Supply chains increasingly operate under conditions in which disruption emerges through the interaction of multiple pressures rather than from isolated events. Escalation in such contexts is shaped by accumulation, cross-domain propagation, and timing effects that challenge conventional representations of risk and resilience. While significant research on resilience has been developed over the last two decades, much of this work remains grounded in event-centric or probability-based approaches. These offer limited analytical visibility into how interacting pressures reshape exposure and sustain escalation over time. Recognising this gap, the authors develop three tools for examining supply chain resilience under polycrisis conditions: 1) the Stress–Trigger–Crisis (STC) taxonomy distinguishes background pressures from initiating disturbances and crisis states; 2) propagation pathway analysis traces how disruptions spread across physical, informational, financial, and relational domains; and 3) the Exposure-Controllability tool compares how vulnerability and influence are distributed across supply chain structures. Using a case example from a leading logistics player, this paper reveals the application of these tools. Conceptually, the paper advances a system-level representation of resilience under interacting pressures. Practically, it provides a repeatable method for linking diagnostic analysis to organisational action. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.

Many of the world famous names in women's fashion have gone into print at various times, to attempt to describe the quintessence of their role in the creation of fashions and styles. Without exception, none has got beyond the level of generalization that for design to be seen to be good it must mirror the spirit of the age. Beaton 1 elegantly suggests: 'fashion is the symbol which describes the subtle and often hidden forces which shape our society—political, economic, psychological. . . the search for the absolute by man who is only able to create the ephemeral.' Beaton 1 also makes the important observation that change, the sine qua non of fashion, undermines progress towards aesthetic perfection which can emerge, he suggests, only after long tradition for the same style of garment, viz. church vestments, uniforms, riding habits.

The dramatic growth in customer connectivity and the Internet of Things has increased the demand for rare metals, but the extraction, refining and production of these materials can be environmentally damaging. Customers and consumers, meanwhile, are increasingly concerned about sustainability and want their voices to be heard. How and by what means, can B2B companies in the IoT and nanotechnology sector, using rare metals, engage downstream actors to address sustainable challenges in the supply chain? To answer this question, we first define the terms related to rare metals and their challenges; we then review the different methods of customer and consumer engagement proposed in the literature. Secondly, through interviews with companies in the Internet of Things sector and with consumers we analyze the downstream actors' engagement in the context of rare metals through integration methods. The results propose a mapping of the different methods that enable engagement for sustainability objectives.

The challenge to marketing and logistics in the current environment is to find ways in which product development times can be reduced, feedback from the market-place made more rapid and replenishment times compressed. New thinking in manufacturing strategy which has focused on flexibility and batch size reduction has clearly helped organizations in their search for quick response. In an industry where lead-times of many months are still the norm, Zara has reduced its lead-time gap for more than half of the garments it sells to a level unmatched by any of its European or North American competitors. Whether lead-times for mass-produced high fashion items can be reduced further remains to be seen, but the technology of Quick Response is providing other garment manufactures with new value-adding service opportunities to boost sales of some perennial fashion favourites.

As the number of supply disruptions is increasing in frequency and severity, firms should not wait idly until an event occurs to act on it. This paper empirically identifies the key capabilities that the PSM function develops and maintains in order to increase resilience in the supply-side of the buying firm. Dyadic case studies were conducted with four buying and supplying companies in Brazil in order to explore how PSM functions contribute internally and externally to supply-side resilience. To provide a framework for understanding the results, the three blocks of the Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV) – Process, Position, and Path – were used as a theoretical underpinning. To support the content analysis, QDA Miner software was used to codify the interviews (data fragmenting and re-assembling) to clarify the data related to the research question and thus facilitate the interpretation. The within-case analyses were conducted focusing on the salient capabilities of PSM's contribution to supply-side resilience, followed by a cross-case analysis to identify similarities and differences across the four cases. The research revealed three key capabilities in which PSM can contribute to supply-side resilience (SSRes): PSM positioning within the company's structure and its authority to make decisions; PSM bundling of proactive and reactive practices from the internal and external part of the organization; and PSM knowledge gathering, storage, and retrieval from business operations that generate competences. By recognizing resilience concerns, PSM managers are more capable of managing and controlling the resources, practices, and competences in their strategic or daily tasks. The resilient capabilities developed by an organization will likely be disseminated to their partners, expanding a resilient effect along the supply chain. This research contributes to the literature by developing a framework that highlights and integrates the PSM dynamic capabilities that contribute to SSRes. Although it has limitations, it allows for future research opportunities.

