Hybrid Simulation–expertise approach to balancing cost and resilience in global herbal supplement supply chains

Since the first case was identified, COVID-19 has spread to more than 200 countries. As of October 25, 2022, it had resulted in over 6 million deaths and 600 million confirmed cases. The rapid widespread of COVID-19 led to large-scale disruptions with major supply and demand shocks in supply chains, causing significant negative impacts on the global economy. The World Bank reported that the world GDP growth rate for 2020 was −3.27%, indicating the worst recession since 1961. First, the initial epidemic-control efforts blocked the flows of raw materials across the world, and limited labor movements by imposing temporary travel restrictions. As a result, many firms struggled with supply disruptions and labor shortages, setting off a chain reaction of disruption in global supply chains. Fortune (2020) reported that as of February 21, 2020, 94% of the Fortune 1000 companies had experienced supply-chain disruptions due to COVID-19.1 According to the Institute for Supply Management, almost 75% of companies reported supply-chain disruptions in some capacity due to coronavirus-related transportation restrictions.2 A survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers reported that 78.3% of manufacturers believed that COVID-19 had a significant negative influence on their financial performance, and 35.5% of them had experienced some type of supply chain disruptions.3 Second, the demand for essential personal-protective equipment increased dramatically because the virus was easily transmitted from person to person through air-borne droplets; accompanied by a drop in the need for other manufactured products (Nicola et al., 2020). For example, COVID-19 had caused a surge in the demand of face masks that were necessary to prevent infection among frontline workers (who were directly exposed to the virus when treating infected patients or conducting nucleic acid tests) and individuals in public places. China was the main producer of masks at the start of the crisis, accounting for approximately half of world production. In January 2020, China could produce 20 million masks per day, which was insufficient to equip even just healthcare workers in China. As a result of extensive efforts by the government and companies, Chinese production increased six-fold and reached 116 million masks per day by the end of February, 2020. But even this was insufficient to meet its own demand, and China imported a large quantity of masks. Similarly, Germany also experienced very limited availability of face masks in the spring of 2020. To increase the supply of face masks, the German government contracted with hundreds of companies and introduced a series of incentives to encourage local, non-medical manufacturers to temporarily transform to produce masks. More generally, demand patterns for supplies of all types became less predictable from the beginning of pandemic. Significant changes on the demand side included quick shifts of buying patterns (from physical stores to online stores) and rapid shifts of product mix (e.g., decline in office equipment to be used on site, but increases in appliances for home-office use). Compared with previous pandemics, COVID-19 has affected supply chains more durably and globally. As this special issue approaches publication, the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for over 3 years. The extended duration of this external shock has been sufficient to permanently change the behavior of supply-chain partners (Poelman et al., 2021). These changes have encouraged firms to demonstrate an innovative bent, leading to structural process changes in a variety of industries. For example, demand for in-person restaurant dining decreased, whereas demand for take-away foods greatly increased, though by 2022, this pattern had begun to reverse. Under this change, firms needed to explore new ways of organizing their supply chains with respect to factors like product diversity and cooperation with more partners in the supply chains. This made it possible to define products and services to benefit quickly from pandemic-related opportunities (van der Vegt et al., 2015). The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected global supply chains as economic integration interacted with travel restrictions and worldwide lockdowns (Nikolopoulos et al., 2021) to create unprecedented challenges for enterprises to respond to changes in demand and supply, employee shortages, and lack of access to financial capital. These long lasting, structural, and global supply-chain impacts have led enterprises to increase responsiveness and resilience (2Rs) via management mechanisms and technological innovations. Based on the media reports and literature review, such innovative measures include cross-enterprise cooperation (e.g., Unilever and Terra Drone), government-enterprise cooperation (e.g., Hubei Provincial Government and JD Logistics), adjustments to manufacturing activities (e.g., BYD, Foxconn, Pernod Ricard, and Bauer shifted their production to face masks/shields), as well as the adoption of digital technologies (e.g., JD Logistics, New HAVI). This 2R emphasis represents a major departure from the usual emphasis on cost reduction (Caunhye et al., 2016). Observing that some companies have performed well in responding quickly to changes in demand and supply, and flexibly to disruptions, we seek to learn from the innovative practices and experiences of that have yielded success in dealing with this large-scale disruption. What were the key lessons learned in terms of selecting suppliers and managing supplier/customer relationships, designing global supply networks, and adopting new digital technologies and big data analytics? What were the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the structures of global supply chains and the strategic positioning of major supply chain players? This special issue focuses on uncovering the key success factors and lessons from these innovative practices. We aimed to gain deeper understanding of how the adoption of technological innovations, business model innovations, and innovations in collaboration mechanisms and methods of operations improvement/optimization have helped companies enhance 2Rs in supply chains. To frame this special issue, we define some key concepts and briefly review some