Enterprise digitalization capability and supply chain viability: a configurational perspective on inter-firm collaboration and governance

Purpose Manufacturing supply chains face recurrent disruptions that demand rapid response and recovery, as well as sustained coordination across interdependent firms. Firms often encounter difficulties in translating digital investments into broader supply chain viability (SCV) because digital capabilities must be coordinated and deployed across organizational boundaries. This study adopts SCV as an overarching analytical perspective rather than as a measured higher-order construct. It examines how enterprise digitalization capability (EDC) translates through inter-firm digital collaboration effectiveness (IDCE) into three separately modeled viability-related outcomes: supply chain agility, resilience, and sustainability. It also examines whether relationship governance (RGM) strengthens this cross-organizational deployment process. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from 380 managers at manufacturing firms in China were analyzed using a complementary three-stage design. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized direct, mediating, and moderating relationships. Necessary condition analysis was used to identify potential bottlenecks, while fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis identified alternative combinations of conditions associated with high outcome levels. Findings Among the sampled Chinese manufacturing firms, EDC is positively associated with IDCE, which serves as the key mechanism through which digital capabilities are translated into supply chain agility, resilience, and sustainability. RGM strengthens this capability-deployment process by enhancing the conversion of EDC into IDCE. The complementary analyses indicate that the three separately analyzed outcomes involve distinct bottleneck conditions and can be achieved through multiple configurations of digital capabilities, collaboration, and governance. Originality/value This study reframes enterprise digitalization from capability possession to cross-boundary capability deployment. By combining net-effect, necessary-condition, and configurational perspectives, it advances understanding of how distinct viability-related supply chain outcomes emerge from interactions among technological, collaborative, and relational conditions, without treating SCV as a measured aggregate construct.