Orchestrating Digital Capabilities for Supply Chain Resilience: Evidence from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

In the environment of modern climate uncertainty, institutional uncertainty, and digital disruption, resilience along the supply chain has become a strategic imperative for organisations operating in large-scale, high-risk infrastructure ecosystems. According to the dynamic capabilities’ theory, the current study examines the degree to which big data analytics management capability (BDMC) supports supply chain resilience (SCR) through three intermediary mechanisms, including fintech adoption (FTA), circular economy activities (CEA), Internet of Things (IoT), and environmental dynamism acts as a moderating factor to determine the effect that external volatility conditions have on such associations. This study addresses several notable research gaps: (1) the insufficient theorization of how digital tools such as BDMC, FTA, IoT, and CEA interact in building SCR; (2) a lack of empirical clarity on the mediating mechanisms that link digital capabilities with resilience; and (3) limited understanding of the moderating role of environmental dynamism in volatile contexts like the CPEC. A survey was conducted among 441 mid and senior level professionals residing in Pakistan and working in industries related to the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC). Structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that BDMC has a significant, positive impact on SCR, as well as a mediated influence in this direction. Among mediating sets, the significant pathway discovered CEA supported by the next important pathway IoT and FTA, which also explained the layered (complementary) nature of both digital and sustainability targeting skills. Moreover, the factor of environmental dynamism was also found to have a positive moderating effect on the relationship between BDMC and SCR, indicating that the factor of dynamic capabilities becomes more significant in an environment where environmental uncertainty is high. The research questions driving this study are: (1) How does BDMC enable SCR in the CPEC context? (2) What are the mediating roles of FTA, CEA, and IoT in this relationship? (3) How does environmental dynamism moderate the BDMC-SCR nexus? Theoretically, this study extends DCT to an emerging megaproject context and conceptualizes BDMC as an orchestrating capability. The main innovation lies in integrating digital technologies and sustainability practices into a unified capability system, especially within high-risk, underdeveloped regions. The study provides a practical resilience roadmap for policymakers and firms, outlining the strategic integration of digital and circular practices, rather than merely adopting them. However, this study is limited by its cross-sectional survey design and its focus on a single geographic context, which may affect generalizability. Findings offer timely insights for resilience-building strategies in unstable organisational environments.