Digital adaptability in environmental turbulence: a view for resilience in Industry 5.0

Purpose Organizations in emerging countries face increasing pressures and uncertainties associated with technological and market turbulence, challenges intensified by Industry 5.0 (I5.0). I5.0 proposes three dimensions: human-centric, sustainability and resilience. Resilience remains largely unexplored, especially in emerging economies such as Brazil. This study examines how manufacturing firms in emerging economies can develop digital adaptability when facing environmental turbulence. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a survey with 305 leaders from manufacturing firms across all regions of Brazil. We conceptualized digital adaptability as the combination of adaptation capability with base and front-end technologies, enabling manufacturing firms to achieve innovation and delivery performance associated with resilience in I5.0. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings The results indicate that technological turbulence encourages organizations to invest in digital technologies while simultaneously developing adaptation capabilities. In turn, digital adaptability positively influences innovation and delivery performance, thereby contributing to resilience in manufacturing firms. Originality/value This study advances the I5.0 resilience literature by conceptualizing digital adaptability as the interaction between adaptation capability and digital technologies. The findings distinguish the effects of base and front-end technologies on resilience-related outcomes and provide empirical evidence from manufacturing firms in an emerging economy context.