AI technologies and their impact on supply chain resilience during COVID-19

Abstract

PurposeCOVID-19 has pushed many supply chains to re-think and strengthen their resilience and how it can help organisations survive in difficult times. Considering the availability of data and the huge number of supply chains that had their weak links exposed during COVID-19, the objective of the study is to employ artificial intelligence to develop supply chain resilience to withstand extreme disruptions such as COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachWe adopted a qualitative approach for interviewing respondents using a semi-structured interview schedule through the lens of organisational information processing theory. A total of 31 respondents from the supply chain and information systems field shared their views on employing artificial intelligence (AI) for supply chain resilience during COVID-19. We used a process of open, axial and selective coding to extract interrelated themes and proposals that resulted in the establishment of our framework.FindingsAn AI-facilitated supply chain helps systematically develop resilience in its structure and network. Resilient supply chains in dynamic settings and during extreme disruption scenarios are capable of recognising (sensing risks, degree of localisation, failure modes and data trends), analysing (what-if scenarios, realistic customer demand, stress test simulation and constraints), reconfiguring (automation, re-alignment of a network, tracking effort, physical security threats and control) and activating (establishing operating rules, contingency management, managing demand volatility and mitigating supply chain shock) operations quickly.Research limitations/implicationsAs the present research was conducted through semi-structured qualitative interviews to understand the role of AI in supply chain resilience during COVID-19, the respondents may have an inclination towards a specific role of AI due to their limited exposure.Practical implicationsSupply chain managers can utilise data to embed the required degree of resilience in their supply chains by considering the proposed framework elements and phases.Originality/valueThe present research contributes a framework that presents a four-phased, structured and systematic platform considering the required information processing capabilities to recognise, analyse, reconfigure and activate phases to ensure supply chain resilience.

Investigating the relationship between digital technologies, supply chain integration and firm resilience in the context of COVID-19

“…IPT advocates that organizations have two strategies, reducing information processing needs and improving information processing capacity, which can be used to support decision making in times of uncertainty (Galbraith, 1973 ). IPT has been widely used in operations and supply chain management studies (Qrunfleh & Tarafdar, 2014 ; Fan et al, 2017 ), it and has the potential to explain the effect of supply chain disruption on the development of firm resilience during COVID-19 because the uncertainty of interference boosts the demand for information processing (Modgil et al, 2021 ; Dubey et al, 2021 ).…”

“…(Dubey et al, 2021 ). Existing research on resilience based on IPT has indicated that identifying and integrating information needs and developing information processing capabilities play inestimable roles in embedding a high degree of resilience in firm operations (Modgil et al, 2021 ). In addition, customer integration, supplier integration and internal integration further reduce information processing requirements and enhance information processing capabilities through information management across functional departments and beyond organizational boundaries.…”

Strategic drivers to overcome the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for ensuring resilience in supply chains

“…Azadegan and Dooley ( 2021 ) asserted that for supply network resilience, existing literature focused on private or micro-level collaborations. In addition, Modgil et al ( 2021 ) examined AI’s role in enhancing supply chain resilience through distribution capabilities, risk sourcing, and developing visibility. Thus, we propose the following propositions based on our findings and support literature.…”

Toward a resilient supply chain model: critical role of knowledge management and dynamic capabilities

“…Supply chain resilience has been defined as "the adaptive capability of the supply chain to prepare for unexpected events, respond to disruptions and recover from them by maintaining continuity of operations at desired levels of connectedness and control over structure and function" (Ponomarov and Holcomb, 2009). This concept has received considerable scholarly attention in recent times (Modgil et al, 2022;G€ olgeci and Kuivalainen, 2020;Bag et al, 2019;Ali and G€ olgeci, 2019;Cheng and Lu, 2017). A group of scholars in this domain has identified several enablers/antecedents that can enhance firms' capabilities (Teece, 2018) in developing supply chain resilience such as visibility, collaboration (J€ uttner and Maklan, 2011), absorptive capacity (G€ olgeci and Kuivalainen, 2020) and supply chain reengineering (Gonz alez-Zapatero et al, 2021) to name but a few.…”

“…Supply chain resilience has been defined as “ the adaptive capability of the supply chain to prepare for unexpected events, respond to disruptions and recover from them by maintaining continuity of operations at desired levels of connectedness and control over structure and function ” (Ponomarov and Holcomb, 2009) . This concept has received considerable scholarly attention in recent times (Modgil et al. , 2022; Gölgeci and Kuivalainen, 2020; Bag et al.…”