Purpose An emerging theme in the practitioner literature suggests that the supply chain of the future – enabled especially by developments in ICT – will be autonomous and have predictive capabilities, bringing significant efficiency gains in an increasingly complex and uncertain environment. This paper aims to both bridge the gap between the practitioner and academic literature on these topics and contribute to both practice and theory by seeking to understand how such developments will help to address key supply chain challenges and opportunities. Design/methodology/approach A multi-disciplinary, systematic literature review was conducted on relevant concepts and capabilities. A total of 126 articles were reviewed covering the time period 1950-2018. Findings The results show that both IoT and AI are the technologies most frequently associated with the anticipated autonomous and predictive capabilities of future supply chains. In addition, the review highlights a lacuna in how such technologies and capabilities help address key supply chain challenges and opportunities. A new supply chain model is, thus, proposed, one with autonomous and predictive capabilities: the self-thinking supply chain. Originality/value It is our hope that this novel concept, presented here for the first time in the academic literature, will help both practitioners to craft appropriate future-proofed supply chain strategies and provide the research community with a model (built upon multidisciplinary insights) for elucidating the application of new digital technologies in the supply chain of the future. The self-thinking supply chain has the potential in particular to help address some of today’s key supply chain challenges and opportunities.

This study proposes a performance management framework with a roadmap to success and evaluates successful retailers. We provide comparative analysis of brick-and-mortar versus omnichannel retail supply chains and propose comprehensive performance metrics categorized with respect to four competitive dimensions (sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness, responsiveness, flexibility) and seven perspectives (customers, operations, sourcing, finance, information sharing and information technology, transportation, environment). Two customer-centric frameworks and a statistical model are developed to analyze the characteristics of successful omnichannel retail supply chains. The quantitative analysis shows that physical stores are a critical component of omnichannel strategy for many retailers. From a practical perspective, our frameworks provide guidelines and metrics to be used for assessing the success of omnichannel retailers. The comparative analysis of the top 25 U.S. retailers provides additional insights for critical success components in transition to omnichannel retailing.

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) is used for multiple purposes in many fields and it is attracting attention, both academically and managerially, in the context of a customer-centric approach to supply chain management. The purpose of this paper is to explore how 3DP enables supply chain customer-centricity through value co-creation by the analysis of a case study, the manufacture of an innovative 3D printed component in the aerospace sector. The research highlights that: 1) the usage of 3DP enables the adoption of an external customer-centric supply chain orientation drawing on four sources of value co-creation; 2) value co-creation network based on 3DP requires a particular form of collaboration and coordination, bringing specific benefits for all the partners involved. A conceptual framework, leading to propositions, is developed identifying the elements of a customer-centric supply chain based on the principles of co-creation. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications and future research directions are outlined.

The aim of this paper is to provide insights into, and perspectives on, the transformation of mindsets for logisticians. We argue that by exploring paradoxes inherent in the efficiency-focused paradigm of today, a strategic mindset can emerge in which central logistics management issues can be addressed, understood, and dealt with in order to enhance supply chain effectiveness and innovation. Based on a complexity theoretical perspective the paper challenges assumptions inherit in the logistics discipline which is argued to be needed in order to deal with contemporary logistics issues such as sustainable development. Four propositions for further research and practise have been suggested, each highlighting the required insights and understanding necessary for logisticians to make their mindset more strategically oriented i.e. developing logistics managers with the capabilities to enable a greater focus on effectiveness, innovation and other complex issues such as sustainable development.

Purpose of the paper : The aim of this paper is to discuss the emerging challenges that modern supply chains face from the perspective of sustainability, highlighting the opportunities and the risks that these organizations encounter. Methodology : The paper is theoretical, and provides an analysis of trends and challenges for sustainable supply chains and the management of related risks, highlighting some gaps in the literature. Findings : The paper categorizes the priorities for modern sustainable supply chains and provides a clear differentiation between the concept of ‘sustainability risk management’ and the categorization of ‘risks in sustainable supply chains’. Implications and originality/value of the paper : The paper addresses different gaps in the literature of sustainable supply chains and provides the managers with helpful directions for their supply chain management agenda. In detail, authors identifies trends that seem to make supply chains more vulnerable and exposed to the risk, key risk-related questions for managing sustainable supply chain, suggesting a number of important issues which need to be weighed when supply chain design decisions are taken. Research limitations : The theoretical approach of the paper can benefit from future in-depth analyses based on case studies.

