Supply chain risk management to achieve healthcare supply chain operational excellence: a fsQCA and PLS-SEM approach

Abstract

Purpose Healthcare supply chains (HCSCs) face severe challenges when compared to regular chains. Besides avoiding bankruptcy, they must accomplish their goal which is to save lives. Since 2019 the COVID-19 pandemic evidenced that a HCSC disruption generates disruptions to other SCs. Therefore, the objective of this paper is threefold: conduct a systematic literature review to build a HCSC operational excellence (HSCOE) definition; build a conceptual framework by mapping the antecedents of HSCOE and formulate hypotheses; test the hypotheses using a fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) combined with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) techniques to obtain empirical validation. Design/methodology/approach Given this context, this paper conducted a systematic literature review to build a HSCOE conceptual framework and used a fsQCA combined with PLS-SEM techniques to obtain empirical validation. Findings The paper revealed a relationship between important variables to achieve HSCOE, such as Supply chain 4.0, SC risk management, SC integration, SC resilience (antecedents) and HSCOE (consequent). Originality/value The literature contributions of this paper are as follows: validating a new scale for each of the constructs; finding evidence of the causal relationships between the latent variables; measuring how the constructs influence the HSCOE; in addition, the results address important literature gaps identified by researchers and serve as a guide to organizations that need to implement these practices. Furthermore, this study recommends that HCSC managers consider the implementation of robust initiatives concerning the latent variables presented in this work.

Confirmation of a measurement model for hospital supply chain resilience

“…Hospital supply chain faces increasing vulnerability due to a range of disruptive events, including sudden shortages of raw materials, production halts, and unforeseen public health crises ( 1 , 2 ). These disruptions not only jeopardize the stability and security of the supply chain to provide the medication and equipment used by patients, but also pose significant risks to the quality of healthcare services and patient safety ( 3 ). As a strategic approach to mitigate the adverse effects of disruptions, the resilience of supply chain become heightened in recent years, particularly in the wake of global disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic ( 4 , 5 ).…”