Realizing supply chain agility under time pressure: Ad hoc supply chains during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Issue 3 (18th August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Müller, Jasmina; Hoberg, Kai; Fransoo, Jan C.
• Other Names: Lee Hau L. guestEditor.; Li Xiang guestEditor.; Voss Chris guestEditor.; Zhao Xiande guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of operations management. Volume 69:Issue 3(2023)
• Page Start: 426
• Page End: 449
• Publication Date: 2022-08-18
• Subjects: ad hoc supply chains -- COVID‐19 pandemic -- dynamic capabilities -- entrepreneurial orientation -- supply chain agility -- temporary orientation; Production management -- Periodicals; Management -- Periodicals; 658.5
• DOI: 10.1002/joom.1210
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-6963

Abstract

Abstract: When the COVID‐19 pandemic began in 2020, the medical product industry faced an unusual demand shock for personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks, face shields, disinfectants, and gowns. Companies from various industries responded to the urgent need for these potentially life‐saving products by adopting ad hoc supply chains in an exceptionally short time: They found new suppliers, developed the products, ramped‐up production, and distributed to new customers within weeks or even days. We define these supply chains as ad hoc supply chains that are built for a specific need, an immediate need, and a time‐limited need. By leveraging a unique sampling, we examined how companies realize supply chain agility when building ad hoc supply chains. We develop an emergent theoretical model that proposes dynamic capabilities to enable companies building ad hoc supply chains in response to a specific need, moderated by an entrepreneurial orientation allowing firms to leverage dynamic capabilities at short notice and a temporary orientation that increases a company's focus on exploiting the short‐term opportunity of ad hoc supply chains.