This study aims to examine the individual and configurational effects of absorptive capacity, memory, unlearning and resource reconfiguration on supply chain resilience and robustness.
The authors collected 200 survey responses from professionals involved in supply chain management activities. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), which allowed to capture both the average linear effects and the configurational pathways leading to resilience and robustness.
This study demonstrates that supply chain resilience and robustness emerge from multiple configurations of knowledge-based capabilities rather than a single universally necessary factor. Resource reconfiguration links absorptive capacity and unlearning to resilience, while supply chain memory supports resilience and robustness. Moreover, fsQCA identified six configurations achieving resilience and robustness.
By combining variance-based and configurational methods, this study provides novel empirical evidence that resilience and robustness are not universal outcomes of capability accumulation but context-dependent results of strategic orchestration.