literature published in leading operations management journals focusing on supply chain responsiveness, supply chain resilience, supply chain integration, and big data analytics. To address disruptions and demand shocks, a great deal of emphasis has been placed in research on strategies to enhance the 2Rs in supply chains (Hendricks et al., 2009). Responsiveness is defined as the ability of a supply chain to respond purposefully within an appropriate timeframe to customer requests or supply changes in the marketplace (Shekarian et al., 2020). Generally speaking, responsiveness to changes in demand and supply is reflected in multiple aspects (Williams et al., 2013), including volume flexibility, variety flexibility, product/service modification flexibility, new product flexibility, and so on. According to Singh and Sharma (2014), a responsive supply chain could ensure a reduction in lead time, the right service quality, the right service quantity, and the on-time response to requirements of customers. Roh et al. (2014) asserted that the goal of a responsive supply chain design is to provide customers with the right product at the right place in the right length of time. The recent literature and practice show that effective measures to improve the responsiveness of supply chains include signing flexible contracts with suppliers, forecasting the trend of future demand and supply, conducting multi-source procurement, making centralized decision-making, and investing in digital technologies. Resilience is defined as the ability to mitigate the negative effects, rapidly accommodate, and react to a supply chain disruption (Kim et al., 2015). Wieland and Durach (2021) stated that resilience does not just relate to the ability of a system to bounce back after a disruptive event but also to the capacity to adapt and transform. Combining these perspectives, resilience generally refers to the ability to absorb or cushion against damage or loss, as well as the ability to rapidly recover from a disruption (Hora & Klassen, 2013). Thus, resilience is dynamic instead of static, which is considered as a fundamental attribute that supply chains need to adopt for maintaining stable growth in the face of external disruptions (Essuman et al., 2020) such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chain resilience consists of multiple constituent elements, including stability, agility, robustness, collaboration, redundancy, centralization, visibility, and information sharing (Hosseini et al., 2019). Tukamuhabwa et al. (2015) emphasized the importance of building collaborative relationships in improving supply chain resilience. Other measures include maintaining slack resources, adopting a flexible production strategy, and building a risk-management infrastructure (Ambulkar et al., 2015; Modi & Mishra, 2011). Although 2Rs are the key attributes for enterprises to improve supply chain performance, there is limited research on how to develop responsive and resilient strategies to deal with long-lasting, structural, and global impacts. Previous studies mainly focused on normal situations, in which supply chain integration and big data analytics are the bases of building 2Rs supply chains. Supply chain integration is the ability to integrate all activities among a company's internal functions and external partners (supplier, distributor, retailer, etc.), until the finished product arrives at the end customer (Zhao et al., 2013). From the perspective of collaborative partners, supply chain integration could be divided by horizontal strategies and vertical strategies (Mesquita & Lazzarini, 2008), while the vertical integration is further divided by integration with suppliers (also known as upstream integration) and integration with customers (also known as downstream integration). In the era of Industry 4.0, supply chain integration consists of three dimensions: process and activity integration, technology and system integration, and organizational relationship linkages (Tiwari, 2020). A recent editorial in JOM (Browning, 2020) discussed related aspects of organizational and process integration. In recent years, under the influence of economic globalization, supply chains have been transformed. Since globalization has become pervasive, suppliers have pursued global markets, and most companies source extensively from global suppliers (Cohen & Lee, 2020). This has led to an increase in outsourcing activities and a corresponding decline in vertical integration of supply chains. As a result, supply chain networks have become flatter and more complex, composed of different organizations dispersed across multiple tiers and different geographies, and extended beyond a single country's boundaries (Choi & Hong, 2002). Global supply chains are characterized by focal firms that distribute across multiple countries, locate production facilities abroad, or source from offshore suppliers. Munir et al. (2020) showed that integration in the global supply chain could increase companies' resilience in making flexible deliveries and the number of products. Big data refers to data that arrive at a high volume and velocity with considerable variation, while analytics refers to the ability to gain insights from data via statistics, learning, optimization, or other techniques. The applications of big data and analytics are closely interlinked to enable firms to make better decisions. Hence, prior literature has typically discussed them together as big data analytics, which allows the use of advanced computing techniques, strategies and architectures to store, extract, and analyze multi-source, heterogeneous data to support decisions, and has been commonly used in operations management (Wamba et al., 2015). In the era of economic globalization, supply chain management has become extremely complex, with large-scale and online decision-making challenges emerging (Yang et al., 2021), for example, the joint decision-making between proactive planning and reactive operations in the forms of demand forecasting, production planning, inventory management, supply allocation, transportation, and distribution. It is no longer efficient to rely on traditional analytics methods. Many firms have been exploring how to take big data analytics to promote lean and agile activities in supply chain management (Baruffaldi et al., 2019). Existing studies have shown that applications of digital technologies