Yes / Purpose: The COVID-19 outbreak has imposed extensive shocks embracing all stages of the food supply chain
(FSC). Although the magnitude is still unfolding, the FSC responds with remarkable speed, to mitigate the
disruptive consequences and sustain operations. This motivates us to investigate how operationalising supply
chain agility (SCA) practices has occurred amid the COVID-19 crisis and expectations for how those practices
could transform the supply chain in the post-COVID-19 era.
Design: Following an exploratory case-based design, we examine the various agile responses that three supply
chains (meat, fresh vegetables and bread) adopted and elaborate using the dynamic capability (DC) theoretical
lens.
Findings: First, the findings demonstrate how, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, each affected case
pursued various agile responses through sensing and seizing capabilities. Sensing includes identifying and
assessing the relevant opportunities and threats associated with the specific supply chain context. Seizing
involves acquiring, combining and modifying the tangible and intangible resources at the firm and supply chain
levels. Second, supply chain transformation is likely if firms and their supply chain develop the sustaining
capability to ensure that the desirable changes outlast the crisis.
Originality: This study provides a novel and unique perspective on the role of SCA in crisis—in this case, the
pandemic. We synthesise the empirical stories of the agile responses in the FSC and elaborate on the DC
framework, to identify theoretical and practical implications. We establish the sustaining capability as the
missing DC capability for enabling transformation in the post-COVID-19 era.
Practical contribution: This study provides an actionable guide for practitioners to develop agile responses to
systemic changes in times of crisis and to sustain favourable changes so as to enable their outlasting the crisis. / Project 777742: EC H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/18475 |
| Date | 02 May 2021 |
| Creators | Do, Q., Mishra, N., Wulandhari, N.B.I., Ramudhin, A., Sivarajah, Uthayasankar, Milligan, G. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, Accepted manuscript |
| Rights | (c) 2021 Emerald Publishing. Full-text reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
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