Investigating the relationship between digital technologies, supply chain integration and firm resilience in the context of COVID-19

Cui, Li; Wu, Hao; Wu, Lin; Kumar, Ajay; Tan, Kim Hua

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly augmented the complexity of information, adding to the challenges that firms face in effectively processing and grasping accurate information. As a result, the production uncertainty of firms has been seriously intensified during the pandemic, disrupting the normal operation of firms and their supply chains. Digital technologies serve as salient tools that help firms to process and analyse information, consequently enhancing firm resilience in the face of supply chain disruptions. This study aims to examine how digital technologies affect firm resilience in the context of COVID-19 through the lens of information processing theory and a large-scale survey conducted among Chinese manufacturers. Specifically, our study evaluates the mediating effect of supply chain integration (internal integration, customer integration and supplier integration) and the moderating effect of information complexity. The results show that supply chain integration plays a mediating role in the effect of digital technologies on firm resilience, and the mediation effect is particularly significant for customer integration. Furthermore, digital technologies have a stronger impact on firm resilience when information complexity is high. The findings advance our understanding and recognition of the resilience implications of digital technologies and provide important managerial implications for improving firm resilience in the context of COVID-19.

Citation

Cui, L., Wu, H., Wu, L., Kumar, A., & Tan, K. H. (2023). Investigating the relationship between digital technologies, supply chain integration and firm resilience in the context of COVID-19. Annals of Operations Research, 327, 825–853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04735-y

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 12, 2022
• Online Publication Date: May 24, 2022
• Publication Date: Aug 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 14, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: May 25, 2023
• Journal: Annals of Operations Research
• Print ISSN: 0254-5330
• Electronic ISSN: 1572-9338
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 327
• Pages: 825–853
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04735-y
• Keywords: Management Science and Operations Research; General Decision Sciences
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7760301
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10479-022-04735-y