Supply chain resilience elements – the case of the dairy sector.

Abstract

Supply chain resilience refers to the ability of a supply chain to prepare, respond, recover and grow in the face of a disruption. This study aims to identify the elements that build a resilient supply chain in the context of dairy sector; little research attention has been given to that industry. The study also aims to understand the influence of the supply chain resilience elements in relation to the various phases of a disruption – readiness, response, recovery and learning & growth.

This study is primarily based on an inductive approach; case study methodology was adopted to explore the phenomenon grounded in rich contextual data. Six supply chain disruptions linked to two dairy supply chains, one in New Zealand and one in Pakistan, were selected. Within the two supply chains, 42 relevant managers/owners across 23 different supply chain partners participated in the study.

The findings of the study include the identification of various supply chain resilience elements that enable organisations in a supply chain to better prepare, respond, recover and learn from a disruption. Primarily, a prepared supply chain is the one that effectively responds and quickly recovers from a disruption. The application of the disaster management cycle reveals that supply chain resilience is a cyclic process in which organisations in a supply chain develop resilience over-time through learning and experience. In the dairy supply chain context, this study found that good quality management practices play a critical role in avoiding or managing a food-safety disruption.

Theoretically, this study extends the resilience concept by adapting the disaster management framework. Secondly, the application of the concept to the dairy sector is a key contribution to knowledge since prior literature is mainly concerned with manufacturing. The dairy sector of each country, New Zealand and Pakistan, plays a pivotal role in the respective economies. Therefore, this study is useful to various stakeholders such as government, dairy regulators and policymakers.