Supply Chain Components Research Articles

A Hybrid Grey Decision Methodology in Social Sustainable Supplier Selection

In the past decade, sustainable supply chain management has received much attention from practitioners and academics due to the heightened emphasis on environmental, economic, and social sustainability by customers, for-profit and non-profit institutions, community organizations, legislation, and government oversight. Evaluating and selecting a suitable supplier is considered a critical choice, crucial in supply chain management. Social sustainability in the supplier selection process is an important factor that has not received sufficient attention from academicians. Social and societal challenges are increasingly impacting supply chains. To tackle this challenge in the agricultural section of nations with emerging economies, this study proposed a new methodology using Grey FUCOM (Full Consistency Method) and Gray PROMTHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation) methods for evaluating the social sustainability of wheat and barley seed production companies. This study assists seed users in identifying the most significant supplier selection criteria and one of the most effective suppliers for ecological sustainability throughout the supply chain while maintaining market competitiveness. The results demonstrated a consistent and dependable rating behavior about the weight coefficients of the criteria. Improving the procedures used to evaluate wheat and barley seed suppliers results in a healthier society. So, the proposed model can efficiently evaluate a critical component of the food supply chain in the early stages.

Modelling the roles of fourth-party logistics (4PL) on the improvements of supply chain stability of port logistics services: the case of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in China

This paper examines the challenges and significance of improving contractual cooperation within the supply chain of port logistics services in China. In the context of a port supply chain comprising port enterprises and shipping companies, contractual cooperation serves as a vital coordination mechanism for cost reduction, information sharing, and risk sharing. Additionally, fourth-party logistics providers (4PLs) play a crucial role in enhancing operational efficiency and overall stability. However, the limited rational behavior of individual firms poses challenges to the stability of contractual cooperation. To address these challenges, this study proposes a game model to analyze the evolution of contractual cooperation and identify key factors influencing stability. Practical recommendations are provided to enhance stability and promote the high-quality development of China's port logistics service supply chain. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the main components of China's port logistics service supply chain, advances the theory of shipping supply chain contracts, and supports China's aspiration to become a global maritime and shipping powerhouse while maximizing global utility.

A Multi-Layer blood supply chain configuration and optimization under uncertainty in COVID-19 pandemic

Blood is a rare and perishable substance, and a lack of inventory would cause the loss of lives. However, excessive donation or inappropriate management will cause blood waste and raise costs. In order to properly manage this valuable substance and prevent the shortage, it is necessary to integrate the various considerations into the supply chain and evaluate all the layers simultaneously. Moreover, uncertain conditions might exist in multiple components of a blood supply chain, such as blood donation and demand, as well as under human catastrophes, where the blood demand rises. In this paper, a multi-level blood supply chain network was designed under uncertain conditions, and disruption in COVID-19 was also considered. The proposed model tackled humanitarian factors such as selecting the most suitable locations and minimizing the amount of spoiled blood in the chain to cover all patients under COVID-19. The model was solved by elastic boundary objectives and modified weighted Chebyshev. After evaluating the suggested solution techniques, the TOPSIS algorithm was utilized to select the best approach. Then, the mathematical model and solution approach were validated in a real case study of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, several sensitivity analyses were performed to investigate the reaction of objective functions to changes in model parameters, and relevant insights were derived. The results showed that adding mobile blood facilities would mitigate the delivery time.

