The magazine Supply Chain Management Review published the article “Realizing the full potential of supply chain resilience surveys”; authors are Professor Morris Cohen (The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania), Professor Shiliang (John) Cui and Professor Ricardo Ernst (McDonough School of Business of Georgetown University), Sebastian Dötsch und Prof. Dr. Arnd Huchzermeier, and Professor Panos Kouvelis (Olin Business School at Washington University of St. Louis).
Abstract
At a time when massive shocks such as the COVID pandemic and semiconductor chip shortages continue to disrupt supply chains around the world, multiple market research and consulting surveys have been conducted to identify supply chain resilience strategies. However, it is difficult for managers to develop actionable strategies based on findings from such surveys, because of a lack of context of the reported decisions and because the results are aggregated over multiple levels. In this article, we analyze how such surveys can be adjusted to reveal more differentiated findings. Two recommendations have been identified: Using the supply chain as the unit of observation and adding questions to understand the operational context of the supply chain. We then illustrate the recommended methodology with company examples.