Getting back into the swing of things: The adaptive path of purchasing and supply management in enhancing supply chain resilience

Guest Editorial: A purchasing and supply management view of supply resilience for better crisis response

“…Second, compared with previous studies, the literature since COVID-19 has emphasized the importance of PSM organizations (in private and public sectors) as the leader of such practices ( Dube et al, 2022 ; Silva and Ruel, 2022 ; Küffner et al, 2022 ). Accordingly, specific models and best practices are suggested to ensure their successful implementation ( Kaur and Singh, 2022 ).…”

“… Küffner et al (2022) , in their article “Getting back into the swing of things: the adaptive path of purchasing and supply management in enhancing supply chain resilience,” study the response measures applied by PSM to enhance SCR. Using expert interview data from original equipment manufacturers and first-tier suppliers in the German automotive industry, they identify three waves of measures: initial measures when the disruption first occurs, temporary measures during the disruption, and post-disruption measures.…”

“…From an operational perspective, these SR capabilities are built through the risk management practices implemented by suppliers and buyers. Studies published since COVID-19 (i.e., Sturm et al, 2021 ; Choksy et al, 2022 ; Dube et al, 2022 ; Küffner et al, 2022 ; Meyer et al, 2022 ; Raj et al, 2022 ; Spieske et al, 2022b ) suggest that SR practices can be classified through the lens of resource dependency theory to face a crisis, rather than compare proactive vs. reactive practices. Such a classification is made according to (1) whether the practices strengthen existing supply chain relationships (i.e., bridging) or establish new relationships (i.e., buffering) and (2) whether they are short-term (i.e., temporary) or long-term (i.e., permanent) orientated.…”

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Fig. 5 Classification of SR practices during crises (authors' elaboration based on Sturm et al, 2021 ; Choksy et al, 2022 ; Dube et al, 2022 ; Küffner et al, 2022 ; Meyer et al, 2022 ; Raj et al, 2022 ; Spieske et al, 2022b ).

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A review of research on supply chain adaptability: Opening the black box

“…The term “adapt” is used to describe supply chain resilience in at least 21 studies in the baseline sample (e.g., Pettit et al., 2013; Hosseini & Barker, 2016; Pournader et al., 2016; Ali et al., 2017; Beheshtian et al., 2018; Stone & Rahimifard, 2018; Adobor & McMullen, 2018; de Sá et al., 2020; Pereira et al., 2020; Azadegan & Dooley, 2021; Dubey et al., 2021; Novak et al., 2021; Küffner et al., 2022). Challenging the equilibrium‐based definition of resilience as the ability to bounce back after a disruption, Wieland and Durach (2021) ask, “Would it not, in fact, seem more intuitive to call the adaptability and transformability of the supply chain to new conditions ‘resilience,’ rather than the rigid and often expensive attempt to keep the supply chain in a fixed state?” (p. 318).…”