A short Literature Review on Sawlog and Pulpwood Transport Efficiency and Fuel Consumption

Timber transport is one of the main components of woody supply chain, which causes high costs and considerable emissions depending on truck size, type, transport distance, and payload. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of Softwood plantations and regrowth hardwood native forests estimated that the most significant contributor to total greenhouse emissions per unit of wood production in softwood plantation was log haulage at 37%. For regrowth native hardwood forests, log transportation contributed 23% of greenhouse gas emissions. This research, built on existing literature, focused on how timber harvesting transportation costs and emissions to the environment can be reduced, specifically, the transport of the industrial timber logs from the Forest Stockpile to the processing facility or unloading points. The review summarized the data and highlighted that the efficiency and emissions data could be categorized into five themes: Higher Capacity Transportation (HCT), Road Networks & Surfaces, Logistics and Planning, Fleet Replacement, and Fuel efficiency technologies. Fuel efficiency improvements across these themes ranged from 3% to 43% within the reviewed case studies. Several studies researched the fuel efficiency of High Capacity Transport indicated that the fuel consumption in liters per ton kilometer was 8-11% lower in the 92-tonne combination HCT compared to a 72-tonne combination HCT due to the increased payload for High Capacity Transport. Road networks and the composition of the surfaces have been shown to have a strong correlation to emissions. Studies have shown a 16.7% increase in emissions from a network of predominantly highways to a higher proportion of Forrest and Gravel roads. Studies that included data on vehicle age found efficiency improvements of up to 26% when new vehicles’ fuel consumption was compared to older vehicles. Newer truck fleets incorporate newer technologies, with reports showing fuel consumption improvements of up to 43% with less than a two-year payback period.

Decision-Making Techniques Based on q-Rung Orthopair Probabilistic Hesitant Fuzzy Information: Application in Supply Chain Financing

The influence of COVID-19 on individuals, businesses, and corporations is indisputable. Many markets, particularly financial markets, have been severely shaken and have suffered significant losses. Significant issues have arisen in supply chain networks, particularly in terms of financing. The COVID-19 consequences had a significant effect on supply chain financing (SCF), which is responsible for finance supply chain components and improved supply chain performance. The primary source of supply chain financing is financial providers. Among financial providers, the banking sector is referred to as the primary source of financing. Any hiccup in the banking operational systems can have a massive influence on the financing process. In this study, we attempted to comprehend the key consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic and how to mitigate COVID-19’s impact on Pakistan’s banking industry. For this, three extended hybrid approaches which consists of TOPSIS, VIKOR, and Grey are established to address the uncertainty in supply chain finance under q-rung orthopair probabilistic hesitant fuzzy environment with unknown weight information of decision-making experts as well as the criteria. The study is split into three parts. First, the novel q-rung orthopair probabilistic hesitant fuzzy (qROPHF) entropy measure is established using generalized distance measure under qROPHF information to determine the unknown weights information of the attributes. The second part consists of three decision-making techniques (TOPSIS, VIKOR, and GRA) in the form of algorithm to tackle the uncertain information under qROPHF settings. Last part consists of a real-life case study of supply chain finance in Pakistan to analyze the effects of emergency situation of COVID-19 on Pakistani banks. Therefore, to help the government, we chose the best alternative form list of consider five alternatives (investment, government support, propositions and brands, channels, and digital and markets segments) by using proposed algorithm that minimize the effect of COVID-19 on supply chain finance of Pakistani banks. The results indicate that the proposed techniques are applicable and effective to cope with ambiguous data in decision-making challenges.

Productivity and Quality Improvement by SCM in Textile and Apparel Industry - An Overview

Retailing, marketing, and merchandising in fibre production, yarn spinning, fabric manufacturing, wet processing, product distribution and disposal are coming under the textile manufacturing process. Any supply chain management consists of many deals such as money, goods, information, and services both inside and among different entities like suppliers, information processing, warehousing and customer dealing. India is one of the world’s few countries which works across the entire value chain process in the textile and apparel industry. Supply chain management in modern textile manufacturing is a crucial part. In the analysis of supply chain management, statistical techniques like factor analysis, structural equations, etc. are used. The three essential variants in the supply chain are such as push-pull chain, pull supply chains, and push/pull supply chains. Information is a major component of supply chain.

Dual-Layer Index for Efficient Traceability Query of Food Supply Chain Based on Blockchain.

