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  • September–October 2020
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World: Companies Need to Make Their Networks More Resilient. Here's How.

By: Willy C. Shih
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities in the production strategies and supply chains of firms everywhere. Coupled with a rise in economic nationalism, manufacturers everywhere are going to be under pressure to rethink their sourcing and logistics strategies. They need to analyze their risk exposures, and then think about how to improve their resilience. They should look beyond just relocating supply, towards harnessing process innovations and revisiting some of the trade-offs between product variety and flexibility.

Keywords

Resilience; Pandemic; Operations Management; Health Pandemics; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Asia; Europe

Citation

Shih, Willy C. "Global Supply Chains in a Post-Pandemic World: Companies Need to Make Their Networks More Resilient. Here's How." R2005F. Harvard Business Review 98, no. 5 (September–October 2020): 82–89.
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About The Author

Willy C. Shih

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

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More from the Author
  • Knowledge Transfer: Toyota, NUMMI, and GM By: Willy Shih
  • Vanguard Retail Operations By: Antonio Moreno, Willy C. Shih and Margaret Underwood
  • U.S. Steel: Proposed Acquisition by Nippon Steel By: Willy C. Shih
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