Critical capabilities of improving supply chain resilience in industrialized construction in Hong Kong

Abstract

Purpose: Industrialized construction (IC) has accelerated the technological advancements of construction supply chains (SCs) in Hong Kong (HK). However, the usually fragmented IC SCs often lead to friction and turbulence that retard their performance. Streamlining these workflows call for resilient SCs that can proactively overcome various vulnerabilities and avoid disruptions. Having identified supply chain capabilities (SCC) as essential precursors to supply chain resilience (SCR), this paper reports on a vital segment of a study on SCC for IC in HK that focused here on critical SCC (CSCC). Specifically, this paper aims at identifying and probing the CSCC for improving SCR in IC in HK. Design/methodology/approach: After drawing on the plentiful relevant literature, an empirical study using a questionnaire survey and interviews was conducted following the multi-stage methodological framework of this study. Relevant significance analysis of the collected data enabled the selection of CSCC. Next, factor analysis facilitated grouping them under nine underlying components. Findings: The results reveal 41 CSCC pertinent to achieve resilient SCs in IC in HK under critical capability components of resourcefulness, flexibility, capacity, adaptability, efficiency, financial strength, visibility, anticipation and dispersion. Originality/value: It is expected that industry practitioners would benefit from prior knowledge of CSCC and their levels of criticalities, so as to prioritize integrating them suitably into SC processes, to develop value-enhanced-resilient SCs. Further, these findings lay the foundations for developing a powerful evaluation model to assess, then improve, SCR in IC in HK by mapping the identified CSCC with relevant critical vulnerabilities, based on study outcomes.