Blockchain techniques have been introduced to achieve decentralized and transparent traceability systems, which are critical components of food supply chains. Academia and industry have tried to enhance the efficiency of blockchain-based food supply chain traceability queries. However, the cost of traceability queries remains high. In this paper, we propose a dual-layer index structure for optimizing traceability queries in blockchain, which consists of an external and an internal index. The dual-layer index structure accelerates the external block jump and internal transaction search while preserving the original characteristics of the blockchain. We establish an experimental environment by modeling the blockchain storage module for extensive simulation experiments. The results show that although the dual-layer index structure introduces a little extra storage and construction time, it significantly improves the efficiency of traceability queries. Specifically, the dual-layer index improves the traceability query rate by seven to eight times compared with that of the original blockchain.

EFFECT OF SOYBEAN UNAVAILABILITY SITUATTIONS AND COVID-19 ON THE POULTRY INDUSTRY OF PAKISTAN: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS PROBLEMS FACED AND ITS SOLUTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has had a profound impact on various production sectors worldwide, including agriculture. Poultry production, a critical component of the global food supply chain, is also not spared from the effects of pandemic. Soybean, a versatile and widely consumed crop, plays a crucial role in global food security and is a key player of feed and food industries, however, in recent years, soybean unavailability has become a growing concern. This review article aims to examine the reasons behind the limited availability of soybean and its effects on different stakeholders, including farmers, consumers, and industries. Through a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to soybean unavailability and the consequences of COVID-19 and soybean shortage on poultry production, this article provides insights into the implications for agricultural systems, exploring potential genes, sustainable marketing, and sustainable development of poultry products. Additionally, it provides insights into the future adaptation strategies implemented by farmers and stakeholders to mitigate such negative impacts to ensure sustainable production.

Developing a Decision Support System for Supply Chain Component

Developing a Decision Support System for Supply Chain Component

Identifying informed beliefs about hydrogen technologies across the energy supply chain

Developing a thriving hydrogen industry will depend on public and community support. Past research, mainly focusing on the acceptance of hydrogen fuelling stations and cars, suggests that people generally support hydrogen energy technology (HET). Few studies have, however, considered how people think about other components of the hydrogen supply chain (i.e., technologies required to make, store, transport and use hydrogen). Moreover, there has been limited research investigating how people interpret and develop beliefs about HET after being presented with technical information. This paper attempts to address these research gaps by presenting the findings from four face-to-face focus group discussions conducted in Australia. The findings suggest that people have differing views about HET, which depends on the type of technology, and these views influence levels of support. The study also revealed concerns about a range of other factors that have yet to be considered in hydrogen acceptance research (e.g., perceived water use, efficiency and indirect benefits). The findings highlight the value of qualitative research for identifying salient beliefs that shape attitudes towards HET and provide recommendations for future research and how to effectively communicate with the public and communities about an emerging hydrogen industry.

Economic Benefits of Integrating Supply Chain in the Electricity Sub-Sector in Kenya

Purpose: With a declining purchasing power, ravage by calamities and unfavourable political environment, the electricity sub-sector in Africa has witnessed dwindling fortunes in the recent past. Although average access to electricity in the region has been rising steadily, tariffs have been increasing while government tariffs subsidies have become unsustainable, forcing an introspection, to turn the tides. This article investigated the relationship between integrated logistics systems in supply chain management and business economic benefits in the electricity subsector in Kenya. The resource-based view theory of competitive advantage and the institutional theory of systems and structures were used to address the role of integrated logistics systems as a major driver of competitiveness in supply chain activities.
 Methodology: Descriptive research design and regression analysis were applied to ascertain the association between quality management practices, resource activation, and capability level on one hand and business economic benefits (BEB) in form of customer satisfaction, cost reduction, and cycle time reduction on the other.
 Findings: The results indicate that there is significant statistical relationship between integrated logistics systems and overall performance in the energy sub-sector in Kenya. Specifically; quality management practice, resource activation level and capability levels positively and significantly influence cycle time reduction; quality management practice and resource activation level positively and significantly influence quality of customer satisfaction in a firm's operations. The overall regression model is of the form: P =5065 + 604Q +155R +74C, where P is overall performance; Q is quality management practice; R is resource activation level and C is capability level. Therefore integrated logistics systems are an imperative component of supply chain as it accrues overall business economic benefits in, inventory management, customer satisfaction, and efficacy in business operations. Integrated logistics systems enhances a firm's competitiveness and facilitates the attainment of competitive advantage. Investing in integrated logistics systems should therefore be a top priority for firms keen on growth.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The research expands knowledge in the growing logistics and supply chain integration sphere in the service industry and beyond. It acts as a benchmark for further studies in the electricity subsector and other segments of the economy to inform policy and decision-making. The study calls for firms to embrace integrated logistics systems and invest in training and capacity building for its personnel to catalyze firm and customer value.

