THE ROLE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MEMORY FOR SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION MANAGEMENT
Name: MURILO ZAMBONI ALVARENGA
Publication date: 11/09/2023
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| HELIO ZANQUETTO FILHO | Advisor |
Summary: Several examples demonstrate that disruptions have significant negative impacts on
supply chain performance. In this context, the literature on the subject has sought to
understand why some supply chains can maintain or recover their operations more
quickly and effectively than others in the face of these undesirable events. Despite the
advances in the topic in recent years, existing literature lacks studies addressing the role
of memory in dealing with disruptive events. The beginning thesis was that memory plays
an important role, directly and indirectly, in improving supply chain disruption
management. However, absorbing and applying new knowledge (i.e. absorptive capacity)
might be necessary to handle non-routine events such as COVID-19, considering some
drawbacks that memory can bring to organizational and supply chain processes. Three
papers were developed to investigate this topic. The first paper examined if both resilience
and robustness are directly impacted by memory and if the relationship between these
disruption management capabilities and supply chain performance is moderated by
memory using a mixed-methods approach. The second explored the impact of digital
technologies on supply chain resilience and robustness, considering the mediating role of
memory and the moderating effect of non-routine events like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, the third paper investigated the moderating role of absorptive capacity in the
relationship between memory and resilience and robustness. The findings contribute
disruption management field showing up the role of memory in supply chain disruption
management, pointing it as an antecedent, mediator, and moderator of resilience and
robustness previous relationships. However, for robustness, the absorption and
application of new knowledge are necessary to effectively manage non-routine events and
mitigate potential drawbacks associated with memory in organizational and supply chain
processes. The results demonstrate to practice the importance of learning from past
disruptive events, keeping that knowledge alive, as well as acquire new knowledge in
order to deal with it effectively and efficiently in the future.
