05/07/2023
Abstract:
In a time of increasingly frequent disruptions with a global pandemic being the latest crisis, supply chain resilience becomes a priority for most executives. The basic roadmap to supply chain resilience is well established and generally understood by managers, however, implementation and execution remain a challenge. This paper is one of the first to focus on the gap between the theoretical resilience strategies and the actual execution and implementation of those strategies. Interviews with a group of top-level supply chain executives from best-in-class companies were conducted to understand their experiences and perspectives. Seven common implementation challenges such as accentuated efficiency and resilience trade-offs, fragmentation of decision-making, or heterogeneity of supply chains are identified. An independent supply chain risk management function, strong relationships with suppliers and contract manufacturers, a hierarchical supply chain approach, and the use of disruptions as a catalyst for step changes are recommendations to overcome those challenges. The information gathered suggests that a one-size-fits-all approach for the company’s supply chain does not work.
The research is based on the following publications:
• Cohen, Morris A.; Cui, Shiliang; Doetsch, Sebastian; Ernst, Ricardo; Huchzermeier, Arnd; Kouvelis, Panos; Lee, Hau L.; Matsuo, Hirofumi; Tsay, Andy (2022a): JOM Forum – Bespoke Supply Chain Resilience: The Gap between Theory and Practice. Journal of Operations Management, 68(5), 515-531, and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/joom.1184
• Cohen, Morris A.; Cui, Shiliang; Doetsch, Sebastian; Ernst, Ricardo; Huchzermeier, Arnd; Kouvelis, Panos; Lee, Hau L.; Matsuo, Hirofumi; Tsay, Andy (2022b): Understanding Global Supply Chain & Resilience: Theory and Practice. In: Lee, Hau L.; Ernst, Ricardo; Huchzermeier, Arnd; Cui, Shiliang (Eds.): Creating Values with Operations and Analytics: A Tribute to the Contributions of Professor Morris Cohen. Springer Series in Supply Chain Management, 19, 287-311, and https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-08871-1_14
• Cohen, Morris A.; Cui, Shiliang; Doetsch, Sebastian; Ernst, Ricardo; Huchzermeier, Arnd; Kouvelis, Panos; Lee, Hau L.; Matsuo, Hirofumi; Tsay, Andy (2020): Putting Supply Chain Resilience Theory into Practise. Management and Business Review, forthcoming, and available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3742616
• Cohen, Morris A.; Cui, Shiliang; Doetsch, Sebastian; Ernst, Ricardo; Huchzermeier, Arnd; Kouvelis, Panos; Lee (2022): Why Operational Context
Matters: Realizing the Full Potential of Supply Chain Resilience Surveys. Supply Chain Management Review, November, 36-43, and https://www.scmr.com/article/realizing_the_full_potential_of_supply_chain_resilience_surveys
About the Speaker:
Prof. Arnd Huchzermeier holds a Ph.D. degree from the Wharton School, U.S., and a Dual MSc degree from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. He taught, among others, at Kobe University in Japan, the University of Chicago and the Wharton School in the U.S., and WHU’s Otto Beisheim School of Management located in Vallendar, Germany. He has published, among others, in Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Marketing Science, Operations Research, Production and Operations Management as well as California Management Review and Harvard Business Review. In addition, he is co-author of ten management books on management quality for industrial excellence, the variable takt principle, supply chain finance, and blockchain technology. His research interests focus, among others, on the Operations Management-Marketing Interface and Global Supply Risk Management. Presently, he acts as Department Editor for the managerial journal Management & Business Review and as Senior Editor of two areas for the academic journal Production and Operations Management. His research was awarded with international prizes, such as the INFORMS Franz Edelman Award, the EURO Management Science Strategic Innovation Prize and the Marketing Science Practice Prize. For years, he has been actively involved in academic initiatives by retailer-manufacturer associations at the national and international level. Presently, he teaches primarily e-commerce operations management and analytics courses to graduate and executive students.
