Robust global supply chain network design under disruption and uncertainty considering resilience strategies: A parallel memetic algorithm for a real-life case study

A mixed-integer, non-linear model is developed for designing robust global supply chain networks under uncertainty. Six resilience strategies are proposed to mitigate the risk of correlated disruptions. In addition, an efficient parallel Taguchi-based memetic algorithm is developed that incorporates a customized hybrid parallel adaptive large neighborhood search. Fitness landscape analysis is used to determine an effective selection of neighborhood structures, while the upper bound found by Lagrangian relaxation heuristic is used to evaluate quality of solutions and effectiveness of the proposed metaheuristic. The model is solved for a real-life case of a global medical device manufacturer to extract managerial insights.     

Can economic, land use and climatic stresses lead to famine, disease, warfare and death? Using Europe's calamitous 14th century as a parable for the modern age

Although many of today's ecological, climatic and socio-economic problems seem unprecedented, similar events have occurred in the past. As such, historic periods of climatic and economic volatility can be used as a way of developing frameworks for analyzing today's predicament. Western Europe's “middle ages” (circa 11-14th century) may be one such case. By the 12th century, medieval Europe had shifted from the subsistence agrarian economy that emerged following the collapse of the Roman Empire to one where spatially dispersed trade in agricultural commodities helped support a complex society that devoted considerable resources to cultural works. This shift was facilitated by new institutional arrangements centred on monastic orders that provided access to both new agricultural and food processing technologies as well as trade routes. These institutional arrangements contributed to population growth and land clearing. All of these factors increased the wealth of society but also concentrated this wealth in a small number of communities that were dependent on an ever-increasing and exploited hinterland for resources. Ultimately, this created a tightly coupled continent-wide subsistence system that was vulnerable to the weather, economic and disease shocks of the 14th century when Europe's population declined by perhaps 50%. In exploring this history, the goal of this paper is to draw on a diverse theoretical body of literature (that includes resiliency theory, landscape ecology, political science and ecological economics) to develop a series of hypotheses about how large-scale complex civilizations can become vulnerable to climate change.     

‘RESILIENCE’ IN ORGANIZATIONAL ACTORS AND REARTICULATING ‘VOICE’: Towards a humanistic critique of New Public Management

Assumptions of resilience are frequently made about organizational actors, both by scholars and practitioners. It is argued that resilience is unlikely to be the usual outcome from the trauma routinely confronted in organizational life. It is suggested that ‘assumptions’ of resilience stem from either a reification of what is perceived to be a highly desirable trait in organizational actors or a lack of acknowledgement of what, if recognized, would be regarded as an ‘unthinkable’ aspect of organizational life. Managers are unlikely to recognize and admit that the pain they inflict on others in the name of efficiency, organizational down-sizing and out-sourcing will contribute to long-term changes in organizational actors. It is also likely that, while coping skills and resources may be sufficient to equip individuals for the myriad problems they routinely face, even the ‘successful’ actor may not remain unscathed. Some of the negative organizational outcomes of this unthinking ‘assumption’ of resilience are canvassed and suggestions are made as to what strategies may ameliorate the situation. A rearticulation of actors' ‘voice’ in formal organization, at a time of a hegemonic dominance of economic rationalism, is especially overdue.     

Environmental change,resilience, and adaptation in nature-based tourism: conceptualizing the social-ecological resilience of birdwatching tour operations

Resilience theory has emerged as a holistic concept well suited to analyzing tourism systems and which promises important insights into the sustainability of tourism destinations in the face of accelerating global environmental change (GEC). This article presents empirical research into the social-ecological resilience of tour operators using the case study destination of the Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand. It addresses the following research question: How do birdwatching tour operators build resilience to drivers of environmental change, including climatic drivers, into their operations? Qualitative interviews with providers of a specific nature tourism sector activity – birdwatching – were conducted with stakeholders including tour operators, conservation organizations, and local government members. The findings highlight current and possible future challenges to birdwatching tourism on the Otago Peninsula. The paper introduces a conceptual framework which highlights the tour operators’ main coping strategies in response to key perceived social-ecological system (SES) drivers of change. Overall, tour operators perceived their main social-ecological resilience to be the diversity of the species of the Otago Peninsula, their business experience, and the strength of their local stakeholder network to respond to SES crises.     

ESTIMATING THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF A PORT SHUTDOWN: THE SPECIAL ROLE OF RESILIENCE

This paper develops a methodology for the estimation of the total economic consequences of a seaport disruption, factoring in the major types of resilience. The foundation of the methodology is a combination of demand-driven and supply-driven input–output analyses. Resilience is included through a series of ad hoc adjustments based on various formal models and expert judgment. Moreover, we have designed the methodology in a manner that overcomes the major shortcomings of the supply-driven approach. We apply the methodology to a 90-day disruption at the twin seaports of Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, which is a major port area that includes a petrochemical manufacturing complex. We find that regional gross output could decline by as much as $13 billion at the port region level, but that resilience can reduce these impacts by nearly 70%.     

