When one size must fit all : how a large MNC centralized its purchasing

In a world where customization has become commonplace, can companies still standardize their purchasing practices? The increasingly complicated and globalized nature of supply base suggests that standardization may not be so easy to implement. This article delineates how a European-based multinational corporation (MNC) implemented a common supplier segmentation initiative and established improved control over the purchasing operations of its globally dispersed divisions. The article identifies four contextual factors that contributed to the lack of synergy and describes how a “one-size-fits-all” supplier segmentation model helped the MNC to standardize its procurement efforts

Supply chain involvement in business continuity management: effects on reputational and operational damage containment from supply chain disruptions

Purpose Does internal integration extend to business continuity and to managing supply chain disruptions (SCDs)? Despite the voluminous literature on supply chain integration, evidence on its effectiveness on risk management and disruption response is scant. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of business continuity management (BCM) and of supply chain involvement in BCM (SCiBCM) on reputational and operational damage containment in the face of SCDs. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on Simons’ Levers of Control framework to explain how the involvement of supply chain in BCM affects firm capabilities in containing damages caused by major SCDs. The authors develop and test hypotheses by analyzing large-scale questionnaire responses from 448 European companies. Findings Results of the data analysis suggest that BCM improves reputational damage containment, whereas SCiBCM improves operational damage containment. The findings also show that the significant effects of BCM and SCiBCM on reputational and operational damage containment, respectively, were amplified for the firms facing higher supply chain vulnerability. Post-hoc analysis further reveals the complementarity effect between BCM and SCiBCM for the companies exposed to high supply chain vulnerability. Originality/value Evidence on the effects of BCM and its internal integration on performance is limited. This study offers empirical evidence on the topic. Also, while supply chain integration can improve information sharing and coordination, some may not fully recognize its potential benefits in addressing SCDs. This study theoretically and empirically demonstrates the role played by internal integration, in the form of SCiBCM, in improving organizational damage containment efforts

Learning from near-miss events: an organizational learning perspective on supply chain disruption response

Studying near-miss events – occasions when a company comes close to being negatively impacted – can help identify systemic issues and thereby enhance organizational resilience. However, what is not known is how firms learn from near-miss events, and how their learning is translated into response strategies in the face of supply chain disruptions. In this study, we address the following research questions - How does exposure to near-misses reflect in organizational response strategies to supply chain disruptions? Using single and double-loop learning from organizational learning theory, we examine how firms implement response strategies based on near-miss events. In addition, we examine the moderating effects of institutional pressures (from regulatory bodies and industry associations) into the model. We test the hypotheses using responses from 448 organizations in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. Our results indicate that exposure to near-miss events leads firms to strengthen their focus on procedural response strategies and to lower their focus on flexible response strategies. Industry pressure furthers the effects of near-miss exposure in applying procedural strategies and limiting the application of flexible strategies. Regulatory pressure furthers the effects of near-miss exposure in limiting the application of flexible strategies. This study extends the body of supply chain disruption management to the concept of near-misses and explains how institutional context play a major role in learning of supply chain disruption responses

Emerging technologies in emergency situations (guest editorial)

While scholars have identified the coordination mechanisms needed to provide a synchronised response to emergency situations such as natural disasters (Holguín‐Veras et al., 2012; Oloruntoba & Gray, 2006; van Wassenhove, 2006), the processes required to deploy emerging technologies during such situations had received limited attention (Dubey et al., 2020; Queiroz et al., 2020; Remko, 2020). Moreover, while recent scholarly work has considered the importance of organisational and dynamic capabilities in developing industry 4.0 technologies (Roscoe et al., 2019; Xu et al., 2018), the significance of fostering capabilities for the deployment of emerging technologies in emergency situations is under-researched (de Giovanni, 2019; Koh et al., 2019; Sarkis, 2012). More specifically, the scale of disruption caused by COVID-19 has amplified the challenges presented by natural and man-made disasters, increasing the need for new strategies, capabilities, and creativity in responding to emergency situations (Ivanov, 2020; Remko, 2020; Schleper et al., 2021). The aim of this special issue is to understand how organizations and their supply chain partners can build the capabilities and coordination mechanisms required to deploy and utilise emerging technologies in emergency situations. The special issue intends to stimulate a debate among academic scholars, practitioners, and government representatives on the latest advances in emerging technologies and their application in the context of natural and man-made disasters as well as disease outbreaks such as COVID-19