Perspectives in supply chain risk management

To gain cost advantage and market share, many firms implemented various initiatives such as outsourced manufacturing and product variety. These initiatives are effective in a stable environment, but they could make a supply chain more vulnerable to various types of disruptions caused by uncertain economic cycles, consumer demands, and natural and man-made disasters. In this paper, we review various quantitative models for managing supply chain risks. We also relate various supply chain risk management (SCRM) strategies examined in the research literature with actual practices. The intent of this paper is three-fold. First, we develop a unified framework for classifying SCRM articles. Second, we hope this review can serve as a practical guide for some researchers to navigate through the sea of research articles in this important area. Third, by highlighting the gap between theory and practice, we hope to motivate researchers to develop new models for mitigating supply chain disruptions. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.