Globalization, geopolitics, and socio-economic uncertainties increase supply chain vulnerabilities. Climate changes, natural disasters, and man-made accidents have increased the tension of disturbances. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many supply chains worldwide, putting the agri-food supply chain at a higher risk than ever. Agri-food supply chains face severe and complex challenges due to industry-specific characteristics, such as perishability, short shelf life, long lead time production, and weather dependence. Consumer awareness of having healthy, traceable, and environmentally friendly food products has become an increasing concern, making sustainable development also a vital factor in the agri-food industry. To ensure sustainable development, firms must improve supply chain resilience by discovering, nurturing, and developing resilience capability and competitive advantage. Resilience describes the ability to respond quickly to disruptions and help the supply chain recover. Recently, digital technologies have developed rapidly, supported by the Industrial Revolution 4.0, which plays a crucial role in a company's operations. Digital technologies help promote core resilience competencies such as visibility, collaboration, and agility through typical technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, fifth-generation technology, big data analytics, additive manufacturing, tracking, tracing technologies, etc. This study uses a theoretical framework from dynamic capabilities and extant literature reviews to determine the research gap in the agri-food industry. The study uses mixed methods: a qualitative research method to examine and uncover the role of supply chain resilience in responding to disruptions in the agri-food industry, and a second study used a quantitative method to examine the influence of digital technologies on resilience in the agri-food supply chain. This study confirms the critical role of resilience in the agri-food supply chain and the significance of digital technologies in improving supply chain resilience and firm performance. The study also suggests that a firm should proactively build its resilience capability rather than learn from past disruptions. The findings are useful for academics and practitioners alike, in the acknowledgment of the significant effects of digital technologies on supply chain resilience in the agri-food industry. Some technologies are not agri-food specific but have a place in the industry, while others are tailor made for farming applications. Parties in the agri-food industry must take advantage of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and digital technologies to flourish in the agri-food industry. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

Humanitarian logistics and relief supply chain management is a relatively new area of investigation which is typically associated with unexpected disasters that require immediate actions and responses. It can be defined as “the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow and storage of goods and materials, as well as related information, from point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of meeting the end beneficiary‟s requirements” (Thomas, 2005).In both man-made and natural disaster relief processes, humanitarian logistics and relief supply chain operations have been hampered by a lack of information and coordination between actors. Especially in sudden-onset disasters, humanitarian logistics and relief supply chain teams have to be deployed in situations with destabilized infrastructure and with very limited knowledge about the situation at hand (Beamon 2004, Long and Wood 1995, Tomasini and Van Wassenhove 2004).This lack directly affects effective performance in terms of validity and reliability enhancement in which an adapted resiliency management in relief supply chain strategies could offer a solution to cover the problem.The purpose of study ahead is to underline the beneficial advantages offered by using resiliency methods in humanitarian logistics and relief supply chain operations, and enriching the existing benefits that relief chain management teams through the humanitarian logistics techniques have brought to satisfy the survival needs.In fact, the end result of the research will be in both fields of humanitarian logistics and relief supply chain management, and the use of resiliency theories to overcome on barriers and difficulties during relief and aid operations.

The global nature of current supply chains – in combination with disruptive events like the Covid-19 pandemic – has highlighted the need for increased supply chain resilience (SCRes). Contemporary research has primarily focused on proactive SCRes strategies and, to some degree, neglected the reactive strategies for building SCRes. As pro- and reactive measures are needed for building SCRes, the study explores how businesses employ reactive SCRes recovery strategies to handle extreme supply chain disruption (SCD).  One sector of the economy experiencing SCD as an effect of the Coronavirus is the automobile industry, which is generally used to measure international health. With the exploratory nature of the purpose and the influential role of the automobile industry, the study employed a qualitative methodology where the strategies utilized by automobile industry actors are used as the case to discover and contribute with empirical evidence for reactive SCRes strategies. The empirical data was derived through semi-structured interviews with supply chain executives from the automobile industry.  The findings indicate that companies within the automobile industry employ three main reactive SCRes strategies: communication, crisis teams, and workforce measures, to handle the adverse outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, the results suggest that crucial organizational capabilities are flexibility and velocity to handle turmoil within supply chains. Furthermore, based on a holistic perspective, the study indicates that the four formative capabilities of SCRes: flexibility, velocity, visibility, and collaboration, along with pro- and reactive SCRes strategies, are interconnected. As such, all capabilities appear to be pervading in the three reactive SCRes strategies. The study, therefore, implies that all capabilities of SCRes and both pro- and reactive strategies are necessary for the development of more resilient supply chains.

