No customer is an island: how strategic customer integration translates digital technology adoption into innovation performance in complex supply chains

Purpose Drawing on organizational information processing and contingency theories, this study aims to examine the impact of digital technology adoption on firm innovation (product and process) and posits strategic customer integration as a crucial mediator, with downstream supply chain complexity acting as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach This study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the proposed relationships using data from 221 Vietnamese manufacturing firms collected via an online survey. Findings The findings reveal that digital technology adoption positively influences strategic customer integration, which, in turn, positively impacts both product and process innovations. The results confirm that strategic customer integration mediates the positive effect of digital technology adoption on product and process innovations. Furthermore, downstream complexity significantly strengthens these relationships. Originality/value This study contributes to the theory by elucidating the critical mediating role of customer integration and a key boundary condition within an integrated organizational information processing theory-contingency framework. For practitioners, this study offers a clear pathway for leveraging digital technologies to enhance firm innovation, emphasizing strategic customer integration as a crucial mechanism, particularly in complex supply chains.