The Preliminary Supply Chain Lessons of the COVID-19 Disruption: What Is the Role of Digital Technologies?

The purpose of this research is to analyse the current body of knowledge on the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for global supply chains and their management. This research seeks to understand how the COVID-19 event leads to impacts, lessons, and proposed solutions for the operations of global supply chains. This study is based on a structured review of publications released on or before 31 December 2020. It includes established academic publications but also those emerging primarily from academic institutions in trade magazines and on the wider internet. Specifically, four research questions are addressed: How and where are disruptions caused by COVID-19 understood to impact global supply chains? How does the literature portray supply chain lessons from the COVID-19-related disruptions? How does the literature portray the suggested resilience-driven solutions for the future operation of global supply chains? Finally, how are digital technologies proposed as part of resilience-driven solutions to the future operation of global supply chains? Concerning the findings, the study contributes by developing a new theoretical understanding of the ongoing collective supply chain lessons of the COVID-19 disruption. Six supply chain vulnerabilities, six solutions or resilience capabilities and seven technology clusters deemed particularly useful in mitigating future pandemic disruptions are identified. In addition, the interrelationships between the different elements are explored and understood as an ongoing learning process comprising a process of evoking vulnerabilities, a process of reacting and devising change and a process of implementing change. Based on these findings, a set of managerial implications and avenues for future research are proposed.