PurposeThe recent pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly impacted the operational performances of pharmaceutical supply chains (SCs), especially in emerging economies that are critically vulnerable due to their inadequate resources. Finding the possible barriers that continue to impede the sustainable performance of SCs in the post-COVID-19 era has become essential. This study aims to investigate and analyze the barriers to achieving sustainability in the pharmaceutical SC of an emerging economy in a bid to help decision-makers recognize the most influential barriers.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the goals, two decision-making tools are integrated to analyze the most critical barriers: interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and the matrix of cross-impact multiplications applied to classification (MICMAC). In contrast to other multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches, ISM develops a hierarchical decision tool for decision-makers and cluster analysis of the barriers using the MICMAC method based on their driving and dependency powers.FindingsThe findings reveal that the major barriers are in a four-level hierarchical relationship where “Insufficient SC strategic plans to ensure agility during crisis” acts as the most critical barrier, followed by “Poor information structure among SC contributors,” and “Inadequate risk management policy under pandemic.” Finally, the MICMAC analysis validates the findings from the ISM approach.Originality/valueThis study provides meaningful insights into barriers to achieving sustainability in pharmaceutical SCs in the post-COVID-19 era. The study can help pharmaceutical SC practitioners to better understand what can go wrong in post-COVID-19, and develop actionable strategies to ensure sustainability and resilience in practitioners' SCs.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has taught global businesses that a pandemic can put business dynamics in unforeseeable turbulence. The disruptions created by the pandemic in the apparel industry exposed the vulnerabilities of apparel supply chains (SCs). To recover the supply chain impacts (SCIs) during an unprecedented event such as the COVID-19 pandemic, apparel SCs need a robust framework that can identify, measure, and mitigate the severity of SCIs by assessing effective mitigation strategies. This study identifies 12 critical SCIs in apparel SCs during a pandemic and 17 mitigation strategies. To assess SCIs and mitigation strategies, a modified grey-based bi-level analytical network process (ANP) is proposed to deal with the complex relationship between the SCIs and mitigation strategies. A real-life case study is conducted from an apparel supply chain for validation purposes. The findings suggest that policymakers in apparel SCs should prioritize implementing government policies and financial aid to deal with increased material and operational costs, the sudden surge in the unemployment rate, cancellation of orders and delayed payment, and increased transportation costs during a pandemic. This study also contributes to the literature by providing a robust decision-making framework for practitioners to deal with the complexity of SCs during future pandemics.