Examining Factors Influencing Supply Chain Robustness and Supply Chain Velocity During Uncertainty with the Moderating Effect of Supportive HR Practices

The growing prevalence of severe and unpredictable disruptions has prompted logistics firms to restructure their supply chain strategies to ensure long-term sustainability. Therefore, this study developed a research framework with factors including supply chain innovation, supply chain empowerment, risk management capability, supply chain collaboration, and supply chain disruption, and investigated supply chain robustness. Moreover, this study conceptualized supportive HR practices as a moderating factor between supply chain robustness and supply chain velocity, highlighting their role in supporting sustainable supply chain performance. The study design is grounded in a quantitative research approach. Sample size was estimated using a priori power analysis. A research survey was administered using a purposive sampling approach. Overall, 253 valid responses were retrieved during the months of April and May 2024. These numerical responses were further analyzed with a structural equation modeling approach. The structural assessment indicated that supply chain innovation, risk management capability, supply chain disruption, supply chain empowerment, and supply chain collaboration explained 77.7% of the variance in supply chain robustness. Practically, this study proposes that supply chain innovation, risk management capability, supply chain disruption, and supply chain empowerment are key factors that boost supply chain robustness, contribute to sustainable operational performance, and hence need managerial attention. Similarly, this study suggests that managers could achieve supply chain velocity through supportive HR practices, which must be considered while developing sustainable supply chain strategies. This research is unique as it develops an integrated research model to investigate factors that impact supply chain robustness and supply chain velocity from a sustainability-oriented perspective.