A novel multi-objective robust fuzzy stochastic programming model for sustainable agri-food supply chain: case study from an emerging economy

On the one hand, supply chain management of agri-food products under uncertain conditions has a significant impact on food security and, on the other hand, increases the profits of supply chain components. Moreover, considering the sustainability concepts leads to more social and environmental benefits. The present study investigates the canned food supply chain under uncertain conditions and sustainability concepts by considering strategic and operational decisions and different characteristics. The proposed model is a multi-echelon, multi-period, multi-product, multi-objective location-inventory-routing problem (LIRP) in which the vehicle fleet is considered heterogeneously. The objectives of this model are to (1) minimize costs, (2) minimize customer dissatisfaction, (3) maximize production throughput, and (4) maximize job opportunities. In this study, carbon cap and trade mechanism are used to minimize environmental damage. Robust fuzzy stochastic programming (RFSP) is employed to cope and control uncertainties. The multi-objective optimization problem is implemented on a real case and solved using the Torabi and Hassini (TH) method. The results of this study showed that with increasing confidence levels, the severity of the problem increased and the values of the objective functions worsened. Also, using the relative value of stochastic solution (RVSS) criterion demonstrated that the effect of utilizing the RFSP approach on the first and second objective functions was higher than that the nominal approach showed itself. Finally, sensitivity analysis is performed on two parameters: the selling price of products to foreign customers and the cost of purchasing products from farms. The results of this study showed that changing these two parameters had a significant effect on the first and second objective functions.

CONTRIBUIÇÕES DAS PRÁTICAS DE LOGÍSTICA REVERSA PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO SUSTENTÁVEL

Solid waste has a significant negative impact on the environment, also harming social development. Factors such as industrialization, urban population growth, rural exodus, and economic growth are the main factors that generate large volumes of this waste. Thus, the study aimed to analyze the relationship between Reverse Logistics, Circular Economy and sustainable development in Brazil, taking into account the international commitments that the country has assumed with an ecologically balanced environment. Methodologically, the study was developed from a literature review using virtual libraries. The results obtained indicate that reverse logistics has a strong relationship with the Circular Economy regarding the restoration and circularity of materials, and both are associated with sustainable development. In addition, the Circular Economy suggests that reverse logistics be thought of beyond the company's supply chain, and should not be restricted to waste collection and recycling actions in order to preserve the value as well as the usefulness of the material for as long as possible. possible. For this reason, it is necessary to have a holistic approach to reverse logistics, considering that it is a possible driving force for the circularity of the four components of the circular supply chain and the processes of sustainable development, enabling the Circular Economy.

The European Solar Communication—Will It Pave the Road to Achieve 1 TW of Photovoltaic System Capacity in the European Union by 2030?

