Enhancing supply chain resilience in SMEs: a deep Learning-based approach to managing Covid-19 disruption risks

This research examines the relationships between the components of supply chain integration (SCI) (i.e. internal integration (INI), customer integration (CI) and supplier integration (SI)), supply chain risk management (SCRM) and supply chain resilience (SCRE), with disruption impact (DI) as the moderator, among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 271 useable data were collected from Chinese SMEs to test the research model with two statistical approaches of PLS-SEM and ANN analysis. Results show that SCI (i.e. INI, CI and SI) positively affects SCRM, and subsequently affects SCRE. Moreover, SCRM has also been found to fully mediate the relationship between INI, CI and SI with SCRE. Additionally, DI was also found to moderate the relationship between SCRM and SCRE. This study expands the supply chain management-related knowledge by empirically validating the mediating role of SCRM between the elements of SCI and SCRE, as well as empirically identifying DI as the moderator between SCRM and SCRE. The findings offer valuable understanding that can guide SME managers, owners and stakeholders in developing strategies for integrating with customers, suppliers and internal departments, as well as implementing SCRM practices to enhance SCRE performance. The research expands the existing literature on the elements of SCI and SCRM in maintaining SCRE from an Asian developing country's perspective.