Understanding Responses to Supply Chain Disruptions: Insights from Information Processing and Resource Dependence Perspectives

Abstract

Why, how, and under what conditions do firms respond to supply chain disruptions? These are important questions, given that firms around the world are increasingly exposed to disruptions that impede their supply chain relationships and associated operations. This study applies information processing and resource dependence perspectives to identify the repertoire of strategic responses to supply chain disruptions and to devise and test a model that explains the occurrence of the alternative responses. The findings suggest that these responses are shaped by the “stability motive” and by “interpretative postures,” which evolve from past experiences.