The urgency of a clean energy transition in the European Union is now not only driven by concerns about climate change, but also by using local renewable energy resources to reduce the dependency on foreign energy imports. Solar photovoltaic electricity generation is acknowledged as one of the pillars of this transition and various policy measures were implemented over the last two years to not only accelerate the deployment of solar photovoltaic electricity generation systems, but also to rebuild a competitive solar value chain in Europe to hedge against solar photovoltaic component supply chain disruptions. However, the current political ambitions still do not pay sufficient attention to the importance of solar photovoltaics as a major contributor to the necessary future renewable energy supply. According to the market trend between 2017 and 2022, the currently average EU installed capacity of 474.55 Wp/capita will not reach the necessary 2246 Wp/capita or 1 TWp target by 2030. At the moment, only seven member states have an installed capacity per capita higher than the average EU value.

CONCEPT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY: ADVANTAGES, PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

An important concept in the operation of logistics transport systems is logistics customer service. This concept is based on the overall scope of the supply chain. Traditionally, it has been difficult for supply chain components to define their role in the overall customer service provided to end users. However, there is a growing trend towards greater awareness of their role not only in relation to trading partners but also to the end customer. The logistics industry is responsible for the transportation and storage of goods. Improving customer service in the logistics industry can have many benefits. Better customer service can lead to higher levels of satisfaction, repeat business and recommendations. It can also lead to increased efficiency and lower costs. A well-run logistics operation depends on satisfied customers. When customers are satisfied with the service, they are more likely to use the same company again and recommend it to others. Improving customer service can also lead to increased efficiency and lower costs. By optimizing service operations, logistics companies can increase profitability by providing excellent service. Logistics customer service is an important part of the logistics industry. Customers entrust their shipments to a logistics service and expect to receive excellent service. Quality customer service is seen as a way to create loyal customers and keep them coming back, so this issue is relevant for logistics business. The article defines the process of customer service in logistics, describes the stages of logistics service. The importance of improving customer service in the field of logistics is analyzed and tips for its improvement are given. Problems in logistics customer service are identified and ways to determine customer service satisfaction are proposed. The benefits of improving customer service and ways to create a positive customer experience are described. Customer service is extremely important in the world of logistics because of the highly synchronized and detailed planning and execution that is required to operate on a global scale. Improving customer service in the logistics industry can have many benefits. There are many reasons to focus on customer service, from increasing customer satisfaction to reducing costs. By following the developed tips, it is possible to improve the quality of service in the logistics business and ensure the company's competitiveness.

Governance for Health: A Critical, but Poorly Understood, Health System Component

The paper by Bernal-Sundiang et al.1 in this issue of Acta Medica Philippina provides one of the more extensive and in-depth empirical discussion of governance in the health sector. Utilizing data collected over a one-year period as part of the Philippine Primary Care Studies in urban, rural, and remote settings, the authors reported on challenges their team encountered in project implementation as it relates to leadership and governance. One strength of the paper is that it situates leadership and governance as a health system keystone that links to all the other components of infrastructure and supply chains, information system, health workforce, financing, and stakeholder engagement, and monitoring and evaluation. This harks back to the framework posited in the World Health Report 20002, highlighting the interaction between governance and the other system elements.Despite this critical role of governance, however, it has been characterized as being poorly understood, and often difficult to operationalize, not least because of poor capacities of different institutions and actors to bring to the fore the good governance agenda.3 For instance, it has been suggested that good governance, regardless of the sector, is “accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive, effective and efficient, participatory, consensus-oriented and follows the rule of law.”4This characterization assumes the existence of traditions and institutions that places the common good front and center, something which may not be present, if not willfully disregarded, in many jurisdictions. Another set of related buzzwords for governance is that it entails a “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approaches, which means the mobilization of public agencies,on the one hand, and private sector and civil society organizations, on the other, towards the realization of shared goals.5 Aside from the need for conceptual and operational clarity on these two terms, the reality of token participation and siloed working environments remain barriers to achieving true multisectoral approaches in health and other areas.Relatedly, I wish to bring to the discussion one insight from our case study of tuberculosis program implementation.6 In this research, we identified facilitating and hindering factors to the successful implementation of the tuberculosis prevention and control program in cities and municipalities, and we posited that these factors were rooted in a common source of governance for health. We further extended the argument by stating that focusing on the local chief executive as the responsible entityfor good governance is a myopic view of the issue as it only covers the levels that can be labelled as “broader governance environment” and “public policies.”7 The more fine-grained institutional or sectoral governance is within the ambit of the local health officer, while what we propose to refer to as “program-level” governance is the realm of the program coordinator. The scope and specificity of governance as exercised across these levels, and consequent access to precise information, differ, which highlights the shared responsibility of these three principal actors at the local level in so far as exercise of good governance is concerned.Good governance in health has been an aspirational goal for many decades, and was identified as an important constituent in our quest for better health and sustainable development. The recommendations outlined by Bernal-Sundiang et al.1 provide a starting point on how we can gradually improve the health sector to come closer to this ambition. However, embedding good governance in institutions and society at large will be critical in sustaining such gains moving forward.
 Carl Abelardo T. Antonio, MD, MPHDepartment of Health Policy and AdministrationCollege of Public HealthUniversity of the Philippines Manila
 
