Impacts of IT capability and supply chain collaboration on supply chain resilience: empirical evidence from China in COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: Building supply chain resilience is increasingly recognized as an effective strategy to deal with supply chain challenges, risks and disruptions. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how to build supply chain resilience and whether supply chain resilience could achieve a competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: By analyzing the data collected from 216 firms in China, the current study empirically examines how information technology (IT) capability and supply chain collaboration affect different forms of supply chain resilience (external resilience and internal resilience) and examines the performance implications of these two forms of supply chain resilience. Findings: Results show that IT capability is positively related to external resilience, whereas supply chain collaboration is positively related to internal resilience. The combination of IT capability and supply chain collaboration is positively related to external resilience. In addition, internal resilience is positively related to firm performance. Research limitations/implications: This study used only cross-sectional data from China for hypothesis testing. Future studies could utilise longitudinal data and research other countries/regions. Practical implications: The findings systematically assess how IT capability and supply chain collaboration contribute to supply chain resilience and firm performance. The results provide a benchmark of supply chain resilience improvement that can be expected from IT capability and supply chain collaboration. Originality/value: The study findings advance the understanding of supply chain resilience and provide practical implications for supply chain managers.