enables SCE in the digital era. We address fragmentation in prior research by clearly defining leadership competencies and responsibilities that enable digital transformation. Furthermore, we adopt a systems-oriented perspective that links leadership behavior with organizational and technological enablers, offering a practical approach for digital readiness and supply chain transformation.
Purpose This study examines the factors influencing carbon trading system adoption by extending the traditional technology–organisation–environment (TOE) model into the decentralised technology–organisation–environment–technoethics (DT-OET) model. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative research design with a cross-sectional approach and collected data from 384 professionals working in related sectors in Bangladesh. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data along with unobserved heterogeneity analysis and importance-performance map analysis (IPMA). Findings The structural model shows that organisational readiness, environmental factors and technoethical factors have significant positive effects on carbon trading adoption. Decentralised technology factors do not have a significant direct effect, but their influence is significantly mediated by trust. Interestingly, trust emerges as a strong direct predictor and also significantly mediates the effects of technoethical, environmental and decentralised technology factors on adoption intention. Practical implications The DT-OET instruments of this paper offer organisations a diagnostic framework to assess their readiness for carbon trading. According to the findings, managers need to prioritise top management support, resource allocation and employee training. Policymakers should design clear regulations and build institutional trust, as environmental factors influence adoption both directly and indirectly through trust. Technology providers need to focus on building trust through system reliability, transparency and user education, as trust mediates the relationship between technological factors and adoption intention. Originality/value This paper expands the TOE model by adding technoethics as a new contextual factor. It moves beyond the view of technology as neutral. This addresses a gap in conventional models that overlook psychological processes in adoption decisions. The findings of this study suggest that benchmarking frameworks need to consider trust as a mediating mechanism.
Purpose This study investigates how digital transformation strategy (DTS) influences sustainable supply chain performance (SSCP) through digital circular supply chains (DCSC) in manufacturing SMEs in an emerging market economy such as Vietnam. It also investigates whether environmental dynamism (ED) moderates the relationships between DTS and DCSC, and between DCSC and SSCP. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were captured using a tailored questionnaire, a quantitative methodology was employed. The model incorporated moderated mediation and tested using survey data from 468 managers/directors in Vietnam’s manufacturing SME. It employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to evaluate the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results show that DTS positively affects SSCP both directly and indirectly. DCSC has a significant positive impact on SSCP and partially mediates the relationship between DTS and SSCP. Furthermore, ED moderated the relationships between DTS and DCSC as well as between DCSC and SSCP. Originality/value This study yields novel insights into how DTS drives SSCP through DCSC in manufacturing SMEs operating in emerging economies. It extends the literature by identifying ED as a critical boundary condition shaping the effectiveness of digital transformation. The findings yield valuable implications for managers seeking to leverage digital strategies and circular technologies to enhance SSCP.
