Agility in the Post-COVID Era: Integrating Technology and Culture for Resilient Small-Scale Supply Chains

Abstract

This research investigates the drivers of supply chain agility in small-scale industries (SSIs) after COVID-19 using sophisticated statistical methods to uncover underlying patterns. Using Random Forest, Latent Class Analysis (LCA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), the research has found that the most influencing drivers are Technology Adoption (15.23%), Organizational Culture (14.73%), and Supply Chain Agility (14.29%). Five latent classes were established, with Class 1 (High Agility and Resourcefulness) being the most common (26.4%) and Class 5 (Low Agility and Limited Resource Integration) the least (16.3%). ANOVA results were significant in that they showed significant variation between variables, with Supply Chain Agility (SCA) having the largest F-statistic (7.21). PCA and LSA identified two principal semantic dimensions: General Perception of Agility and Operational vs. Strategic Differentiation. The results highlight that technology integration, cultural flexibility, and financial solidity influence perceptions of agility in SSIs, and provide directions for specific agility improvement.