 REFERENCES
 1. Bernal-Sundiang N, De Mesa RYH, Marfori JRA, Fabian NMC,Calderon YT, Dans LF, et al. Governance in primary care systems:Experiences and lessons from urban, rural, and remote settings inthe Philippines. Acta Med Philipp. 2023;57(3):5-16. doi: 10.47895/amp.vi0.48342. World Health Organization. The world health report 2000. Healthsystems: Improving performance [Internet]. Geneva: World HealthOrganization. 2020 Jun 14 [cited 2022 Nov 2]. Available from:https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/924156198X3. Brinkerhoff DW, Bossert TJ. Health governance: principal-agentlinkages and health system strengthening. Health Policy Plan. 2014Sep;29(6):685-93. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czs132.4. Kickbusch I, Gleicher D. Governance for health in the 21st century[Internet]. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe. 2012[cited 2022 Nov 2]. Available from: https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/171334/RC62BD01-Governance-for-HealthWeb.pdf5. Ortenzi F, Marten R, Valentine NB, Kwamie A, Rasanathan K.Whole of government and whole of society approaches: call forfurther research to improve population health and health equity.BMJ Glob Health. 2022 Jul;7(7):e009972. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh2022-009972.6. Antonio CAT, Guevarra JP, Medina PVN, Roxas EA, Cavinta LL,Manalo JA, et al. Facilitators and barriers to the implementationof selected local tuberculosis control programs in the Province ofLaguna, Philippines. Philipp J Sci. 2021 Dec;150(6A):1501-1506.7. Fryatt R, Bennett S, Soucat A. Health sector governance: shouldwe be investing more? BMJ Glob Health. 2017 Jul;2(2):e000343.doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000343.

Sustainability in Supply Chains through Rapid Capacity Increases and Minimized Disruptions

We examine the impediments to rapid recovery from a supply chain disruption through rapid supply chain growth in capacity. We explore how to minimize the effects of disruptions in supply chains that could be caused by pandemics, wars, supplier down times, absenteeism, distributor bottlenecks, etc. The tools we use include reliability theory, logic, simulation, and other methodologies. Our objective is to better understand supply chain disruptions and to propose solutions to the sustainability problems currently being experienced within supply chains. The authors use models to better comprehend how to avoid supply chain structures that are easily disrupted. Included among the findings are that disruptions cause the loss of production capacity; thus, the ability to rapidly increase production capacity in the same or other parts of the supply chain becomes paramount. Furthermore, structural redundancy can help alleviate the loss of capacity coming from a disruption. One purpose of the models is to foster a basic appreciation for the different lead times and fixed costs associated with capacity expansion of the various supply chain components. There are implications for where within the supply chain additional robustness and capacity are needed.

