Mitigating manifest supply chain disruptions

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand if organizations can leverage recovery/continuous improvement (RCI) capabilities and two competencies to mitigate manifest supply chain (SC) disruptions. Specifically, the authors examine how learning from previous experience and SC disruption-orientation affects organizations’ capability to recover/continuously improve once a SC disruption has manifested. In addition, knowing that organizational inertia likely exists during disruptions, the authors examine the mediating effects of routine rigidity on proposed relationships. Design/methodology/approach To determine how these antecedents impact an organization’s RCI capabilities, the authors collected survey data from 219 procurement managers and analyzed these records using structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicate that by fostering SC disruption-orientation and developing competencies to learn from previous experience, firms can enhance their RCI capabilities, which in turn improves operational performance. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate how routine rigidity mediates the positive effects these antecedents have on the RCI capabilities construct. Originality/value By developing these risk management (RM) tactics and managing routine rigidity, organizations broaden their continuous improvement capability, which enables practitioners to respond to and recover from manifest disruptions. When used in conjunction with other RM tactics, such as inventory and/or redundant capacity, organizations can address an array of disruption scenarios.

Pouring cement down one of your oil wells: Relationship between the supply chain disruption orientation and performance

“…Our findings extend those of Riley et al. (2019) and Yu et al. (2019) who find a positive association between supply chain disruption orientation and firm performances.…”

“…Thus, supply chain disruption oriented firms make market gains, leading to better economic performance. Our findings extend those of Riley et al (2019) and Yu et al (2019) who find a positive association between supply chain disruption orientation and firm performances. Hence, managers should develop a strong disruption orientation to enhance economic performance during a disruption.…”

“…Our findings extend those of Riley et al (2019) and Yu et al (2019) by addressing the mechanisms through which supply chain disruption orientation is related to firms' performances. Specifically, our findings suggest that managers should not expect economic performances improvement from the suppliers' disruption orientation in the short term as suppliers focus on the protection of their internal processes during a disruption such as the one created by a pandemic (Deloitte, 2020).…”

“…This leads to improved economic performance. In this vein, Riley et al (2019) reveal that supply chain disruption oriented companies have the capability to develop recovery and continuous capabilities, which improves firm's operational performance.…”

A reflection on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australian businesses: Toward a taxonomy of vulnerabilities

“…Contributing factors for building resilience in cluster 1: The first stream of business enablers includes the factors that allow firms to bolster their resilience to B2P vulnerability. In this context, the awareness of the business owners, customers, and employees to disruptive changes is a key success factor to enhance resilience [ 56 , 57 ]. This can be achieved through staff training [ 58 ], information sharing within firms (Mandal, 2017), and establishing repositories of knowledge obtained from previous disruptions [ 59 ].…”