AI-enabled immersive collaboration and resilience in manufacturing systems: reconstructing psychological contracts

Article (Faculty180)

cited authors

  • Sepehr, M J; Hong, P C; George, B

description

  • <p><b><span style="font-size:11pt;">Purpose</span></b></p> <p>This study investigates how digital technologies reshape relational governance in manufacturing supply networks. Specifically, it introduces the concept of digitally reconstructed psychological contracts and examines how AI-enabled collaborative environments and knowledge-sharing mechanisms influence trust formation and resilience in manufacturing ecosystems.</p> <p><b><span style="font-size:11pt;">Design/methodology/approach</span></b></p> <p>Using an abductive qualitative approach, thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior professionals across manufacturing, logistics, consulting, and digital technology firms operating within US-based industrial supply chains. Interview data were analyzed iteratively through abductive coding and theoretical reconciliation, drawing on social–ecological resilience and Panarchy perspectives to refine an initial conceptual model.</p> <p><b><span style="font-size:11pt;">Findings</span></b></p> <p>The findings indicate that psychological contracts in digitally evolving manufacturing ecosystems are reconstructed through three distinct trust mechanisms: performance-based trust, lateral (peer-to-peer) trust and technology-mediated trust. These trust structures give rise to differentiated resilience pathways, including proactive, preemptive, digital and labor-centric resilience. The analysis further demonstrates that contextual conditions including digital maturity, feedback infrastructure, intellectual property sensitivity, and workforce stability shape the extent to which AI-enabled collaboration technologies influence relational governance and resilience outcomes.</p> <p><b><span style="font-size:11pt;">Originality/value</span></b></p> <p>This study contributes to manufacturing technology and supply chain research by introducing the concept of Supply Chain Resilience Potentiality (SCRP), a framework explaining how resilience emerges from the interaction of ecosystem pressures, digital infrastructures, knowledge-sharing mechanisms and reconstructed psychological contracts. It demonstrates that resilience arises from aligning digital infrastructures with relational governance, enabling trust-based coordination and adaptive responses across manufacturing networks.</p> <p><b><span style="font-size:11pt;"></span></b></p> <p><b><span style="font-size:11pt;">ABDC</span></b><span style="font-size:11pt;">: B | <b>SJR 2025</b>: Q1 | <b>1-Year IF</b>: 6.0 | <b>5-Year IF</b>: 8.6<br><br></span></p>

authors

publication date

  • 2026

published in