Supply chain involvement in business continuity management: effects on reputational and operational damage containment from supply chain disruptions

Abstract

Purpose Does internal integration extend to business continuity and to managing supply chain disruptions (SCDs)? Despite the voluminous literature on supply chain integration, evidence on its effectiveness on risk management and disruption response is scant. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of business continuity management (BCM) and of supply chain involvement in BCM (SCiBCM) on reputational and operational damage containment in the face of SCDs. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on Simons’ Levers of Control framework to explain how the involvement of supply chain in BCM affects firm capabilities in containing damages caused by major SCDs. The authors develop and test hypotheses by analyzing large-scale questionnaire responses from 448 European companies. Findings Results of the data analysis suggest that BCM improves reputational damage containment, whereas SCiBCM improves operational damage containment. The findings also show that the significant effects of BCM and SCiBCM on reputational and operational damage containment, respectively, were amplified for the firms facing higher supply chain vulnerability. Post-hoc analysis further reveals the complementarity effect between BCM and SCiBCM for the companies exposed to high supply chain vulnerability. Originality/value Evidence on the effects of BCM and its internal integration on performance is limited. This study offers empirical evidence on the topic. Also, while supply chain integration can improve information sharing and coordination, some may not fully recognize its potential benefits in addressing SCDs. This study theoretically and empirically demonstrates the role played by internal integration, in the form of SCiBCM, in improving organizational damage containment efforts.

COVID-19 pandemic related supply chain studies: A systematic review

“…With such strategies in place and supply chains’ involvement in business continuity management ( Azadegan et al, 2020b ) and relevant business continuity programs ( Azadegan et al, 2020a ), supply chains can contain the damage of disruptions. However, in formulating the strategies, these studies mostly ignored complexity in supply chain network structures and investigated disruptions and network structure separately; hence, the disruption-structure-interfaces remain unclear ( Bier et al, 2020 ).…”

Sustainable supply chain management towards disruption and organizational ambidexterity: A data driven analysis

“… Jajja et al, 2017 , Jonsson et al, 2011 , Nooraie et al, 2020 , O'Reilly and Tushman, 2013 , Saenz et al, 2015 , Yusuf et al, 2019 , Aslam et al, 2018 , Azad et al, 2014 , Azadegan et al, 2020 , Baghalian et al, 2013 , Chen et al, 2020 , Chen et al, 2017 , Chowdhury et al, 2019 , Dubey et al, 2019 , Jabbarzadeh et al, 2016 , Sharma et al, 2020 , Shekarian et al, 2020 , Sreedevi and Saranga, 2017 , Esmaeilikia et al, 2016 , Gligor et al, 2016 , Heracleous and Werres, 2016 …”

A Typology of Supply Network Resilience Strategies: Complex Collaborations in a Complex World

“…For instance, by advocating for all members of the vertical supply chain (upstream tier suppliers and downstream wholesalers and retailers) to implement industry standards for risk and resilience, companies can ensure that their partners will be as prepared as they are. Indeed, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has developed several standards related to risk management (ISO 31,000), organizational resilience (ISO22316), and BCM (ISO22301) (Azadegan, Syed, et al, 2020). Ensuring compliance by these requirements at the vertical (supply chain) and the horizontal (among competitors in the same tier of the chain) provides assurance that the proprietary supply network as a whole is better protected.…”

“…Through Business Impact Analysis, BCM allows firms to prioritize critical materials, suppliers, and customers. Recent empirical evidence suggests that BCM not only helps firms better prepare for crises, but it also offers firms a better understanding of their operation, which ultimately helps with improving financial and reputational performance (Azadegan, Mellat Parast, et al, 2020; Azadegan, Syed, et al, 2020). Finally, and equally important is adaptive resilience, or the ability to recognize the situation (situational awareness), decide, and promptly respond to the situation at hand.…”