Management strategies for supply risk dependencies: empirical evidence from the gulf region

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual model for managing supply risk (SR) dependencies in regional supply networks (SNs). Grounded on resource dependency theory (RDT), the research conceptualises the management of SR as buffering and bridging strategies that enable organisations to redefine their SN to cope with SR and as a three-stage transformation mechanism.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>Four supply failure case studies from the aluminium and the oil and gas industries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region inductively provide empirical insights for a revised conceptual framing. Within and cross case analysis on transcribed semi-structured interviews with 11 SN managers focus on the SRs and dependencies associated with the supply failures and an abstraction of risk management (RM) strategies for coping with these failures.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The analysis finds that underpinning ‘second-order’ buffering and bridging strategies from RDT are four main ‘first-order’ RM strategies: unit independency, organisational adaptation, network reconfiguration and environmental acceptance. These RM strategies are due to controllability and predictability levels that influence investment in RM and reflect the locations for implementing RM practices, i.e. the business unit, the organisation, the SN and the environment.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>The article contributes to research through the conceptual framework of SR dependencies and unique insights on SR management within the GCC region. Practically, the research is novel in offering strategic directions for RM evaluations and investments that reflect the controllability and predictability of risk incidents. Such evaluations are potentially valuable in orchestrating regional SNs, for managing GCC companies in global supply chains, and for strategic decisions to expand or outsource to the GCC region.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Improving resilience of the healthcare supply chain in a pandemic: Evidence from Europe during the COVID-19 crisis

“…Moreover, we applied the RDT towards studying SCRES in a pandemic setting and empirically confirmed the theories' suitability for research in unpredicted supply environments ( Al-Balushi and Durugbo, 2020 ). Based on our findings, we can acknowledge that different governance mechanisms can help companies to cope with such a challenging situation ( Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978 ).…”

“…Both approaches can be simultaneously applied to manage dependencies in an individual relationship ( Al-Balushi and Durugbo, 2020 ). Moreover, Manhart et al (2020) showed that firms leveraging both buffering and bridging strategies to manage their resource dependencies achieve higher firm performance.…”

Managing regional logistics in times of crisis: a COVID-19 case study

“…Studies of RLM in times of normality suggest the adoption of intra-and inter-regional strategies for economic development and environmental sustainability with goals of boosting operational resilience (Durugbo et al, 2020b). The RLM focus on crisis in this study is unique and reflects recent crisis-driven challenges within studies of cross-functional integration (Poberschnigg et al, 2020), high reliability organisations (Sawyerr and Harrison, 2019), logistics service network design (Dufour et al, 2018), and supply risk dependencies in supply networks (Al-Balushi and Durugbo, 2020).…”

“…RLM offers an on-going and contemporary focus for management scholarship, yet there are limited studies exploring conventional RLM strategy (e.g. Al-Balushi and Durugbo, 2020;Demirbag et al, 2020) and far fewer studies concentrating on RLM strategy in times of crisis. Additionally, a scrutiny of the HLSC literature suggests a gap in knowledge on RLM and potential priorities that underpin crisis-driven RLM strategies for HLSCs.…”

Getting back into the swing of things: The adaptive path of purchasing and supply management in enhancing supply chain resilience

“…In doing so, bridging—as opposed to buffering, which occurs outside of a supplier relationship—aims to mitigate uncertainty through cross-border measures such as sharing of information, joining an alliance, or further strategies that enhance the power of a buyer in a relationship ( Bode et al, 2011 ). Both strategies can be used in parallel to manage dependencies in one relationship ( Al-Balushi and Durugbo, 2020 ).…”