Crisis Preparedness of Healthcare Manufacturing Firms during the COVID-19 Outbreak: Digitalization and Servitization

For healthcare manufacturing firms, creating a crisis-prepared product and service portfolio and operational processes is essential for their long-term prosperity. In this paper, we examine how healthcare manufacturing firms cope with the operational disruptions and opportunities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight the central role of organizational resilience and examine whether servitization and digitalization can improve the organizational resilience of healthcare manufacturing firms. On the basis of the organizational information processing theory, we suggest that servitization and digitalization can improve the stability and flexibility of operations, which make healthcare manufacturing firms more resilient to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from 163 manufacturing firms located in China. The results indicate that both servitization and digitalization improve the organizational resilience of healthcare manufacturing firms, leading to higher firm growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, organizational resilience mediates the impacts of servitization and digitalization on firm growth. Environmental dynamism strengthens the relationship between digitalization and organizational resilience. This study offers new insights for healthcare manufacturing firms to prepare for crisis events and achieve sustainable development in a highly competitive environment.