A comparison of supply chain vulnerability indices for different categories of firms

Abstract

Given the high vulnerability of today's supply chains to disruptions, measuring and managing supply chain vulnerability has become critical. In the attempt to support practice in reducing supply chain vulnerability, we (1) discuss and define the concept of supply chain vulnerability and (2) measure and compare supply chain vulnerability for various categories of firms. Normal Accident Theory and High Reliability Theory provide the theoretical foundations for the empirical study, and graph modelling is the method used to construct a measure for supply chain vulnerability. The empirical data largely confirm that there is a negative relationship between supply chain vulnerability and supply chain performance, a positive relationship between structural categories (firm size and production type) and supply chain vulnerability, and a positive relationship between supply chain vulnerability and managerial categories (logistics importance, supply chain risk planning, and supply chain risk management).

Supply chain configuration conundrum: how does the pharmaceutical industry mitigate disturbance factors?

“…The trend towards outsourcing and in particular offshore manufacturing (Bhatnagar and Sohal, 2005;Peck, 2005;Zsidisin et al, 2005;Christopher and Holweg, 2011) has increased vulnerability to a range of disturbances such as hurricanes, earthquakes, political instability, etc. (Chopra andSodhi, 2004, 2014;Craighead et al, 2007;Ellis et al, 2011) and economic factors such as wage inflation in lower cost countries (Simchi-Levi, 2010;Wagner and Neshat, 2012). Pharmaceutical MNC supply chain vulnerability to disturbances was exposed by the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami that led to (among many other serious problems) interruptions in the supply of glycine, an ingredient for solid-dosage products and the gelatine used in soft gel capsules (Miller, 2011).…”

Exploring Supply Chain Risks Among Malaysian Automotive Smes

“…Regarding risk external to the firm but internal to the supply chain, previous researches revealed that quality of supplies received a greater deal of attention (Trkman & McCormack, 2009;Thun & Hoenig, 2011;Yong Lin & Li Zhou, 2011;Wagner & Neshat, 2012;Lockamy III & McCormack, 2012). Nevertheless, this study proves that only one of the case companies, the air-conditioner manufacturer, experienced this problem.…”

Entrepreneurial Resilience: Role of Policy Entrepreneurship in the Political Perspective of Crisis Management

“…To investigate this, more detailed analysis is presented starting with the consideration of disturbances caused by internal, company related vulnerability sources. Though Wagner and Neshat (2012) found that SMEs are less vulnerable than large companies, their findings indicate that SMEs are vulnerable. Moreover, they found that companies experience increased vulnerability when producing large series.…”

“…Some researchers found that SMEs' supply chains are less vulnerable in comparison with supply chains of large organizations (Wagner and Neshat, 2012), while others found that SMEs' supply chains are more vulnerable in comparison with supply chains of large organizations (Thun et al, 2011;Arend and Wisner, 2005). Differences in these findings can be explained by the existence of contextual factors that influence results.…”