Strategic and Cultural Antecedents of Supply Chain Digitalization and Supply Chain Performance: The Mediating Role of Supply Chain Resilience in Chinese B2C E-Commerce

Abstract

Supply chain digitalization has become central to e-commerce operations, but digital investment does not automatically translate into superior supply chain performance. This study develops a streamlined model that explains how two organizational antecedents digital transformation strategy and digital culture support supply chain digitalization and how digitalization contributes to supply chain performance through supply chain resilience. Drawing on the Resource- Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, the model treats digital transformation strategy and digital culture as complementary organizational resources, supply chain digitalization as an integrated operational capability, and supply chain resilience as an adaptive capability that converts digital visibility and coordination into stable performance under disruption. Six hypotheses are proposed: digital transformation strategy and digital culture are expected to enhance supply chain digitalization; supply chain digitalization is expected to improve both supply chain resilience and supply chain performance; supply chain resilience is expected to improve supply chain performance and mediate the relationship between supply chain digitalization and supply chain performance. The empirical design adopts a quantitative cross-sectional survey of small and medium-sized B2C e-commerce merchants in mainland China and proposes PLS-SEM for measurement and structural model assessment. By focusing on a concise five- construct framework, the study offers a clearer explanation of the resource– capability–performance mechanism in a platform-based e-commerce context while preserving the original academic constructs of digital transformation strategy, digital culture, supply chain digitalization, supply chain resilience, and supply chain performance.