Improving resilience of agrifood supply chains: a systematic literature review

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.

Building responsive and resilient supply chains: Lessons from the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 disruption

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.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate current trends in sustainability and resilience in supply chains post the COVID-19 pandemic. With an increase in the number of pandemic-led supply chain disruptions in the past years, supply chain resilience has become a necessity in almost all global supply chains. At the same time, supply chains are being mandated to meet the sustainable development goals by considering all three pillars of sustainability, that is, people, planet and profits. The challenge faced by most supply chains is to incorporate both sustainability and resilience in their supply chains since the two have some conflicting objectives. The review investigated research on the integration of sustainability and resilience in closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs). CLSCs have become an important circular business model that contributes greatly to environmental sustainability. The disruption of CLSCs affects not only business as usual (forward chain) but also environmental and net zero initiatives. For this reason, it is necessary to study their resilience. Design/methodology/approach When conducting the review, the systematic method was used. In the systematic method, a research question was defined and studies on the topic were located and screened based on their contents. At the end of the screening, 56 publications were found to be relevant to the topic at hand. A content analysis was carried on the selected publications to come up with research gaps, recommendations and managerial implications for the integration of sustainability and resilience in CLSCs. The review investigated the levels of decision-making where resilience and sustainability can be integrated in CLSCs, the interrelationships between sustainability and resilience from the perspective of CLSCs and other supply chain issues that can be integrated with resilience and sustainability in CLSCs. Findings For CLSCs, the integration of sustainability and resilience was carried out mostly in the strategic level (mostly network design focusing on facility location and allocation). Most studies investigated the two principles separately, although there is a growing increase in literature investigating both principles simultaneously. In CLSCs, resilience has been investigated as a tool for achieving sustainability, as most research focused on the impact of resilience on sustainability dimensions. In addition, sustainability and resilience cannot co-exist without some trade-offs. It was also discovered that sustainability and resilience can be combined with other principles such as robustness, responsiveness, efficiency and reliability among other principles to improve supply chain networks. Originality/value The paper focused on simultaneous consideration of resilience and sustainability in CLSCs specifically. It also explored other supply chain issues associated with sustainability and resilience in CLSCs. The aim of the paper was to reveal interrelationships between resilience and sustainability in closed-loop supply chains. It has not been clear as to the relationship between resilience and sustainability from a CLSC perspective.

PurposeGiven the increasingly turbulent business landscape and unprecedented incidents (e.g. Covid-19), firms must achieve supply chain resilience (SCRes) as a dynamic capability to bounce back from adversities and ensure continuity of operations. The purpose of this study is to integrate the three interrelated [knowledge management, risk management culture (RMC) and resilience] but often separately discussed concepts to advance the understanding of their intertwined influence on SCRes in the agri-food supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a cross-sectional survey approach where quantitative data is collected from 349 participants from the Australian agri-food supply chains to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsExposure to supply chain risks triggers the deployment of specific knowledge management practices in the agri-food supply chains. Further, the analysis on serial mediation suggests that firms’ knowledge management practices work sequentially (knowledge acquisition, assimilation and application) and develop a RMC to achieve SCRes amid supply chain risks.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study inform practitioners and policymakers who seek to understand the key mechanisms that facilitate the development of SCRes when facing supply chain risks, particularly in the Australian agri-food supply chains.Social implicationsThe growth of the food industry through more resilient food supply chains could ensure sustained food supply and more employment opportunities.Originality/valueUsing dynamic capability theory, the authors devise a novel empirical model that explicates how knowledge management practices and RMC instigate the dynamic capability of SCRes amid supply chain risks facing agri-food supply chains.