Circular Supply Chain: Situation and Implementation Solutions For Agricultural Products in Vietnam

Circular supply chains are suitable for many economic sectors from agricultural to industrial products. Currently, some localities in Vietnam have initially applied the circular supply chain to agricultural products, thereby creating many value-added products. This paper uses qualitative approach and the desk research to review systematically theories and publications related to circular supply chain. In addition, interviews were conducted with farmers, firms and local authorities in agricultural farming areas in Vietnam such as Son La, Phu Tho, Ha Noi, Ha Nam, Can Tho, Tien Giang, Gia Lai for collecting information about current situation of agricultural supply chain according to fundamental components of a circular supply chain. Two case studies of Musa Pacta and Minh Tien were analyzed as representatives of current agricultural circular supply chain in Vietnam. Based on collected data and the two examples, the paper proposed recommendations to enhance circular supply chain management in various agricultural segments.

System Dynamics Modeling for Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Supply Chains: A Case Study of Kenya and Rwanda

Disruptions in the food supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have destabilized the balance between production, supply, transport, distribution, and consumption. Consequently, these disruptions have affected food and nutritional security all over the world. This study proposes a framework for investigating the impact of COVID-19 on food supply chains, considering Eastern Africa as a focus region with Kenya and Rwanda as case studies. A systems thinking approach with three systemic components (food and nutrition, COVID-19 contagion, and human health) was applied. The contagion component was characterized by the susceptible, exposed, infected, recovered, and deceased (SEIRD) epidemiological modeling method. We then applied a causal loop diagram and stock and flow diagrams to map the links and interactions between variables from the contagion, health, and food supply chain components of the whole system. The results reveal that COVID-19 has adversely affected food and nutritional security in Eastern African countries. Key response measures to COVID-19 such as lockdowns, closure of borders, isolation, and quarantining have resulted in labor shortages, increased unemployment rates, loss of income, and the subsequent contraction of economies. The disruption of the food supply chain has negatively impacted the main pillars of food and nutrition security, which are availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability. We suggest direct food supply from local producers to the consuming communities to shorten the food supply chain and therefore enhance food self-sufficiency to reduce the severe effects of COVID-19 on food and nutrition security. Overall, our study provides a useful framework to help design better policies and build more resilient and inclusive food systems during COVID-19 and similar pandemics in the future.

Effect of integration capabilities with channel distributors on supply chain agility in emerging markets: an institution-based view perspective

PurposeWith emerging markets representing great growth opportunities and serving as indispensable components in the global supply chain, it is unclear how well modern supply chain management theories developed in advanced markets apply to emerging markets. This study integrates the institution-based view with supply chain management literature to examine how integration capabilities can be leveraged to achieve supply chain agility in emerging markets and how the efficacy of integration capabilities is shaped by internal and external institutional contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines how firms in emerging markets can leverage their platform integration and knowledge integration capabilities with channel distributors to improve the supply chain agility and how such relationships are shaped by both the internal (proxy by ownership structure) and external (proxy by regional openness) institutional contexts in which firms operate. Survey and archival data collected from 207 firms operating in China, one of the largest emerging markets, were used to test the proposed research model.FindingsThe results reveal that platform integration and knowledge integration are two driving forces for supply chain agility in the emerging markets. Moreover, the results indicate that state-owned firms are able to achieve higher supply chain agility from their investments in knowledge integration with channel distributors than non-state-owned firms. While firms in regions with a high level of openness enjoy higher supply chain agility from knowledge integration, firms in regions with a low level of openness can catch up by investing in platform integration with their channel distributors.Originality/valueThe authors extend the extant study on supply chain integration (SCI) research to examine how operational and strategic integration with channel distributors can help the focal firm achieve supply chain agility in emerging markets. The study results also enrich the existing studies in emerging markets by revealing the importance of the institutional context in which firms operate on B2B channel management.