Resilience of food supply chains – a dynamic capability approach

Abstract

There are many examples of increasing risk exposure in supply chains in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic proved to be a huge challenge in the last two years, and the war in Ukraine is currently creating uncertainty in the food industry. In our study, we specifically identify and examine risks threatening the food supply chains. In addition to classifying risks, we examine the dynamic capabilities that companies need to have when operating in the downstream supply chain processes in order to mitigate these risks. The research uses a qualitative methodology and explores the range of required corporate capabilities through interviews with manufacturers as focal companies of a food supply chain. We hypothesise that sensing capability and flexibility, as well as communication and coordination skills, will be key to managing threats. As a result of our study, we can ascertain that the security of supply chain operations does not only depend on supply chain capabilities.