Good Things that have Come out of the Pandemic: Between Steppingstones and Comfort Zone

Abstract

The risk scenarios supply chain managers encountered during the COVID19 pandemic were unique and provides many opportunities for learning and the development of more robust risk management approaches and strategies. In this reflection we offer five lessons that provide stepping stones for supply chain managers seeking to create more resilient supply chains. These lessons are: (1) the need to move from relational to social contracting, (2) the need to move from compliance to a force for good, (3) the need to move from planned optimization to agile resiliency, (4) the need to move from ERP and reporting the past to visibility into realtime and (5) the need to resist tendency to revert back to comfort zones. In this paper we reflect upon these lessons aiming to inspire progress in industry and research.