Supply Chain: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review

Introduction

SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCY IN A CHANGING WORLD

by Willy C. Shih

In its simplest form, the goal of supply chain management is to efficiently match the supply of products and services with the demand of end customers. Historically the focus has been on sourcing: managing the flow of materials and resources as they move through value-adding stages until they become finished products and services to the point of delivery to customers. Over the last few decades, supply chains have evolved to become global, efficiently delivering a cornucopia of products to consumers around the world. And the environment has been benign, with steadily falling trade barriers and increased global integration.

A series of historic shocks have put both the ...