can help improve supply chain performance by enhancing visibility and reducing supply chain risks (Govindan et al., 2018). The digitalization of supply chains produces large volumes of data, which is regarded as a new kind of resource and has the potential to create value and enhance competitiveness. Singh and El-Kassar (2019) proposed that digital technologies have transformed traditional supply chain management into a more data-driven approach, which requires a much higher level of big data analytics capabilities compared to traditional supply chain management. Following the call for papers, the submission of 114 manuscripts, and the review and revision process, seven articles were selected for this special issue that contribute to our understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on supply chains and its effect on addressing the 2Rs. In "Strengthening supply chain resilience during COVID-19: A case study of JD.com" (Shen & Sun, 2023), the authors used quantitative operational data obtained from JD.com4 to analyze the impact of the pandemic on supply chain resilience. They described the challenging scenarios that retailing supply chains experienced in China and the practical response of JD.com over the course of the pandemic the pandemic. JD.com was observed to respond well to the exceptional demand and severe logistical disruptions caused by COVID-19 in China based on its highly integrated supply chain structure (including both process and activity integration and technology and system integration) and comprehensive digital technologies. In particular, the existing, intelligent platforms and delivery procedures were modified slightly but promptly to deal with specific disruptions. The joint efforts of multiple firms, the government, and the entire Chinese society contributed to surmounting the challenges. The experience of JD.com contributes to understanding of the value of investing in operational flexibility and beyond-supply-chain collaboration given the possibility of large-scale supply chain disruptions such as the COVID-19 outbreak. In "Breaking out of the pandemic: How can firms match internal competence with external resources to shape operational resilience?" (Li et al., 2023), the authors explored how firms sought to effectively combine internal competence with external resources from the supply chain network to improve operational flexibility and stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The internal flexibility refers to product diversity, the internal stability refers to operational efficiency, the external flexibility refers to structural holes, and the external stability refers to network centrality. Drawing upon matching theory, the authors provided an internal-external combinative perspective to explain operational mechanisms underlying different matchings. Based on the empirical results of 2994 unique firms and 5293 observations, they found that more heterogeneous combinations between internal (external) flexibility and external (internal) stability may result in a complementary effect that enhances operational resilience, whereas more homogeneous combinations between internal flexibility (or stability) and external flexibility (or stability) may have a substitutive effect that reduces operational resilience. With the COVID-19 pandemic having had a significant impact on supply chains, government initiatives have played a central role in managing the crisis. In "The impact of governmental COVID-19 measures on manufacturers' stock market valuations: The role of labor intensity and operational slack" (Chen et al., 2023), the authors investigated the impact of the Chinese government's Level I emergency-response policy (Ge et al., 2020) on manufacturers' stock-market values, and the role of manufacturers' operational slack on adding resilience. Specifically, through an event study of 1357 Chinese manufacturing companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the authors found that the government's emergency-response policy triggered a statistically significant positive reaction from the stock market for manufacturers. However, the authors also found negative impacts on stock market values for manufacturers in labor-intensive industries because of the labor immobility triggered by the Level I measures. In addition, this article identified the positive role of operational slack in the form of financial slack and excess inventory in helping to maintain operations and business continuity, mitigate risks caused by the labor mobility restrictions, and improve supply chain resilience, which identifies operational slack as a supply chain resilience strategy to mitigate pandemic-related risks. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the medical-product industry faced unprecedented demand shocks for personal protective equipment, including face masks, face shields, disinfectants, and gowns. Companies from various industries responded to the urgent need for these potentially life-saving products by adopting ad hoc supply chains in an exceptionally short time. In "Realizing supply chain agility under time pressure: Ad hoc supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic" (Müller et al., 2023), the authors explored the use by 34 German companies of ad hoc supply chains to produce personal protective equipment. From these cases, the authors developed an emergent theoretical model of ad hoc supply chains around enablers of supply chain agility such as dynamic capabilities (the ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly scenario changes), entrepreneurial orientation (proactiveness, risk-taking, innovativeness, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness), and temporary orientation (speedy action in a limited time). To cope with the COVID-19 crisis, many firms allowed their employees to work from home (WFH). In "Working from home and firm resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic" (Ge et al., 2023), the authors examined whether a firm's WFH capacity increased its resilience. The authors put forward and tested a unique data set that combines listed firms' financial data, epidemiological data, and online job postings data from China. They found that imposing COVID-19 anti-contagion policies on firms and their suppliers or customers significantly increased their operating revenue volatility, slowed their recovery, and had repercussions on their