In search of transformative resilience in manufacturing supply chains: how and when digital platform capabilities and supply chain knowledge matter

Abstract

While recent Industry 5.0 paradigms emphasize human-centric and resilient manufacturing ecosystems supported by emerging technologies, the factors driving supply chain metaverse adoption (SCMA) and its mechanisms for enhancing transformative resilience remain underexplored. Unlike adaptive resilience, which focuses on recovery to pre-disruption states, transformative resilience involves fundamental reconfiguration enabling firms to emerge stronger from disruptions. Grounded in resource orchestration theory, this study examines how manufacturing firms combine digital platform capabilities (integration and reconstruction) and supply chain knowledge to drive SCMA and enhance transformative resilience. We investigate the mediating role of SCMA and the moderating effect of supply chain knowledge orchestration on the SCMA-resilience relationship. We collected data from 300 senior managers across Ghanaian manufacturing firms using a two-wave survey design. Analysis of Moment Structures-based covariance structural equation modelingwas employed due to its suitability for theory-testing with well-established constructs, superior handling of measurement error, and ability to provide rigorous goodness-of-fit assessment. Hierarchical regression analysis examined the moderating effects. Common method bias was addressed through temporal separation, procedural remedies, and statistical tests (Harman’s single-factor test and the marker variable technique). Both digital platform integration capability and reconstruction capability significantly drive SCMA. SCMA demonstrates substantial effects on transformative resilience, with effect sizes indicating strong practical significance beyond statistical significance. SCMA partially mediates the relationship between digital platform capabilities and transformative resilience. Critically, supply chain knowledge orchestration significantly strengthens the SCMA-resilience relationship, explaining an additional 12% of the variance, demonstrating that technology adoption alone is insufficient without knowledge-based capability development. Manufacturing firms should adopt phased metaverse implementation strategies, first strengthening digital platform capabilities before full-scale deployment. Organizations must simultaneously develop knowledge orchestration mechanisms (establishing cross-functional learning structures, systematic knowledge capture processes, and virtual-to-physical translation capabilities) to maximize resilience benefits from metaverse investments. This study advances supply chain resilience literature by demonstrating how metaverse technologies enable transformative (not merely adaptive) resilience through resource orchestration mechanisms. It extends Industry 5.0 scholarship by empirically validating the criticality of human-centric knowledge orchestration in amplifying advanced technology benefits. By revealing the conditional nature of metaverse value creation, the study provides novel theoretical insights into when and why digital platforms generate transformative outcomes, contributing to resource orchestration theory and digital transformation literature. The developing economy context offers rare empirical evidence of advanced technology adoption under resource constraints.