Enhancing humanitarian supply chains: the role of interpersonal skills and big data and predictive analytics

Purpose This study aims to investigates how human skills (HS) and big data and predictive analytics (BDPA) jointly influence humanitarian supply chain performance (HSCP), focusing on Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It also examines whether resilience (RS) moderates these relationships under stress-intensive conditions. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a quantitative research approach, collecting data from 411 respondents across Chinese NGOs involved in humanitarian supply chains (HSC). Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to validate the hypotheses, examining the direct and indirect effects of HS, big data and predictive analytics on supply chain performance. Findings The results demonstrate that HS has no direct effect on HSCP; instead, its impact is fully mediated by BDPA, which serves as a dynamic capability linking human capital to operational outcomes. The moderating role of RS was not statistically supported. These findings emphasize the sequential interplay between behavioral and digital capabilities and suggest that HS alone may be insufficient without technological integration. Research limitations/implications This study relies on cross-sectional data from a single country context, which may limit generalizability. Future research should consider cross-national and longitudinal designs to explore capability development over time and in diverse institutional environments. Practical implications The findings underscore the need for humanitarian organizations to design integrated training programs that enhance interpersonal competencies, such as communication, teamwork and decision-making, and build proficiency in data analytics and visualization tools. By equipping staff with hybrid skillsets, NGOs can more effectively deploy BDPA capabilities, which this study identifies as critical for improving supply chain agility and performance under crisis. Social implications This research highlights the strategic value of aligning human expertise with digital technologies in humanitarian contexts. Promoting a human-technology interface enables more transparent, data-driven and responsive disaster relief operations, ultimately improving aid delivery and service quality for vulnerable and underserved populations. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to empirically link HS and BDPA in the humanitarian context, offering a unified framework for understanding how soft and digital capabilities interact. It extends dynamic capability theory to non-profit and data-scarce environments and highlights BDPA’s central role in operationalizing human resource potential in crisis response.