supply chains. WFH enhanced firms' resistance capacity by reducing the effect of COVID-19 on their operating revenue volatility and disruptions to their supply chain partners; however, it also decreased their recovery capacity by extending the time taken to return to normal. Firm attributes, along with workers' occupations, education, and experience, impacted the effect of WFH on firm resilience. This article enhances our understanding of shock transmission across supply chains and identifies WFH as a source of firm resilience. In "Developing supply chain resilience through integration: An empirical study on an e-commerce platform" (Qi et al., 2023), the authors developed a framework that described the impact on supply chain resilience of process and activity integration between an e-commerce platform and suppliers. An analysis of data from a Chinese e-commerce platform found that integration between the e-commerce platform and suppliers in terms of information sharing, joint planning, and logistics cooperation had positive impact on supply chain resilience, while procurement automation had the opposite effect. Manufacturing flexibility positively moderated the impact of information sharing, joint planning, and logistics cooperation. The results contribute to understanding of the factors that encourage the development of supply chain resilience, suggesting that the relationship between integration and resilience is best examined within a contingency framework. There is ongoing debate about whether a firm should develop a concentrated supply chain, with the literature reporting both benefits and drawbacks. In "Opportunities or constraints? A network embeddedness perspective on the role of supply chain concentration during the pandemic" (Jiang et al., 2023), the authors examined this puzzle. Drawing on the interdependence perspective, the authors investigated how customer and supplier concentration affected supply chain resilience during the disruption and recovery stages of the pandemic, where customer concentration refers to the extent to which a firm's sales are dependent on a few major customers, and supplier concentration refers to the extent to which a firm's purchases are from a few major suppliers. The analysis of 26,488 firm-quarter observations from 2366 Chinese-listed manufacturing firms revealed that concentration can be both detrimental and beneficial, contingent on the exchange role and the crisis stage. To be specific, customer concentration accentuated the downside of firm productivity in the disruption stage but facilitated productivity restoration in the recovery stage, while supplier concentration had no significant impact on productivity in the disruption stage but hindered firm productivity from bouncing back in the recovery stage. The guest editorial team (Xiang Li, Xiande Zhao, Hau L. Lee, and Chris Voss) would like to thank the co-editors-in-chief of the Journal of Operations Management, Suzanne de Treville and Tyson Browning, for their support. The authors would also like to acknowledge all of the many reviewers and associate editors for their extensive reviews and expert advice on the large number of articles submitted to this special issue. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 71931001, 71722007). The research of Prof. Zhao was partially suported by the Major Program of National Social Science Foundation of China (22&ZD082).

Purpose This study aims to explore the interplay between supply chain collaboration and disruption and their joint impact on supply chain resilience. It also aims to identify the configurational conditions under which supply chain resilience is achieved, providing a holistic framework for enhancing supply chain management practices amidst disruptions. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to investigate the complex causal mechanisms linking supply chain collaboration and disruption with supply chain resilience. The research integrates three dimensions of collaboration with three dimensions of disruption, offering a comprehensive understanding of supply chain resilience factors. Findings This study reveals that supply chain resilience is not solely dependent on individual elements but is shaped by unique configurations of collaboration and disruption factors. Information sharing emerges as a core factor in high resilience, while the absence of supply and facility disruptions significantly influences resilience outcomes. The research highlights the importance of multiple paths leading to supply chain resilience and the asymmetrical impact of collaboration and disruption. Research limitations/implications The study acknowledges limitations due to data sourced exclusively from China and the use of static data, suggesting the need for cross-temporal and international samples to enhance broader applicability. Future research should consider dynamic temporal changes and diverse theoretical perspectives to comprehensively examine the factors influencing supply chain resilience. Practical implications The research underscores the critical role of information sharing in bolstering supply chain resilience and advises firms to prioritize it in their strategies. It also highlights the importance of mitigating supply and facility disruptions through supplier diversification and robust contingency planning, offering actionable insights for enhancing operational efficiency and risk management in supply chain management. Social implications This research has significant social implications, particularly in the context of global supply chain disruptions. By identifying key factors that enhance supply chain resilience, it can help businesses better prepare for and respond to crises, thereby reducing economic instability and social disruption. Improved resilience can lead to more stable employment, maintain the flow of essential goods and services and contribute to overall societal well-being during times of supply chain stress. Originality/value This study offers original insights by applying fsQCA to explore the multifaceted relationship between supply chain collaboration, disruption and resilience. Its value lies in revealing the complex causal configurations that lead to high or low levels of supply chain resilience, challenging traditional linear perspectives and providing a nuanced understanding that can guide both academic research and practical supply chain management strategies.

