The Impact of Supplier Diversification on Supply Chain Resilience in the Post-COVID Era

Abstract

Current vulnerabilities in supply chains all over the world have emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which rest on shaky supply foundations. Thus, in this paper, we define resilience post-COVID-19 as supplier diversification and focus on diversification as risk mitigation, buffer for disruptive events, and efficiency-resilience trade-offs. Primary focus of the study is qualitative secondary research integrating empirical findings, theoretical frameworks and real-life evidence of industry practice, including automotive and pharmaceutical. Second, their diversification analysis tells us that diversification, while it protects against the externalities of systemic shocks, is costly in terms of coordination and management complexity. Resilience is shown not, as they say, in diversification but in how diversification forms a part of a digital enabler, a modular, relational frame, portfolio paradigm of need, advocating for open, visible/mobile digitization at the local-center, and secondhand tipped scanning. Openness in modulated form is proposed for resilience theory, where need is a resource and network based skill.