Building supply chain resilience through ambidexterity: an information processing perspective

Ambidextrous strategies in turbulent times: the experience of manufacturing SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

The paper refers to the framework of ambidexterity to explain the strategic paths of manufacturing SMEs in turbulent times, by investigating SMEs' strategic reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopted an inductive approach methodology. Using a qualitative research method, Italian manufacturing SMEs in different industries were interviewed to outline how they have faced the negative effects of the COVID-19 by considering the strategies implemented during the pandemic.

Findings

The study identifies three ambidextrous strategies for manufacturing SMEs to positively overcome the COVID-19 crisis: (1) playing different roles within the same market (business-to-business and business-to-consumer) simultaneously, (2) simultaneous entrance and management of multiple markets and (3) exploiting manufacturing knowledge for exploring product and business model innovation (simultaneous learning processes).

Research limitations/implications

Results enrich the theoretical discussion on ambidexterity and SMEs, by stressing the strategic dimension of ambidexterity and including a more fine-grained analysis of the different firm’ strategic paths in times of crisis.

Practical implications

The paper provides practical suggestions for manufacturing SMEs on how they can react during turbulent times and crises by implementing ambidextrous strategies also thanks to the use of digital technologies.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to outlining the conditions for SMEs' resilience in the international competitive context by highlighting the perspective of ambidexterity based on the analysis of multiple case studies from manufacturing industries.

Role of project management on Sustainable Supply Chain development through Industry 4.0 technologies and Circular Economy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multiple case study of Thai metals industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has widely disrupted manufacturing industries. This research focuses on how project management, Industry 4.0 technologies, and the Circular Economy contribute to Sustainable Supply Chain development during the pandemic. A multiple case study focusing on three companies in the metals industry, covering small-, medium-, and large-size companies from Thailand, is adopted to investigate the impact of the pandemic on companies using the dimensions of demand, production, and distribution disruptions. The result shows that project management supports Industry 4.0 technologies and Circular Economy adoption. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic also expedites Industry 4.0 technologies adoption. Product customization is one of the key focuses of the companies to differentiate from the competitors and create long-term competitive advantages. Industry 4.0 technologies and the Circular Economy have a positive influence on Sustainable Supply Chain development.

Investigating the relationship between digital technologies, supply chain integration and firm resilience in the context of COVID-19

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly augmented the complexity of information, adding to the challenges that firms face in effectively processing and grasping accurate information. As a result, the production uncertainty of firms has been seriously intensified during the pandemic, disrupting the normal operation of firms and their supply chains. Digital technologies serve as salient tools that help firms to process and analyse information, consequently enhancing firm resilience in the face of supply chain disruptions. This study aims to examine how digital technologies affect firm resilience in the context of COVID-19 through the lens of information processing theory and a large-scale survey conducted among Chinese manufacturers. Specifically, our study evaluates the mediating effect of supply chain integration (internal integration, customer integration and supplier integration) and the moderating effect of information complexity. The results show that supply chain integration plays a mediating role in the effect of digital technologies on firm resilience, and the mediation effect is particularly significant for customer integration. Furthermore, digital technologies have a stronger impact on firm resilience when information complexity is high. The findings advance our understanding and recognition of the resilience implications of digital technologies and provide important managerial implications for improving firm resilience in the context of COVID-19.

Managing Labor Sustainability in Digitalized Supply Chains: A Systematic Literature Review

With increasing concerns of labor issue risks within supply chains, both academia and practitioners are paying increasingly great attention to how to design and implement effective management approaches to enhance labor sustainability in supply chains. Furthermore, digitalization facilitates and brings both opportunities and challenges to this area. Using the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), we conducted a systematic literature review based on 50 selected papers from the Web of Science database. Starting from the supply chain level, this study identifies digital technology (DT)-enabled labor sustainability management practices, barriers to the adoption of DT in labor management practices, and the performance outcomes of such practices. In addition, we put forward solutions to eliminate those identified barriers to facilitate DT adoption in firms’ labor sustainability management. Last, future directions and research opportunities for both supply chain management and labor sustainability are summarized.

Using old theories to find novel solutions in organizational design of large established firms

Purpose

This study aims to describe how large corporations, facing digitalization and sustainability, can use established models and theories to find appropriate organizations design for these “new” challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

The information processing perspective presented by Jay Galbraith (Galbraith, 1974) can be an appropriate platform to analyze organizational requirements, also in new complex and uncertain situation. The authors use the Miles and Snow (1978) typology to explain how traditional design can be appropriate in the new world of sustainability and digitalization.

Findings

With the new types of business models, the design should have a holistic view. The design should be split into three levels: the corporation as a whole, the large business units and the operating units. Each of these units can follow traditional organizational forms with an internal market-based coordination combined with digital platform systems.

Originality/value

Both large and small corporations now face big challenges related to adapting their business models, managerial processes and organizational structures for digitalization and sustainability. Digitalization and sustainability combine the various pieces of the corporation into a tightly coupled network with a real time coordination of activities making it difficult to obtain local adjustments without disturbing the whole. At the same time, there is a strong need for both being locally agile with a focus on effectiveness and at the same time being very efficient. The literature calls for new organizational forms to handle this situation. The authors show that “old” designs properly coordinated can be an appropriate design as well.