This study investigates the most effective leadership style of supply chain (SC) management leaders in pursuit of resilient supply chain through the comparison of transformational and transactional leadership styles. Flexibility and agile supply chain are considered as a mechanism which can strengthen the impact of leadership styles on resilient supply chain. However, these phenomena are not addressed in prior studies. We also empirically teste cost-effective mechanism to SMEs for improving supply chain resilience. The constructs are adopted from existing literature to formulate four hypotheses to meet the study objectives. Primary data is collected by incorporating split survey method and time-lagged of two weeks from 317 supply chain professionals working in SMEs manufacturing enterprises of Pakistan via a pre-tested survey instrument. The PROCESS Macros is used to test the hypothesized model. The results reveal the positive significance of both leadership styles with resilient supply chain directly as well as the mechanism of flexibility and agile supply chain. However, the empirical investigation finds that the supply chain managers with transactional leadership style are more effective in pursuit of resilient supply chain directly and through the sequential mediation of flexibility and agile supply chain as compared with other leadership style. The results of this study empirically prove the significance of transformational and transactional leadership with resilient supply chain. The sequential mediation of flexibility and agile SC between leadership styles and resilient supply chain is also proved. The study tests the most effective leadership style which can more strongly influence the resilient supply chain through the comparison of transformational and transactional leadership styles. All of these relationships have not been previously tested. Thus, the study provides an important contribution to existing body of knowledge.

PurposeRethinking how to build resilience in supply chains is once again highlighted by COVID-19. Research on supply chain resilience has established flexibility as a firm-level antecedent that contributes to supply chain resilience. However, the authors know little about how supply chain flexibility is developed within a firm. Drawing on social capital theory, the authors claim that the way supply chain managers are embedded in their social networks plays a critical role in developing this antecedent. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that supply chain managers' structural and relational embeddedness in their reference network, comprised of individuals from whom they seek advice, is instrumental to developing supply chain flexibility, which subsequently enhances the firm's supply chain resilience.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data collected from 485 manufacturing firms in Australia and Hayes and Preacher's (2014) parallel multiple mediator model were employed to empirically test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of the study establish that supply chain managers' structural and relational embeddedness in their reference network indeed have implications for developing supply chain resilience. Furthermore, the mediator through which managers' social embeddedness influences supply chain resilience is identified in the current study.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the extant literature on supply chain resilience, investigating the role that supply chain managers' social capital play in developing the resilience of their firm.

PurposeThis study aims to analyse whether the presence of supply chain complexity (SCC) influences firms to improve their supply chain (SC) resilience and SC robustness capability. This study also examines an important paradox: whether investing in both exploitation and exploration practices is conflicting or complementary to enabling SC resilience and robustness in the presence of SCC.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a survey-based approach to collect 242 useful responses from SC professionals of Pakistani firms, an important emerging economy context. The data were analysed with covariance-based structural equation modelling to statistically validate the model.FindingsThe analysis reveals several key findings: the presence of SCC has a direct, positive influence on SC resilience and SC robustness; while exploitation practices only partially mediate the nexus between SCC and SC resilience, they fully mediate the relationship between SCC and SC robustness; while exploration practices partially mediate the nexus between SCC and SC resilience, they do not mediate the relationship between SCC and SC robustness and SCC has a significant influence on SC resilience and SC robustness sequentially through exploitation and exploration (i.e. one after the other).Practical implicationsThese findings help to reconcile the exploitation versus exploration paradox in cultivating SC resilience and SC robustness in the presence of SCC. The findings assist SC managers in determining how to deploy their limited resources most effectively to enhance SC resilience and SC robustness while facing SCC.Originality/valueThe authors devise and empirically validate a unique framework that demonstrates how the presence of SCC works as a stimulus to build SC resilience and SC robustness.

PurposeCOVID-19 once again showed the importance of building resilience in supply chains. Extant research on supply chain resilience management has successfully identified a set of organizational antecedents that contribute to supply chain resilience. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which these antecedents are developed within a firm. Drawing on the dynamic managerial capabilities theory, the current study aims to investigate the critical role that supply chain managers play in developing the organizational antecedents. Specifically, this study shows that supply chain managers' social capital, human capital and cognition are instrumental to the development of three organizational supply chain resilience antecedents: visibility, responsiveness and flexibility, which subsequently enhance the firm's supply chain resilience.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ survey data collected from 598 manufacturing firms in Australia, and Hayes and Preacher's (2014) parallel multiple mediator model to empirically test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of the study establish that supply chain managers' social capital, human capital and cognition indeed have implications for developing supply chain resilience. Furthermore, the mediators through which managers' social capital, human capital and cognition improve supply chain resilience are identified in the current study.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the extant literature on supply chain resilience, investigating the role that supply chain managers play in developing the resilience of their firm.

