The influence of supply network structure on firm’s multiple innovation capabilities : A longitudinal study in the fashion industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework grounded in the fashion industry that investigates the relational capabilities of the lead firms to sustain synchronously multiple types of innovation by leveraging their supply network attributes. Both network functional diversity (NFD) and density are considered as impacting on the lead firm’s stylistic and process innovative capabilities. Design/methodology/approach – A fixed-effect regression model was adopted for testing the theoretical model and hypotheses. The data have a cross-sectional time series structure with each of the 21 lead firms as a panel that spans a ten-year period. Findings – The empirical results mostly confirm the theoretical assumptions and suggest an inverted U -shaped relationship between NFD and both stylistic and process innovation as well as a positive linear linkage between key-component suppliers network density and both types of innovations. The study also confirms key-component suppliers network density mediates the relationships of network diversity with both stylistic and process innovative capabilities. Originality/value – This study departs from the current dominant logic of analysing each innovation type separately and explores the network configurations enhancing the joint generation or adoption of multiple innovation types. The study also proposes an empirical test of the theoretical assumptions in a specific industrial setting: the fashion industry.