Synergizing Front‐End Digital Technologies and Smart Supply Chain Capabilities: A Resource‐Based Pathway to Strategic and Environmental Sustainability

ABSTRACT The traditional supply chain, increasingly vulnerable to disruptions, requires a paradigm shift in practices in pursuit of sustainable performance. This shift makes new technologies a strategic necessity, positioning the digital supply chain (DSC) at the forefront of modern business development. The advent of digitalization in the manufacturing sector has compelled firms to achieve sustainable business performance (SBP). Drawing on the resource‐based view (RBV), this study develops and empirically tests a framework that links front‐end digital technologies—comprising DSCs, base digital technologies (BDTs), and digital twins (DTs)—with integrated supply chain capabilities and SBP. Using data collected from 463 managers across the manufacturing, logistics, and energy sectors, this research employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine how FETs enhance two key integrative capabilities: supply chain collaboration and supply chain activity integration. The findings reveal that the DSC, BDT, and DT each exert significant positive effects on front‐end digital technologies, which in turn enhance SBP. Moreover, FETs positively influence both supply chain collaboration capability (SCCC) and supply chain activity integration capability (SCAIC), which act as strategic mediators linking technological resources to sustainability outcomes. The serial mediation effects further confirm that FETs and supply chain capabilities jointly transform digital resources into sustainable performance advantages. This study contributes to the digitalization–sustainability discourse by offering an integrative capability‐based perspective and provides practical implications for firms seeking to align technological investments with business strategy and environmental goals.