New perspectives on supply chain resilience

On March 2011 a destructive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami along with nuclear explosions struck northeastern Japan; killing thousands of people, halting industry and crippling infrastructure. A large manufacturing company operating outside of Japan received the news in the middle of the night. Within a few hours of the tsunami hitting Japan, this manufacturer’s logistics team ran global materials management reports to communicate the precise status of the products originating from Japan to their entire global network of facilities. With this quick and far reaching communication the manufacturer was able to launch a successful contingency plan. Alternative suppliers, already existing as part of their global network, were evaluated and used to mitigate Japan’s disruptive impact. The resiliency of this manufacturer’s trusted network of supply chain trading partners allowed for minimum disruptions, saving countless money and maintaining continuity for its end-to-end supply chain. This manufacturer was part of a cloud-based supply chain that provided the catalyst to quickly shift its resources to allay the impact of no longer being able to receive product from Japan. Today's supply chains are global and complex networks of enterprises that aim to deliver products in the right quantity, in the right place, and at the right time in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable environment. To cope with internal and external supply chain instability and disruptions, supply chains need to be resilient to survive. A supply chain's ability to collaboratively share information with its supply chain partners is one of the most important factors that enhance a supply chain’s resilience. Cloud based supply chain management (SCM) creates a platform that enables collaborative information sharing that helps to identify, monitor and reduce supply chain risks, vulnerabilities and disruptions. However, supply chain academics and practitioners are at its infancy in understanding the capabilities of cloud based supply chains and its impact on resiliency. The goal of this dissertation is to explore how cloud based SCM make supply chains more resilient to disruptions. To achieve this goal the present research addresses the following fundamental research question: What is the impact of cloud based supply chain management (SCM) on supply chain resilience? To address this research question, this dissertation is comprised of three separate but interrelated essays. The first essay uses the systematically literature review (SLR) method to provide clear definitions of supporting constructs of supply chain resiliency (SCRES), classify the capabilities of SCRES, and identify existing research gaps and future SCRES research ideas. The second essay applies resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities as the theoretical lens to investigate the role of cloud based SCM in establishing SCRES. The second essay develops a theory-driven, conceptual model to illustrate and explain the relationships among cloud based SCM, SCRES, and the supply chain capabilities identified in the first essay. The third essay uses systems dynamics theory to develop two novel casual loop diagrams (CLD) and its equivalent systems dynamics (SD) models to quantitatively analyze the impact of cloud based information sharing on supply chain performance. A hospital supply chain is used as an illustrative example to show the positive impact on performance. Lead-time, inventory spend, and customer service levels are the comparative performance metrics used in this essay and are consistent with the findings of essays 1 and 2. One CLD and its equivalent SD model represent a traditional on-premise hospital supply chain information sharing platform and the other represent a cloud based hospital information sharing platform. The SD models simulate and compare the performance of the traditional and cloud based hospital supply chain platforms.

This chapter provides an understanding of basic essence of supply chain management. It introduces a multi-dimensional facet of supply chain management. A typical supply chain has at least three entities, that is, the supplier, the firm, and its customer. The inter-link between these three entities comprises three primary components of a supply chain, namely, the inbound or upstream supply chain, internal supply chain, and outbound or downstream supply chain. However, in a real-life scenario, many firms (especially in case of large and complex firms), the suppliers, and production centres are more than one. This increases the complexity of the supply chain structure. This concept has been introduced in this chapter. The drivers of supply chain have been categorized under strategic and operational drivers. This aspect has been explained, with examples. The chapter discusses the enablers and inhibitors of a supply chain of a firm. It proceeds to explain the issues in assessing and integrating the drivers, enablers, and inhibitors in the supply chain planning process. Bull whip and snow ball effects are two important outcomes of an inefficient supply chain. These concepts have been introduced here. Finally, the chapter concludes by laying down the objectives and the strategies of supply chain management. It prioritizes the focus of supply chain management, stating that customers come first followed by cost optimization. The chapter discusses on the ways to make supply chain agile and flexible. Supply chains are always prone to disruptions; hence, this chapter talks about a resilient supply chain. Next to customer, cost is an important element that enables a firm to keep its price competitive and be profitable. Here the concept of a lean supply chain has been discussed, a way to minimize waste and hence reduce cost. Supply chain management varies with firms' business strategy. The firm may choose to follow either a cost-leadership strategy or a differentiation or a focus strategy and thus would accordingly adopt push or pull or push-pull (supply chain) strategy. In case of cost-leadership strategy, the firm is expected to follow “make-to-stock” (operations) strategy; in case of differentiation strategy it would adopt “make-to-order” strategy; and for focus strategy the firm embraces “engineer-to-order” strategy. This chapter discusses these aspects to correlate the different dimensions of business and its supply chain management. Firms now are focussing on global operation to leverage on opening up of economy, enabling them to lower the cost of operations and achieve the desired quality. Besides, globalisation has also led to widening of market coverage. A brief introduction to global logistics management has been made in this chapter to emphasise on operationalization of a firms' global supply chain.

