Supply chain agility as the antecedent to firm sustainability in the post COVID-19

Purpose - COVID-19 has caused critical supply chain problems, especially in sustainable supply chain management, but very few empirical studies have been explored how to improve the firm sustainability through supply chain endeavours such as supply chain agility to manage the impacts of COVID-19. This paper aims to develop a model to incorporate supply chain agility and supply chain relationships that link firm sustainability to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach - The authors conducted an online survey and collected 203 valid responses from businesses in the United Arab Emirates, and employed an exploratory factor analysis, mediated regression analysis and structural equation modelling methodology to test the models and hypotheses. Findings - The authors find that the adoption of supply chain agility can improve supply chain relationships and positively impact sustainability. Meanwhile, supply chain relationships partially mediate the relationship between supply chain agility and sustainability. In addition, sustainability mitigates the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains. Originality/value - The results provide fruitful insights and implications for the challenges and uncertainties caused by the pandemic post COVID-19 and provide several directions for further research.