The Impact of Supply Chain Digital Integration on Servitization Innovation in Manufacturing Firms: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing

Abstract

Supply chain digital integration (SCDI)the cross-organizational integration of data, processes, and decision flows enabled by digital technologieshas become central to manufacturers' transition from product-centric competition toward servitization innovation. Yet prior
research often treats "digitalization" and "servitization" as parallel trends, offering limited clarity on the internal mechanism that translates digital integration across supply chain partners into new or improved service-oriented innovation outcomes. Building on information processing
theory and the knowledge-based view, this paper theorizes knowledge sharing as the key transmission channel through which SCDI enhances
servitization innovation. Specifically, SCDI expands information processing capacity and visibility across upstreaminternaldownstream
interfaces, which increases the volume, speed, and interpretability of knowledge exchanges; such knowledge sharing, in turn, supports service
concept generation, service design, and service delivery system renewal.