Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
Spring 2-6-2024
Abstract
As the Coronavirus shifted into a worldwide pandemic supply chains everywhere began experiencing comprehensive breakdowns. From continent to continent, suppliers, producers, distributors, and all services facilitating the movement and storage of products scrambled to alter plans in effort to secure enough product to meet customer demand. At one time or another during the pandemic most all failed to keep product flowing. During this time, supply chain faculty at a southeastern U.S. comprehensive regional university began weekly Zoom sessions to learn first-hand what business alumni were doing to help their firms survive. These are their stories and the lessons they learned by working in the field during Covid-19. Our qualitative analysis of the Zoom transcripts identified 5 emerging themes depicting the immediate challenges being met by our informants that pertained to personnel shortages, supply/demand bullwhip effects, supply chain flexibility, public coordination challenges, and opportunistic logistics behaviors. The lessons learned may assist today’s managers in preparing supply chains for the next unforeseen worldwide supply chain challenge.
Recommended Citation
Keller, S. B., LeMay, S. A., and Dela Rosa, N. A. E. (2024). Managing supply chains through the Covid-19 pandemic: Lessons from the field. The 2024 Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings, 22. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/amtp-proceedings_2024/22
