Orchestrating transformative resilience in resource-constrained environments: a supply chain perspective

Purpose – Resource-constrained environments both spur and hinder transformativeresilience, yet little is known about how some firms navigate such environments to achievetransformative resilience. This study proposes and examines the presence of supply chainmanagers and supply chain entrepreneurial orientation as resource-orchestration enablers oftransformative resilience in resource-constrained environments.

Design/methodology/approach – The study hypothesizes that the presence of supply chainmanagers and supply chain entrepreneurial orientation, individually and through theirinterdependent relationship, drive transformative resilience. The study’s hypotheses are testedon survey data from 397 firms in a resource-constrained environment (Ghana). The findingsare validated with second-wave survey data on transformative resilience from 205 of thesefirms, collected a year later. A series of regression-based multivariate analyses is used toanalyze the data.

Findings – The results indicate that, unlike the presence of supply chain managers, a strongsupply chain entrepreneurial orientation accounts for high levels of transformative resilience.The contribution of supply chain manager presence to transformative resilience is mediatedby supply chain entrepreneurial orientation.

Originality/value – This study presents resource orchestration theory as a promising lens forconceptualizing transformative resilience and analyzing its building blocks from a supplychain perspective. It further addresses gaps in the empirical understanding of transformativeresilience in terms of its measurement and antecedents.