Leveraging Supply Chain Reaction Time: The Effects of Big Data Analytics Capabilities on Organizational Resilience Enhancement in the Auto-Parts Industry

Abstract

Big data analytics capabilities (BDACs) are strategic capabilities that expedite decision-making processes, empowering organizations to mitigate the impacts of supply chain disruptions. These capabilities enhance the ability of companies to be more proactive in detecting and predicting disruptive events, increasing their resilience. This study analyzed the effects BDACs have on firms’ reaction time and the effects companies’ reaction time has on their resilience. The research model was assessed with 263 responses from a survey with professionals of auto-parts companies in Brazil. Data were analyzed with the Partial-Least-Squares—Structural Equation Modeling method. Cluster analysis techniques were also applied. This study found that BDACs reduce reaction time, which, in turn, improves firms’ resilience. We also observed greater effects in first-tier and in companies with longer Industry 4.0 journeys, opening further perspectives to investigate the complex mediations of digital readiness, reaction time, and organizational resilience performance of firms and supply chains. Our research builds upon the dynamic capabilities theory and identifies BDACs as dynamic capabilities with the potential to enhance resilience by reducing data, analytical, and decision latencies, which are recognized as core elements of the reaction time concept, which is particularly crucial during disruptive supply chain events.