Preparing for tomorrow by becoming resilient today

W. P. Carey's Supply Chain Resilience Initiative is committed to enhancing the adaptability of individuals, organizations, and supply chains.

From medication and personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages to empty grocery shelves, the COVID-19 pandemic was fraught with supply chain disruptions that impacted nearly every industry.

"Without resilient supply chains, we cannot move product from the source to the consumer. The pandemic demonstrated why it's critical to have supply chains that can withstand global shocks," says Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management Mikaella Polyviou.

To prepare for future disruptions, Polyviou, Marvin and June Morrison Chair of Agribusiness Timothy Richards, and Professor of Supply Chain Management Eugene Schneller founded the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) in partnership with the W. P. Carey Dean's Office in 2022. The initiative aims to improve supply chain resilience by anticipating, mitigating, and learning from disruptions while educating and informing business leaders, researchers, policymakers, and students on the importance of resilience through practice-inspired research. By partnering and consulting with external organizations, the SCRI can make a lasting impact on supply chain resilience.

"We need to address supply chain resilience from a policy, managerial, and economic perspective," says Richards. "The pandemic made it clear that we did not understand how supply chains worked."

Supply chain disruptions are caused by a myriad of global shocks, such as natural disasters, epidemics, and political unrest. The SCRI defines resilience as a capability that regards anticipating disruptions before they occur, reacting to disruptions once they do occur, and learning from past disruptions. But resilience is critical in supporting more than just supply chains. Individuals, teams, and organizations benefit from being proactive, reactive, and transformative in the midst of disruptions.

"It's too important not to prepare for future disruptions," says Schneller. "We want to be ready. As a university, we must provide foundational information and the processes to support resilience."

As the No. 1 school in innovation, ASU uniquely positions itself to address and improve resilience across the information systems, finance, agribusiness, supply chain, economics, and management fields through practice-inspired research. An interdisciplinary initiative, the SCRI encourages W. P. Carey faculty interested in resilience to help expand the initiative's expertise, reach more industries, and infuse resilience into the course curriculum to educate the next generation of professionals on resilience. The initiative hopes to include faculty from across the university in the future.

Currently, the SCRI is identifying companies and organizations interested in improving their resilience and has submitted proposals to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation to support its resilience research. The SCRI is also planning a resilience research summit this fall, connecting academics and industry leaders to continue the discussion on implementing resilience into their organizations and work.

Polyviou emphasizes that presenting resilience research to the community and local, state, and federal government is crucial to improving resilience on a large scale.

"Without resilience, supply chains break down. Patients can't receive their medication, and parents can't get food to feed their children," says Polyviou. "It's critical to have well-functioning supply chains. The way to do that is through improving their resilience."