Managing the supply chain during disruptions: Developing a framework for decision-making

Can anticipatory supply chain decision making manage the pandemic's effect? A regime switching game

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that stock outs of essential items like hand sanitizers, tissue papers and other items of hygiene and daily use have been characteristic of a supply chain, especially immediately following a pandemic wave. Consequently, retailers have to indulge in substantial supplier management efforts to ensure product availability during a pandemic wave. Using a piecewise deterministic differential game, we model a scenario where, while anticipating a pandemic wave, a supplier decides on product availability efforts to ensure product availability under the impending threat of stock outs. A market leader coordinating retailer, on the other hand, decides on the proportion of the costs of the efforts to be shared with the supplier.

COVID-19 research in management: An updated bibliometric analysis

The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the global economy as well as on the academic literature. Since early 2020, management researchers have made exceptional efforts to extend our understanding of the pandemic's effect on consumption, sourcing, the workplace, and corporate strategies. The present study uses a bibliometric design to analyze the extensive database of COVID-19 studies in management literature generated over a 2-year period. The analysis focused on the performance of research constituents, thematic analysis of the literature, categorization of the themes at a societal, organizational, and individual level, and finally, a deep analysis of future research calls in the body of literature.

Bouncing forward or bouncing back? How family firms enact resilience in times of crisis

Purpose

The study aims to develop theoretical understanding about how family-run businesses navigate unexpected and highly disruptive events by examining how family-based resilience capacity is variously transformed into an organizational capability.

Design/methodology/approach

The study relies on a qualitative comparative case study design to explore how Croatian family-run businesses navigated market and operational disruptions brought on by the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and organizational data, this study compares how family-run businesses operating in different industries experienced and coped with disruptions. Using inductive qualitative coding methods, patterns across codes were identified and aggregated into dimensions that describe two broad approaches for leveraging family social capital in the enactment of organizational resilience.

Findings

The analysis shows that family-run businesses may employ family social capital in retrospective and prospective ways. A retrospective approach involves targeted and conservative uses of family social capital, wherein the aim is to maintain organizational functioning and return to “business as usual”. In contrast, a prospective approach employs these resources in a more strategic and flexible way to adapt to a “new” future. While both approaches can enable firms to successfully navigate crises, these approaches differ in terms of their temporal orientation and implications for marketing flexibility.

Originality/value

The study contributes to a better understanding of how family social capital can be differentially leveraged in times of crises, and how these differences may stem from having temporal orientations that focus on either preserving the past or adapting to new conditions. The study advances theorizing at the intersection of organizational resilience and family business by deepening understanding of the heterogeneity of ways in which family businesses manage change for long-term business continuity. For owners and managers of family-run business, the study provides insights into how unexpected disruptions can be managed and how businesses might respond to fast-changing market conditions.

Digital technology deployment and firm resilience: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

Although many firms are aggressively deploying diverse digital technologies (DTs) at inter- and intra-organizational levels, not all firms have achieved the anticipated resilience, especially in the face of supply chain disruptions caused by “black swan” events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To demystify this phenomenon, we draw on the asset orchestration perspective to investigate how breadth (i.e., the scope) and depth (i.e., the scale) of DT deployment influence a firm's resilience to supply chain disruptions. Survey data from 162 Chinese manufacturing firms show that the depth of DT deployment exerts a positive effect on firm resilience. Interestingly, the breadth has a non-significant effect on firm resilience. Moreover, while the breadth and depth of DT deployment both enhance supply chain coordination, supply chain coordination mediates only the relationship between DT deployment depth and firm resilience. Finally, market acuity positively moderates the relationship between supply chain coordination and firm resilience. We contribute to the literature by providing new theoretical explanations for the inconsistency in the reported relationship between technology deployment and resilience. Our study also helps firms reevaluate their DT deployment.

Expanding into new product lines in response to COVID-19: The interplay between firm age and performance aspirations

Unprecedented environmental shocks, like the outbreak of COVID-19, sometimes trigger firms to adjust to the new environment, by expanding quickly into new—relevant to the shock—product lines, as a means to capitalize on the booming demand of urgently needed supplies. This study examines the role of firm corporate liabilities, as the ones enclosed to firm age, in influencing the number of new product lines a firm introduces in response to the pandemic, and its reaction time to the shock. The way in which performance aspirations interfere in these managerial decisions is also examined. In testing hypotheses, we employ a novel multivariate matching approach, namely entropy balancing, which allows researchers to create balanced samples and accounts for the existence of non-random factors influencing the results. Using a sample of 973 manufacturers that introduced new product lines in response to COVID-19, our hypotheses, positively linking firm age to product line introductions, and negatively to response time to the environmental shock, are supported. Our results indicate that for firms with higher levels of performance above industry average, the positive influence of firm's age on the number of new product lines introduced is weaker than for firms with lower levels of performance above industry average.

Is Covid‐19 changing sustainable consumer behavior? A survey of Italian consumers

Since the beginning of 2020, the world has been hit by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus that causes Covid‐19. To hamper its spread, policymakers of many countries have put in place strong countermeasures, including lockdowns, that have led to significant changes in people's lifestyles and daily routines. This article aims at assessing the changes caused by Covid‐19 in sustainable consumer behavior under multiple perspectives, contributing to advance knowledge at the intersection between consumer dynamics and sustainable consumer behavior literature. A survey was conducted on 1.535 Italian consumers between December 2020 and February 2021. Respondents were asked to assess the extent to which their consumption behavior—purchase frequency, willingness to pay a premium price, sense of moral duty to purchase, social influence to purchase—related to several categories of sustainable products changed due to the pandemic, as well as the extent to which the pandemic impacted on many other aspects, including their environmental awareness, concern, and habits. Results show that Covid‐19 generated relevant changes. Consumers have increased their purchase frequency and willingness to pay for sustainable products, show growing attention to environmental issues, and behave more sustainably. Further, the extent of change is strongly affected by socio‐demographic variables, such as gender, age, income, and education. For instance, women reported a higher shift towards sustainable consumption and behavior than men. Understanding these changes is important to guide marketers and policymakers to respond promptly and effectively to them and to leverage on them to foster a transition towards a more sustainable society.

Supply chain management during and post-COVID-19 pandemic: Mitigation strategies and practical lessons learned

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected global supply chains at an unprecedented speed and scale. This paper investigates the supply chain challenges that manufacturing organizations have faced due to the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly in emerging economies. We present a conceptual framework under the dynamic capability theory to analyze challenges and their pertinent mitigation strategies. Ten major challenges are identified based on a literature review, evaluation of several news articles, and discussions with experts. Further, the Grey-Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (Grey-DEMATEL) method is applied to analyze the relationships between various supply chain challenges. Scarcity of Labor (PSL) emerges as the most significant challenge, closely followed by Scarcity of Material (SSM). The results also suggest that Inconsistency of Supply (PIS) is the challenge that correlates the most with other factors. Finally, in this paper we also provide guidelines and strategies for practitioners and scholars to better address supply chain challenges post-COVID-19 outbreak.