The role of human capital and Industry 4.0 in socio-technical dynamic capabilities for freight transport resilience

This study examines the role of socio-technical dynamic resources and capabilities in enhancing the resilience of freight transport firms. Focusing on unique characteristics of freight transport sector, this study considers human capital and Industry 4.0 as socio-technical resources whereas network integration and operations planning as socio-technical capabilities. A survey is conducted on freight transport managers in the UK and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to analyse the data. Our findings indicate that human capital and Industry 4.0 positively affect network integration and operations planning, which in turn enhance perceived resilience. Among two dynamic capabilities, network integration has a stronger impact on resilience than operations planning. Mediation analysis shows technical resources and capabilities partially enhance the impact of social resources and capabilities in SEM model. Our results suggest that socio resources and capabilities are at least as important as technical ones for building resilience in the freight sector. Practical and policy implications in our study suggest that freight transport firms and policy makers should invest and support skill-building initiatives, digital tools, supply chain analytics and collaboration platforms to increase freight transport resilience.