Forming post-COVID supply chains: does supply chain managers' social network affect resilience?

Abstract

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.

Impact of supply chain digitalization on supply chain resilience and performance: A multi-mediation model

“…Global complex supply chain networks are intertwined and interdependent, making them more vulnerable to risk and uncertainty. Disruption at a supply chain node involving only a few companies can generate a ripple effect and result in the paralysis of the entire supply chain ( Nikookar and Yanadori, 2022 ). In the current business environment, where the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic exacerbates uncertainty, and most businesses are unprepared, companies no longer limit their operational objectives to cost efficiency but also focus on improving their ability to cope with supply chain disruptions ( Cappelli and Cini, 2020 ; Ivanov and Dolgui, 2020 ).…”

Guest editorial: The “new normal”: rethinking supply chains during and post-COVID-19 global business environment

“…After several rounds of revisions, four papers were accepted for this special issue. These are authored by, in alphabetical order, Acar et al (2022), Mariappan et al (2022), Nikookar and Yanadori (2022) and Spieske et al (2022). A total of 15 authors contributed to these four papers who are affiliated with institutions from six countries, namely Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan and Turkey.…”

“…Two of the papers are co-authored representing two countries, namely Australia–Japan and India–France. Accepted articles employed several research methodologies, including a questionnaire survey (Nikookar and Yanadori, 2022; Spieske et al , 2022), secondary or archival data (Mariappan et al , 2022), and a case study (Acar et al , 2022). An analysis of the keywords deployed by the authors show that the accepted articles emphasised several keywords of which COVID-19, supply chain resilience and supply chain disruption were the most commonly deployed.…”

“…To increase flexibility, Nikookar and Yanadori (2022) in their article emphasised capability and capacity building in supply chains through people skills and social networking skills of supply chain managers. The decision-making patterns of supply chain managers and their decisions play an important role in addressing the disruptive impacts of COVID-19.…”

“…However, most of the extant literature failed to focus on manager-level roles and skills in dealing with supply chain resilience. Nikookar and Yanadori (2022) addressed how supply chain managers' pre-existing social capital skills can support decision-making during supply chain disruption and help organisations in developing resistance to new normal supply chains. The study shows that in addition to interfirm relationships, quality individual-level interpersonal relationships are important for supply chain resilience.…”