Mapping pathways for building resilient supply chains: A systematic literature review

Building resilience or maintaining robustness: Insights from relational view and information processing perspective

PurposeThis study aims to identify supply chain (SC) management practices applied to purchasing capable of improving the resilience of the health-care SC and mitigating the effects of material and service disruption during pandemics.Design/methodology/approachThe approach adopted is qualitative and is based on a systematic literature review from the ScienceDirect, Emerald, Wiley and Web of Science databases. After selecting 705 documents, filters are applied, and 52 articles present problems faced by purchasing the health-care SC during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.FindingsThis article suggests five propositions of resilient practices that can increase purchasing resilience in the face of pandemics such as COVID-19. The proposed practices are collaboration, flexibility, visibility, agility and information sharing, which suggest a sequence for the adoption of management practices based on the number of occurrences and importance found in the analysed studies.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not find robust empirical evidence that could categorically state that the results can be replicated in organisations in general. Thus, as a continuation of research, more studies should use an empirical methodology and case analysis to organise different branches. As the human factor was decisive for the results observed in the literature, future research should dedicate part of the studies to the psychological area of professionals. Actions to combat the pandemic were implemented, impacting positively and negatively on the results obtained. Future research on combat actions could indicate which ones should be avoided.Practical implicationsAs a result, disruptions are expected to be reduced, and consequently, the resilience of the SC will increase. Accordingly, purchasing processes and procedures can be redefined to positively influence the resilience of the health-care SC. Resilience is related to maintaining the flow of supply, as well as systems and actions aimed at mitigating the effects of disruptions in the hospital’s core business.Social implicationsHealth systems need to respond to society’s needs even in the face of global crises, such as the one faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The overload in hospitals and the exponential demand for specific medicines and services in the fight against the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic require enormous coordination in procurement by the purchasing sector. This planning aims to ensure that the care provided by health services maintains the flow of value that serves hospitalised patients.Originality/valueThis study introduces a new approach to the recurrent problem of disruption of the health-care SC during a pandemic using a combination of five important management practices. This proves useful for mitigating disruptions and their effects on the health-care SC.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the relationships among the five components of supply chain (SC) resilience (SCRES): visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and collaboration and their impacts on the SC performance under disruption (SCPUD).Design/methodology/approachFive SCRES components are identified from the literature review and data are collected using an web survey from 113 manufacturing companies in Taiwan. The data are analyzed by structured equation modeling with the partial least square solution. Two-stage least-squares (2SLS) regression was used to test the potential endogeneity of SC collaboration (SCC).FindingsThe results reveal that SCC is an exogenous driver of SCRES; it directly affects visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and SCPUD. Furthermore, SC flexibility is the only component of SC agility that directly affects SCPUD; it is influenced directly by SC velocity and indirectly by SC visibility through SC velocity. SC visibility is a vital agility component that positively influences SC velocity and SC robustness.Research limitations/implicationsThe data in this study are cross-sectional and the sample size of 113 is relatively small. The relationship between SC robustness and SCPUD needs a longer observation period to reveal. The logistic issue in the shortage of carriers caused by the pandemic has been overlooked.Practical implicationsA firm should enhance its collaboration and flexibility in the SC as they both are the critical antecedents of SC performance (SCP) during the disruption period.Originality/valueThis study integrates visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and collaboration into a complete framework of SCRES. The dependent variable, SCPUD, measures SC performance (SCP) under the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first study to investigate the associations of the six constructs in a research model.

Supply chain environmental risks are pivotal situational factors that significantly influence the intricate relationship between a business’s supply chain agility, supply chain resilience, and its ultimate supply chain performance. This study aims to explore the interplay between supply chain agility, supply chain resilience, and supply chain performance, while also investigating the moderating effect of supply chain environmental risks. Data analysis was conducted using hierarchical regression based on a questionnaire survey involving 416 companies in Taiwan’s manufacturing supply chain. The findings reveal several key insights. Firstly, supply chain agility has a positive influence on supply chain resilience, highlighting the importance of a flexible and responsive supply chain to handle challenges effectively. Secondly, supply chain resilience plays a vital role in determining supply chain performance, underscoring its significance in maintaining operational efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, the study identifies that supply chain environmental risks can act as a positive moderator in the relationship between supply chain agility and supply chain resilience. In other words, when faced with environmental risks, companies with higher supply chain agility can leverage this capability to reinforce their supply chain resilience, leading to improved supply chain performance. Additionally, the results shed light on the mediating role of supply chain resilience between supply chain agility and supply chain performance. This suggests that a resilient supply chain acts as an intermediary mechanism through which the positive effects of supply chain agility translate into enhanced overall performance. Given the uncertain and turbulent market environment today, these findings emphasize the importance of adopting supply chain agility and supply chain resilience as indispensable business strategies. Therefore, enterprise leaders and managers should proactively implement measures to enhance these aspects of their supply chain to effectively navigate and overcome environmental risks, ultimately driving supply chain performance.

