Achieving resilience through knowledge management practices and risk management culture in agri-food supply chains

TLDR

The increasingly turbulent business landscape, exemplified by events such as Covid‑19, has made supply‑chain resilience a critical dynamic capability for firms to recover from disruptions and maintain operations. This study seeks to integrate knowledge management, risk‑management culture, and resilience to elucidate their combined effect on supply‑chain resilience in agri‑food chains, proposing a novel empirical model grounded in dynamic‑capability theory. Using a cross‑sectional survey of 349 Australian agri‑food supply‑chain participants, the authors test a dynamic‑capability model that links knowledge‑management practices and risk‑management culture to resilience. Results show that exposure to supply‑chain risks prompts the deployment of knowledge‑management practices, which sequentially build risk‑management culture and ultimately enhance resilience, offering actionable insights for practitioners and policymakers and highlighting the potential for more resilient food supply chains to sustain supply and employment.

Abstract

Purpose Given the increasingly turbulent business landscape and unprecedented incidents (e.g. Covid-19), firms must achieve supply chain resilience (SCRes) as a dynamic capability to bounce back from adversities and ensure continuity of operations. The purpose of this study is to integrate the three interrelated [knowledge management, risk management culture (RMC) and resilience] but often separately discussed concepts to advance the understanding of their intertwined influence on SCRes in the agri-food supply chains. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a cross-sectional survey approach where quantitative data is collected from 349 participants from the Australian agri-food supply chains to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Exposure to supply chain risks triggers the deployment of specific knowledge management practices in the agri-food supply chains. Further, the analysis on serial mediation suggests that firms’ knowledge management practices work sequentially (knowledge acquisition, assimilation and application) and develop a RMC to achieve SCRes amid supply chain risks. Practical implications The findings of this study inform practitioners and policymakers who seek to understand the key mechanisms that facilitate the development of SCRes when facing supply chain risks, particularly in the Australian agri-food supply chains. Social implications The growth of the food industry through more resilient food supply chains could ensure sustained food supply and more employment opportunities. Originality/value Using dynamic capability theory, the authors devise a novel empirical model that explicates how knowledge management practices and RMC instigate the dynamic capability of SCRes amid supply chain risks facing agri-food supply chains.