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Resourceful and resilient: Linking human resource quality and organizational resilience

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  • Wang, Chang

Abstract

Organizational resilience has become a critical determinant of firm survival in volatile environments, yet the mechanisms through which internal resources enable adaptive responses remain underexplored. Drawing on the resource-based view and dynamic capability theory, this study examines how human resource quality enhances organizational resilience through two mediating pathways: dynamic capability development and data element utilization. We argue that high-quality human capital provides the foundational resource that enables firms to build adaptive capabilities necessary for navigating uncertainty. Specifically, educated and skilled employees strengthen organizations’ ability to sense environmental shifts, strategically reconfigure resources, and leverage data-driven insights for agile decision making. Using panel data from 21,345 firm-year observations of Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2023, we employ fixed-effects regression models that control for firm characteristics and regional institutional factors. The results provide strong support for our theoretical framework. Human resource quality has significant positive effects on organizational resilience both directly and indirectly through dynamic capability and data element utilization, with both pathways exhibiting robust partial mediation. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that these effects are marginally stronger for non-state-owned enterprises than for state-owned enterprises, indicating that ownership structure moderates capability deployment effectiveness. These findings advance resilience theory by identifying concrete capability-building mechanisms that link human capital investment to adaptive organizational outcomes. Our study integrates the human capital, dynamic capability, and resilience literatures and offers practical implications: firms can strengthen resilience by investing in workforce quality while deliberately developing dynamic capabilities and digital infrastructures, particularly in emerging market contexts characterized by institutional volatility.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Chang, 2026. "Resourceful and resilient: Linking human resource quality and organizational resilience," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:96:y:2026:i:c:s1544612326000863
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109555
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