Purpose: Modern supply chains have become increasingly vulnerable to disruptions, as evidenced by the recent COVID-19 crisis, the Suez Canal blockage and the war in Ukraine. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of disruptions on organizations and their supply chains, and to examine which resilience principles and corresponding strategies were effective at maintaining and/or creating competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: Anchored in contingent resource-based view theory and organizational information processing theory, the study uses an explanatory mixed-methods explanatory research design consisting of two surveys followed by semi-structured interviews to elaborate on the quantitative results. Findings: The quantitative findings showed that data analytic capability combined with a data driven culture had a positive impact on competitive advantage through improved supply chain robustness. No similar effect for supply chain resilience on competitive advantage was found. This was explained by the qualitative findings which showed that insights enabled data analytic capability led to increased supply chain robustness by encouraging proactive measures such as safety stock and redundancies in the supply chain. However, supply chain resilience required these measures to be in place. Without them, supply chain managers were unable to act upon the insights enabled by visibility. Originality/value: The empirical findings show that data analytic capability impacts supply chain robustness and resilience in different ways, especially in the context of unprecedented disruptions.

Purpose: Companies rely on supply chain robustness and resilience to maintain their competitive advantage despite disruptions. The study examines how organizations can orchestrate employee empowerment, digital transformation technologies, and trust to develop supply chain robustness and resilience capabilities. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey design is used to test the study hypotheses. Data are collected from international and domestic organizations operating in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg using an online survey, and analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: Digital transformation tools contribute to supply chain robustness and resilience in different ways. Digital transformation tools and employee empowerment contribute to the development of a data-driven culture and thereby to supply chain robustness. Digital transformation tools also contribute to increased supply chain visibility. This in turns strengthens trust relationships with suppliers, contributing to supply chain resilience. Originality/value: The study extends dynamic capability theory and organization information processing theory by demonstrating how investments in assets such as digital technologies can contribute to increasing an organization’s information processing capability directly, by building vertical information systems, but also indirectly, by contributing to the development of lateral relations.

For mature organizations to engage in digital transformation, they first must engage in digitization and digitalization. Digitalization requires the organizations to possess data analytic capability: the ability to transform data into useful insights in a way that creates or maintains competitive advantage. The purpose of this study was to formulate a practical framework for the implementation of digitalization. For this, a qualitative approach was used. Relevant aspects of data analytic capability were identified, based on a review of the literature supplemented with semi-structured interviews with organizations currently implementing digitalization. With these findings a preliminary implementation framework entitled the “Data Analytic Capability Wheel” was formulated. The aspects encompassed by this framework included data quality, data analytics, IT infrastructure, processes, employee knowledge and skills, and management. Future research should refine and validate this framework and examine whether it leads to the successful implementation of DAC in organizations.