Supply chain recovery challenges in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

Sanjoy Kumar Paul; Priyabrata Chowdhury; Md Abdul Moktadir; Kwok Hung Lau

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.056

Supply chain recovery challenges in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

J Bus Res. 2021 Nov:136:316-329. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.056. Epub 2021 Aug 2.

Authors

Sanjoy Kumar Paul¹, Priyabrata Chowdhury², Md Abdul Moktadir³, Kwok Hung Lau²

Affiliations

¹ UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
² School of Accounting, Information Systems and Supply Chain, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Institute of Leather Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of global supply chains arising from raw material scarcity, production and transportation disruption, and social distancing. Firms need to carefully anticipate the difficulties during recovery and formulate appropriate strategies to ensure the survival of their businesses and supply chains. To enhance awareness of the issues, this research aims to identify and model recovery challenges in the context of the Bangladeshi ready-made garment industry. A Delphi-based grey decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methodology was used to analyze the data. While the Delphi method helped identify the major supply chain recovery challenges from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the grey DEMATEL approach helped categorize the causal relationships among these challenges. Of the 23 recovery challenges finalized, 12 are causal challenges. The study's findings can assist decision-makers in developing strategic policies to overcome the recovery challenges in the post-COVID-19 era.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Delphi method; Grey DEMATEL; Recovery challenges; Supply chain management.