PurposeThis paper aims to adopt a resource-based view (RBV) to investigate the link between marketing (MRKT)–supply chain management (SCM) alignment, supply chain resilience (SCR) and firm performance. It aims to cover two gaps in the SCM literature: the missing links between MRKT–SCM alignment and the performance of a firm, mediated by the SCR, and the role of absorptive capacity (AC) in shaping such links.Design/methodology/approachAfter the identification of a key capability in SCM, i.e. firms’ ability to align their’ MRKT–SCM processes and the role of AC, the relationships with performance are empirically tested in a sample of 133 firms in the fast-moving consumer goods industry in Saudi Arabia. The data was analyzed using SPSS 27 through hierarchal multiple regression and the PROCESS macro.FindingsFirst, MRKT–SCM alignment capabilities provide a significant direct effect on SCR, and in turn, SCR also had a significant indirect effect on firm performance. Second, there is a significant mediating effect of SCR on the MRKT –SCM alignment and firm performance relationship. Third, a novel finding shows a statistically significant interaction effect and the interaction pattern supported that absorptive capacity would substitute the positive effect of SCR on firm performance, which implies that in the absence of SCR, AC can substitute the role of SCR. Finally, the results suggest a significant moderation and mediation effect for the overall model.Research limitations/implicationsThe investigation is based on a self-reported cross-sectional analysis, and it is specific to a single economy. Nonetheless, it suggests a number of interesting implications. Achieving excellence in SCR requires the development of a distinct set of capabilities because the management of core supply chain activities and the alignment of MRKT with the supply chain are not mutually exclusive, rather they are complementary. Contrary to common expectations, an alignment of MRKT–SCM processes leads to improved interfunctional coordination.Practical implicationsIn the postCOVID-19 world firms should develop and integrate their AC to capitalize on their MRKT–SCM alignment to pursue better performance. Investment in AC is required to develop, maintain and use it. It can play an important role against uncertainties in the long run.Originality/valueThis paper is unique in that it employs the RBV – to unpack the mechanisms through which MRKT–SCM activities contribute to SCR, and firm performance. It represents a first response to the call for research into the use of such theoretical frameworks which has recently been made in the SCM literature because of the COVID-19 pandemic. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper also offers the first empirical test of how the MRKT–SCM interacts with existing capabilities to create SCR, providing clear guidance on how to exploit its often undervalued potential.

Purpose To comprehensively understand the complex knowledge management processes and their application in supply chain management, this study aims to investigate the specific mechanisms through which network openness (NO) affects supply chain resilience (SCR). From the knowledge management perspective, it explores the mediating role of digital absorptive capacity (DAC) between NO and SCR. Additionally, drawing on ambidexterity theory, the study examines how the configuration of DAC dimensions (depth and breadth) influences SCR. Design/methodology/approach This study employs advanced polynomial regression and response surface analysis for empirical testing, using a sample of 237 supply chain and operations managers from firms in China. Findings The results reveal that NO positively affects SCR, with DAC partially mediating this relationship. Moreover, a balanced configuration of the depth and breadth of DAC leads to stronger SCR than an imbalanced one. The higher the level of balance, the greater the resilience. When the configuration is imbalanced, prioritizing breadth results in a less negative impact on SCR. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on network characteristics, digital capacity, absorptive capacity and SCR. Moreover, it provides valuable insights into how firms can mitigate supply chain disruptions from the knowledge management perspective. Specifically, this study offers a novel perspective on knowledge management processes, wherein knowledge flows from networks into firms and is absorbed to enhance SCR, offering significant practical implications.