Background: The automotive industry experiences significant challenges such as electric mobility, autonomous cars, smart factories, and ridesharing. Above that, the COVID-19 pandemic did not only affect the global health care system but also caused a disruption that challenged the automotive manufacturing sector and its supply chains. Purpose: The automotive industry was investigated to assess the supply chain resilience during the COVID-19 disruption. Therefore, the supply chain performance along the disruption stages was determined. Also, the usage and value of supply chain resilience measures were explored to characterise the current state of supply chain resilience in the industry. Method: A multiple case study and purposeful sampling were used to gather empirical data. Semi-structured interviews with 21 automotive experts from the Scandinavian and German automotive industry were conducted. A content analysis approach was applied to analyse the primary data. The investigation was supported by a systematic literature review prior to the study and additional company reports as secondary data. Conclusion: The level of supply chain resilience within the automotive industry can be assessed as high. A quick recovery and a corresponding rebound of the production volume can be identified, even though the findings indicate that the COVID-19 disruption also caused a bullwhip effect. To compensate for this effect, agility measures, increased collaboration and information sharing, and risk management were used. Other supply chain resilience measures like technological innovations or sustainability were only used to a limited extent.

<p>Developing resiliency in supply chains became vital in the recent years due to global diversification and vulnerability to risks. Firms need to identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks in supply chain to maintain continuity and create competitive advantage. Although the problem of supply chain disruptions has existed for a long time, less attention has been given by researchers in exploring the adoption of advanced technologies to build resilient supply chains. This study explored the potential of mitigating supply chain disruptions with the use of Industry 4.0 technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Supply chain data analytics platform which develops digital twin environment for supply chains. </p> <p><br></p> <p>This research gathered expert’s opinion on the resilience capabilities developed in supply chain by digital twin adoption, stages and practices involved in digital twin assimilation through Delphi survey with subject matter experts and supply chain practitioners. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants to attain deep understanding on the resilience capabilities gained by digital twin and stages in digital twin adoption. Comparison of the results from Delphi survey and interviews was carried out to synthesize the results to yield a comprehensive understanding of resilience capabilities gained through digital twin and adoption stages of supply chain digital twin. This research has conducted interviews with 21 subject matter experts and completed three rounds of Delphi survey (with participants n = 15, 11, 11 in three rounds respectively) to develop a framework for digital twin adoption to enhance supply chain resilience. </p> <p><br></p> <p>This research determined that digital twin develops real-time monitoring and sensing capabilities, planning and decision support system, and automating decisions and action execution capabilities in supply chain. In addition, digital twin positively impacts resilience elements such as agility, supply chain reconfiguration, robustness, and collaboration in supply chain, which improves the supply chain performance. The results from this study were utilized to develop a framework for enabling supply chain resilience through digital twin. The framework included antecedents, consequences, and various moderators that impact digital twin adoption and diffusion in supply chains. Finally, this research developed a five-stage roadmap for adopting digital twin capabilities in supply chain. </p>

Modern supply chains are often characterized by carefully planned and interconnected processes that seamlessly integrate with each other. Supply chains are often efficientduring a stable business environment but are highly vulnerable to risks and disruptions.When any link in the supply chain is negatively impacted, challenges can arise for all the companies in the supply chain. This has expanded the goal of supply chain management tocreate resilient supply chains that incorporate event readiness, provide efficient and effective responses, and can return to their original state after a disruption. During Covid19 businesses all over the world were affected and the pandemic led to disruptions in supply chains. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) were especially affected because of lack in financial resources, technical capabilities, and low resilience. SMEs play a crucial role in the global economy but there is still a limited amount of research onhow SME can achieve resilience in their supply chains. Furthermore, there is a lack ofresearch comparing changes in supply chain resilience before and after Covid-19. To address this research gap, the purpose of the study is to explore how Covid-19 affected the supply chain resilience in Swedish SMEs. To understand the effects of Covid-19 we will examine supply chain resilience in SMEs before, during and after the pandemic. To address our purpose, we have conducted a qualitative study using an inductive approach and exploratory research design. We collected primary data from semi-structuredinterviews with nine managers from manufacturing Swedish SMEs. The data gathered through the interviews was analysed by using a thematic analysis that led us to our findings. Our findings revealed that prior to the pandemic, risk awareness was not a top priority for the respondent companies. However, Covid-19 exposed vulnerabilities in their supply chains highlighting the importance of both proactive and reactive strategies. Swedish SMEs experienced various challenges including transportation problems, component shortages and fluctuations in customer demand. Tomeet these challenges, the companies showed flexibility by changes in product assemblingand increased inventory levels during Covid-19. Furthermore, strengthened communication with suppliers and customers played a significant role in increasing supply chain visibility and collaboration. As a result of the Covid-19 disruption, our study show that the responding companies have become more aware of risks and incorporated practices into in their operations as adoption of alternative suppliers, optimization of safety stocks and improved communication. Overall, the findings suggested that the pandemic prompted the respondent SMEs to strengthen their supply chain resilience. By learning from the impact of the crisis, these companies have become more resilient and created supply chains that can better withstand future disruptions. This study contributes to understanding how supply chain resilience in Swedish SMEs was affected by Covid-19 and how SMEs can enhance their supply chain resilience

