Managing Supply Chain Disruption and Competition

The aim of this project is to identify managerial principles that can effectively deal with supply chain disruptions and competitions in today’s global market. The project has a significant relevance to Hong Kong and China as the region has become a major player in the global supply chains.Supply chain disruptions are unplanned and unanticipated events that disrupt the normal supply and flow of goods and materials within a supply chain. Typical examples of supply disruptions include natural disasters, labor strikes, and transportation delays. Disruptions have severe consequences on firms’ customer service and profitability. Surveys reported supply disruption as one of the top challenges for global supply chain management.The impact of supply disruption is further exaggerated as more and more products feature much shortened life-cycle. Supply disruption can cause the firms to miss the major selling season and lead to substantial loss of profit and market share.The researchers propose to carry out a systematic investigation on how to manage supply chain disruption for short life-cycle products in the competitive market. In particular, they plan to address the management challenges at two different levels:At the operational level, the researchers will derive the optimal inventory ordering policy; andAt the design level, the researchers will investigate various supply chain contracts and identify appropriate ones that coordinate supply chains.