The challenging situations and disruptions that occurred due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic have created a severe need for supply chain resiliency (SCR). There has been a growing interest among researchers to investigate the resiliency in supply chain operations to overcome risks and disruptions and to achieve successful project management. The supply chain of every business requires innovative projects to accomplish competitive advantage in the market. This study was conducted to identify the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) for creating a sustainable and resilient supply chain, and also to provide optimum solutions for supply chain risk mitigation. A systematic literature review has been conducted to examine the potential research contribution or directions in the field of AI and SCR. In total, 162 articles were shortlisted from the SCOPUS database in the chosen field of research. Structural Topic Modeling (STM), a big data-based approach, was employed to generate several thematic topics of AI in SCR based on the shortlisted articles, and all topics were discussed. Furthermore, the bibliometric analysis was conducted using R-package to investigate the research trends in the area of AI in SCR. Based on the conducted review of literature, a research framework was proposed for AI in SCR that will facilitate researchers and practitioners to improve technological development in supply chain firms. The purpose is to combat sudden risks and disruptions so that project management will perform well Post COVID-19. The study will be also helpful for future researchers and practitioners to identify research directions based on existing literature covered in this paper in the field of SCR. Future research directions are proposed for AI-enabled resilient supply chain management. This study will also provide several implications for supply chain managers to achieve the required resilience in their supply chains post COVID-19 by focusing on the elements of the proposed research framework.

This paper estimates the Most Productive Scale Size (MPSS) in the NDEA model to appraise the sustainability and resilience of the supply chains. As the corresponding input and output criteria are not always accurately measurable, we also introduce the fuzzy version of our proposed NDEA model and apply the proposed model in a case study involving 10 Iranian supply chains of Companies Producing Soft Drinks (CPSDs). The considered-three-echelon supply chains include suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors. Mathematical analysis proves that the MPSS of the considered supply chain can be decomposed as the sum of the MPSS values of the individual stages. Thus, the supply chain is overall MPSS if and only if it is MPSS in every three stages. The results of this study reveal that the Behnoush supply chain is overall MPSS in all three stages, including supplier, manufacturer, and distributor, for any α ∈ {0.1, 0.5, 1}. A sensitivity analysis has been performed to measure the impact of each criterion on the entire supply chain performance. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the social and resilience criteria significantly impact the performance and ranking of supply chains. Finally, we discuss how to improve the sustainability and resilience of non-MPSS supply chains.

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.

PurposeThe present study aims to assess the role of supply chain resilience as an operational excellence approach to deal with disruptions caused by coronavirus pandemic in the food supply chain of an agri-food supply firm.Design/methodology/approachThe case study method was used to analyse the disruptions faced by the agricultural food supply chain during the pandemic. The study applies a dynamic capability theory as a foundation to develop a contextualised resilience framework for agri-food supply chain to achieve operational excellence. The case has been analysed by using situation-actor-process (SAP) and learning-action-performance (LAP) framework.FindingsThe SAP aspect of framework points that the flexibility amongst actors for a resilient agriculture supply chain worsened due to the lockdown measures post COVID-19. The LAP aspect of framework suggests how resilience can be built at the supply, demand and logistics end through various proactive and reactive practices such as collaboration, coordination, ICT and ground-level inputs. Lack of commitment and inadequate support from top management towards supply chain resilience are also observed as significant challenges to maintain operational excellence during the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the major implications of the study is that a mix of capabilities rather than a single capability can be the most appropriate way for making the supply chain resilient to maintain operational excellence during the pandemic. However, the sources of disruptions need to be duly recognised to derive the best-contextualised resilience framework for agri-food supply chains.Originality/valueThe development of a contextualised research framework as well as research propositions for analysing supply chain resilience are the major contribution of this study.

Artificial intelligence techniques for enhancing supply chain resilience: A systematic literature review, holistic framework, and future research