Bleached!: Managing coral catastrophe

Corals have recently emerged as both a sign and a measure of the imminent catastrophic future of life on earth and, as such, have become the focus of intense conservation management. Bleached! draws on in-depth interviews and participatory observations with coral scientists and managers to explore the management of the corals’ ecological catastrophe to come. The article starts by describing the unique life of corals, the importance of calculability in catastrophe management, and the coral scientists’ preoccupation with classifying, counting, and seeing in their attempt to comprehensibly monitor corals and anticipate their decline. Algorithmic models and elaborate temporal analyses are central to this governmental project of “knowing bleaching.” What happens after such bleaching events are foreseen is the topic of my next exploration, which highlights the emergence of yet more monitoring as the central coral conservation “action” in the face of the looming catastrophe. The “resilience” concept is of growing importance in the world of coral management. Since it underlines unpredictability and nonlinearity, resilience as well seems to fly in the face of any anticipatory action, instead scientifically justifying forms of inaction. Finally, Bleached! discusses the heated debates among coral scientists about whether to focus present actions on “buying time” for corals, or whether the only way to prevent or limit imminent coral catastrophe is to deal directly with the elephant in the room: the global regulation of climate change. I argue that, in the case of corals at least, scientific knowledge is not power. Quite the contrary, the real political story here seems to lie in the ways in which scientists’ knowledge is neutralized and prevented from having political effects, such that it does not lead to anticipatory action to restore the ecological order. As one of the prominent coral scientists I interviewed for this project put it: current conservation efforts are akin to reorganizing the chairs on the Titanic, rather than to changing the ship’s deadly course.     

Aligning supply chain design for boosting resilience

Many researchers have analyzed the effect of disruptive events, such as natural disasters and economic and market forces, on global supply chains. However, there is a lack of consensus on delineating a universal collection of supply chain risk management practices that will help companies operate in a global market with large-scale disruptions. In this article, we present an analysis, in conjunction with a worldwide online survey, based on successful global brands and their supply chains. We propose a framework that deploys the dynamics of building supply chain resilience, first linking the design of the supply chain portfolio (local versus global scope, as well as strategic responsiveness versus cost reduction) with supply chain vulnerabilities (external versus internal). We describe the transition between different supply chain structures as a way of coping with disruptions and thus proactively developing resilience. In this article, we introduce both a supply chain risk management approach and the reactive-by-deployment mode, as illustrated by successful global company examples.     

数字化转型情境下组织韧性形成机理 ——基于数据赋能视角的单案例研究

高度动态变化的复杂环境迫使企业顺应数字经济时代发展潮流,借助数据资源形成并不断提升组织韧性,然而现有研究中对于数字化转型情境下组织韧性形成机理缺乏深入探讨。本文引入数据赋能作为研究视角,通过对韩都衣舍进行探索性单案例研究,挖掘数字化转型情境下组织韧性形成的内在机理,研究发现：数字化转型情境下组织韧性形成整体上遵循“内外部情境刺激-数据资源行动-数据能力激活-韧性构建/提升”的过程,随着企业发展阶段的变化,企业可利用的数据从企业数据依次拓展至行业数据、生态数据。研究结果打开了数字化转型情境下组织实现韧性的过程“黑箱”,对于数字经济时代企业进行数字化转型提高组织韧性提供了实践启示。     

科技创新效率与区域经济韧性交互分析——基于珠三角地区的实证

测算珠三角地区科技创新活动研发和经济产出两阶段效率,探讨两阶段效率在时空上的异质性。构建包含科技创新效率、经济韧性和产业多样化的联立方程组,对三者关系进行分析。结果发现,珠三角地区科技创新研发与经济产出效率在空间上存在显著异质性;科技创新效率有助于增强经济韧性,经济韧性也可以提高科技创新效率;现阶段珠三角地区产业相关多样性通过降低研发阶段效率间接削弱经济韧性,无关多样性则与之相反。研究结论对于珠三角地区乃至全国各地提高科技创新活动效率、推动创新驱动发展战略实施、构建区域经济韧性具有重要意义。     

Uncovering climate (in)justice with an adaptive capacity assessment: A multiple case study in rural coastal North Carolina

Climate change resilience is an area of praxis where efforts to enhance community adaptive capacity are informed by theory. However, there is growing evidence that ethnocentrism and privilege are shaping coastal management policies while many communities with climate justice issues struggle to build resilience. Particularly, rural coastal communities, contrasting urban areas, have limited access to centralized planning efforts, unique local contexts for outreach, compounding social vulnerabilities (job loss, out-migration, limited social services), and receive less attention from resilience researchers. Following calls to integrate climate justice into resilience praxis, we assess perceptions of adaptive capacity within predominately African American communities in a rural low-lying coastal region in eastern North Carolina. We add a climate justice lens to evaluate the previously-validated Rural Coastal Community Resilience (RCCR) framework. The RCCR is intended to improve planning efforts by providing climate change information, initiating conversations, and contributing to resilience theory. In contrast to its previous applications, engagement led to declines in perceived adaptive capacity. This result highlights that the information sharing goals of the engagement efforts were poorly aligned with community concerns and threat perceptions. Additionally, perceived climate injustices emerged revealing instances of adaptation oppression. This study recommends strategies to rethink traditional extension efforts to improve inclusiveness by deeply interrogating the inherent whiteness of standard modes of communicating climate science.