Changing Business Operations in Disruptive Times – a review paper

The global lockdown situation that started in Q1 2020, has impacted multi-industry and multi-functional business environments by disrupting the flow of supply chains the world over. There has been an increased need to control resource use, by cutting cost at all possible cost fronts. With close to zero demand levels, there have been speculations of increasingly volatile demand patterns with a rise of newer customer expectations. These times have seen unprecedented rise in inventory levels coupled with an increased risk of inventory obsolescence, and a strategic focus to operate online with the use of technology. There is an already perceptible shift from unwillingness for information sharing, to a realization for all supply chain partners to work in a collaboration. A restriction on people free movement also necessitated businesses to adopt online mode of operations with extensive use technology to support their operations. It follows that this is just the right time to study the supply chain at its people and process levels, to explore ways to integrate process with technology, to examine the pro’s and con’s of traditional ways of working, and to define the new normal, possibly, for a specific industry. This paper seeks to understand in detail what traditional practices in the supply chain have led to the need to change.