Industrial digitalization, human capital, and supply chain resilience in advanced manufacturing: evidence-based PLS-SEM study of Vietnamese firms

Supply chain resilience is critical for manufacturers exposed to recurrent disruptions, yet limited evidence explains how digital technologies and human capital shape resilience in emerging economies. Grounded in the dynamic resource-based view, this study investigates their direct and indirect effects through supply chain collaboration, flexibility, and risk management. Survey data from 225 Vietnamese manufacturing firms were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling and bootstrapping, alongside reliability, validity, and common-method assessments. Results show that digital technologies enhance human capital, collaboration, and flexibility, but have no significant direct effect on risk management. Human capital demonstrates the strongest and most consistent influence across capability dimensions. Collaboration and flexibility strengthen resilience, whereas risk management does not. Mediation analysis identifies collaboration as the primary mechanism linking resources to resilience. The findings show that resilience depends less on technology adoption alone than on workforce readiness and capability development, offering guidance for sequencing resilience investments.