Reconfigurable Strategies to Manage Uncertainties in Supply Chains Due to Large-Scale Disruptions

Abstract

AbstractGlobal supply chains have been facing severe disruptions for the last decade. Large-scale disruptions are imposing unknown risks across the supply chain networks. These types of risks are unpredictable to assume the complexity, timing, and location of the occurrence and its simultaneously happening as businesses are challenged to operate in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically disrupted the global supply chains, the impact of which is yet to know. Due to the time-to-time lockdown, shutdown, and border closure, global supply chains faced supplier failure, production capacity degradation, restrictions in transportations, and lack of sufficient inventory to meet the extra demand of the essential products. On the other hand, those manufacturers involved in producing luxury and low-demand products faced a huge demand fall. As a result of this, they struggled to continue their business. The long-established supply chains have been unable to manage large-scale supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study, thus, aimed to understand the uncertainties in supply chains in the wake of large-scale disruptions and to figure out the implications of reconfigurable strategies to manage uncertainties in supply chains due to large-scale disruption.KeywordsSupply chainRiskUncertaintyLarge-scale disruptionStrategyResilience