PurposeThis systematic literature review analyzes the academic literature to understand SC risk and resilience across different organizational sizes and industries. The academic literature has well discussed the causes of supply chain (SC) risk events, the impact of SC disruptions, and associated plans for SC resilience. However, the literature remains fragmented on the role of two fundamental elements in achieving SC resilience: the firm's size and the firm's industry as firms' contingent factors. Therefore, it is important to investigate and highlight SC resilience differences by size and industry type to establish more resilient firms.Design/methodology/approachBuilding upon the contingent resource-based view of the firm, the authors posit that organizational factors such as size and industry sector have important roles in developing organizational resilience capabilities. This systematic literature review and analysis is based on the structural and systematic analysis of high-ranked peer-reviewed journal papers from January 2000 to June 2021 collected through three global scientific databases (i.e. ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) using relevant keywords.FindingsThis systematic literature review of 230 high-quality articles shows that SC risk events can be categorized into demand, supply, organizational, operational, environmental, and network/control risk events. This study suggests that the SC resilience plans developed by startups, small and mdium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large organizations are not necessarily the same as those of large enterprises. While collaboration and networking and risk management are the most crucial resilience capabilities for all firms, applying lean and quality management principles and utilizing information technology are more crucial for SMEs. For large firms, knowledge management and contingency planning are more important.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on SC resilience plans across different organizational sizes and industries, offering new insights into the nature and dynamics of startups', SMEs', and large enterprises' SC resilience in different industries. The study highlights the need for further investigation of SC risk and resilience for startups, SMEs, and different industries on a more detailed level using empirical data. This study’s findings have important implications for researchers and practitioners and guide the development of effective SC resilience strategies for different types of firms.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chain operations globally. Nevertheless, resilient firms have the capacity to combat an unprecedented situation with the right strategic approach. The current research has developed an integrated research model that combines factors such as supply chain intelligence, supply chain communication, leadership commitment, risk management orientation, supply chain capability and network complexity to investigate supply chain resilience. The research model of this study was empirically tested with 309 responses collected from supply chain managers. Results revealed that supply chain resilience is measured with supply chain intelligence, supply chain communication, leadership commitment, risk management orientation, supply chain capability and network complexity and demonstrated a substantial variance R2 of 0.548% towards supply chain resilience. Practically, this study suggests that supply chain managers should focus on factors such as big data analytics, risk management orientation,1 supply chain communication and leadership commitment to enhance supply chain resilience and sustainable supply chain performance.

Business sectors face disruptive challenges such as cash flow problems in finance and material flow problems in supply chain and logistics processes in today’s rapidly evolving and uncertain environment. Given these challenges, effective management of resource and material flows by managers has become increasingly complex. Supply chain management is crucial for businesses to sustain competitive market positioning. This study distinctively explores the interplay between supply chain management and the financial performance of manufacturing companies, highlighting the increasingly dynamic and competitive global markets. It scrutinizes the moderating roles of supply chain agility and flexibility in this relationship, offering diverse analytical perspectives. The research methodology involved surveying white-collar employees within these companies. Factor analysis was employed to affirm the scale’s validity, and the Hayes model 3 method was utilized to test hypotheses. Our research uncovered intricate interactions between supply chain management, agility, and resilience, underscoring their collective impact on financial performance. The thesis that supply chain management has a substantial impact on financial performance was corroborated by the study’s results. The study also emphasizes the moderating impact of supply chain agility in the relationship between financial performance and supply chain management. The results of the study that supply chain resilience moderates the moderating effect of supply chain agility indicate that the interaction between supply chain resilience and supply chain agility may affect the relationship between supply chain management and financial performance if supply chain resilience enhances the resilience of organizations to external challenges. These insights suggest organizations must integrate agility, management, and resilience considerations in their supply chains to optimize performance. This study contributes a novel viewpoint to the literature, providing strategic guidance for managerial decision making.

PurposeGrounded in the knowledge-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, this paper examines how knowledge reserves (intellectual capital) and knowledge flows (supply chain knowledge sharing) impact supply chain resilience from a knowledge perspective.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were collected from 241 Chinese firms. Empirical analysis was conducted to examine the impact of intellectual capital and supply chain knowledge sharing on supply chain resilience as well as the influence of intellectual capital on supply chain knowledge sharing.FindingsEmpirical results indicate a positive relationship between intellectual capital and supply chain resilience. Similarly, supply chain knowledge sharing is positively associated with supply chain resilience. The findings further reveal a positive relationship between intellectual capital and supply chain knowledge sharing.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on cross-sectional data from China to test the hypotheses. Future research could employ longitudinal studies and expand the analysis to other countries and regions.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that companies should enhance their intellectual capital and levels of supply chain knowledge sharing to improve knowledge reserves and knowledge flows, thereby strengthening supply chain resilience.Originality/valueThis study addresses the research questions from a knowledge-based perspective, extending the application of the knowledge-based view and dynamic capabilities theory within supply chain management. The findings deepen the understanding of how knowledge reserves and flows impact supply chain resilience and provide practical insights for companies and supply chain managers.