Perhaps one of the most significant breakthroughs in management thinking in the closing years of the twentieth century has been the real­ ization that individual businesses no longer compete as stand-alone enti­ ties, but rather as supply chains. We are now entering the era of ‘network competition’ where the prizes will go to those organizations who can better structure, coordinate and manage the relationships with their partners in a network committed to better, faster and closer rela­ tionships with their final customers.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an update to the Supply Chain Volatility Index (SCVI), and expand on prior work by presenting a conceptual framework illustrating how firms can deal with persistent volatility, the ensuing risk and mitigate the cost implications for their supply chain operations.Design/methodology/approach - The authors use long-term time series of secondary data to assemble a "basket" of key indicators that are relevant to the business context within which global supply chains operate. The authors also report on five years of feedback gained from presentations of the SCVI to scholars and practitioners.Findings - Volatility has reduced from record levels experienced during the global financial crises, yet remains at levels considerably higher than prior to the crisis, with no sign of a return to the more stable conditions that prevailed when many current supply chain networks were designed.Research limitations/implications - The authors reaffirm that new mental models are needed which embrace volatility as a factor in supply chain design, rather than seek to eradicate it in supply chain operations. Traditional static "network optimisation" based on a simple definition of low unit cost seems no longer appropriate under conditions of persistent volatility.Practical implications - The authors provide a conceptual link of volatility, risk and cost in the supply chain, and outline how firms can develop a supply chain strategy by managing their exposure to volatility.Originality/value - The authors challenge the common assumption that volatility invariably leads to risk and higher cost in the supply chain. Instead the authors argue that the supply chain structure can mitigate the exposure to supply chain risk. The authors introduce the concepts of recovery and resilience cost within a framework designed to help firms manage volatility-induced risk by minimising the adverse cost implications of volatility in their supply chains.

Many forces have combined to make today's supply chains more complex than ever before. These forces include the significant trend to out-sourcing; the growth of offshore manufacturing and procurement; the rising demand for customer-specific solutions and the globalisation of markets. The paper highlights the challenges that organisations must address in order to gain and retain competitiveness in today's markets-in particular, the need to achieve ever lower costs while simultaneously enhancing responsiveness. In other words, the need is to develop hybrid supply chains that are both 'lean' and 'agile'. Using a single case study of a global telecommunications company as an example, the authors demonstrate how supply chain complexity can effectively be mastered by adopting a project management orientation and in the process enabling outcomes that are 'leagile', that is, both lean and agile.

Demand for standard products has fragmented in markets as diverse as fast foods, sunglasses, breakfast cereals and banking, where niches are smaller and constantly changing. In fact, the niches are the market (Pine, 1993). The concept of mass customisation assumes that such trends will continue well into the next century, and that the challenge is for greater product variety to be achieved at prices comparable to those of the mass producers (Gilmore and Pine, 1997). This is unlikely to be achieved without a fuller understanding of the logistics tradeoffs that are implied. The purpose of the research design presented in this paper is to investigate these tradeoffs by studying the issues involved at organisational level.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a transport portfolio framework (TPF) and explore its use as a decision support tool for shippers wanting to improve their transport system in terms of reducing their carbon footprint.Design/methodology/approach– The TPF has been designed on the basis relevant theoretical frameworks in logistics and thereafter tested and further developed by the use of empirical data from a case study. Quantitative methods are used to find patterns in the shipment statistics for import flows obtained from a food retailer and carriers.Findings– The TPF highlights different avenues for decreasing the carbon footprint, by identifying the product flow characteristics that might affect modal split and load factor, and it is believed that these can help shippers’ intent on analysing the largest potential for improvement. This potential is estimated based on how the key variables, modal split and load factor, can be improved.Practical implications– Shippers can use the TPF as a decision support tool in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint by: structuring complexity, managing data and finding effective solutions.Social implications– Reducing emissions is an increasingly important priority for shippers and the TPF helps them to direct their efforts towards approaches that have a substantial impact.Originality/value– The TPF provides an opportunity to match different approaches for improving the environmental performance with the potential for reducing carbon footprint in shippers’ transportation networks, by taking into account the complexity of logistics network.

It could be argued that the management of reputational risk should be a key business priority. Yet despite recognition in previous studies that the risk related to reputation is critical, concrete reputational risk management approaches remain poorly developed. This paper presents a theoretical framework with the key steps for companies to become more aware of reputational risk and to protect themselves from it. In addition, the authors describe companies’ perceptions of risks and reputation issues. A questionnaire-based survey focused on risks and reputation issues was conducted among a sample of experts in risk management working for international manufacturing and service firms. Results show that while reputational risk is considered to be critical, in practice there is no particular attention assigned to specific risk sources that might affect reputation.