Background: COVID-19 pandemic had a vast and significant impact on today’s societies, in terms of economic, societal, and even environmental aspects. Global supply chains had to adapt to this changing landscape rapidly. Both supply and demand witnessed repercussions. The effects of COVID-19 on supply chains have been evident, with lockdowns and inconsistent supply and demand causing issues for international trade. Indeed, many companies were constrained to stop supply and production and could not deliver their goods.   Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on transportation operations in logistics companies, more precisely by using the case of DHL to emphasize our study. The purpose is to analyze the impacts that the crisis had on Logistics operations, by focusing on DHL and the way the company was impacted, understood and overcame the disruption. This study will take into consideration economic, social and environmental aspects.   Method: The research will be based on a case study and empirical evidence to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on DHL’s supply chain operations and more precisely on logistics and transport. We used the Triple Bottom Line approach to measure the economic, social, and environmental performances of DHL. Further, the analysis used in this paper is an inductive thematic analysis, to emphasize the findings and provide a better accuracy to our results.   Results: The study aims to identify the effects that COVID-19 had on logistics operations, and it more particularly seeks to highlight the strategies used by logistics companies that could be useful for other companies that need to build more resilient and flexible supply chains in the face of future disruptions. The findings of this thesis will be valuable to businesses, supply chain managers, and policymakers seeking to understand the role of improving their supply chains. Thanks to the interviews that were conducted, the findings highlighted several strategies that have been implemented by companies, such as the acceleration in automation, efforts put towards employee conditions, and restructuring companies.

Abstract Background: Supply chain resilience and sustainability have rarely been considered together, neither in literature nor in practice. The need to pursue both approaches is partly due to end- customer pressure for more sustainable practices. Also, Covid-19 demonstrated the importance of a resilient supply chain, especially upstream, which brings sourcing into focus. To achieve both, sourcing strategies need to be effectively changed. This is a challenge especially for family businesses, as they hold on to traditional values and are reluctant to make investments. Purpose: Efforts to achieve resilience and sustainability in sourcing are often accompanied by conflicting goals. In addition, family businesses have special characteristics with a strong focus on social capital. This mentioned combination has not yet been addressed in the literature, which is why the aim of this thesis is to find out how sustainability is integrated into the resilient sourcing strategies of family businesses. Method: To achieve the research objective, a multiple case-study with family businesses from Germany is conducted. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews are used. CPOs or CEOs of different case companies are asked, how they integrate sustainability into their resilient sourcing structures. Conclusion: The result of our study is a pool of different sourcing strategies of the considered family businesses, which are almost exclusively sustainable. This is due to the nature of a family business, which automatically generates sustainability through values such as regionality and long-term orientation. Awareness of the sustainability level of sourcing strategies reveals trade-offs and thus helps practitioners to use them effectively.

Ph. D. (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The most important decisions that direct the operations of a nation are made in the public sector. The public sector performs the duty of facilitating the efficient and sustainable delivery of goods and services to the general public. In South Africa, public sector institutions have failed to fulfil their role of providing effective services, and this failure has been attributed to corruption and other inconsistencies inherent within supply chain management (SCM) transactions occurring between government and its suppliers. To streamline SCM, various legislative pieces such as the public SCM Policy Framework, the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework (PPPF) and the Broad-Based Black-Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act, among others were implemented in tandem with a host of other interventions. However, the challenges linked to public SCM continue to this day and the intended outcomes are yet to be fully realised, thereby negatively impacting on the effective delivery of services by the public sector. This study investigated the relationship between SCM practices, supplier performance and supply chain resilience in the South African public sector. The study is premised on the need to investigate how SCM practices may be applied to improve the effectiveness of supplier performance, and hence the resilience of the public supply chain in South Africa, in light of the numerous challenges faced by the sector. This study followed a quantitative method in which a cross-sectional survey was applied to collect data to test the relationships between seven SCM practices (supply chain collaboration, supply chain synergies, supply chain innovation, information sharing, information quality, supply chain design, supply chain integration), supplier performance and supply chain resilience. A structured survey questionnaire was developed using adapted measurement scales and administered to 333 SCM professionals recruited from public sector organisations based in the Gauteng Province. The data collected were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 25.0) and the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS Version 25.0) statistical software. The actual data analysis techniques applied included descriptive and inferential statistics and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The results of the study showed that three SCM practices, namely collaboration, innovation and integration exerted a significant positive influence on supplier performance. However, supply chain synergies, information quality and supply chain design were statistically insignificant. Moreover, information sharing exerted a significant negative influence on supplier performance. In turn, supplier performance exerted a significant positive influence on supply chain resilience. The study contributes in various ways to both public SCM theory and practice. Theoretically, it provides information on how the SCM dimensions considered in this study, which are supply chain collaboration, synergies, innovation, information sharing and quality, design, and integration are linked to supplier performance and supply chain resilience within the public sector in South Africa. Given the limited evidence of previous studies of this nature in the South African public sector, the results are an essential addition to the existing body of literature within the public SCM context in developing countries such as South Africa. From a managerial standpoint, the study provides information on which SCM practices deserve attention in the efforts to improve the performance of suppliers, and how the performance of suppliers can be harnessed to enhance the resilience of the public supply chain. Hence, the study offers an important diagnostic framework through which the SCM challenges facing the public supply chain in South Africa can be addressed.

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