Interconnectedness, Complexity and Dynamics in Supply

As discussed in Chaps 2 , 3 and 4 , traditional supply chain management thinking has focused on firms’ connections to other firms upstream from them—their suppliers and their suppliers’ suppliers etc.—and downstream—their distributors and customers, customers’ customers etc. However, connected supply structures and processes can be interconnected with other competing and collaborating supply structures. Larger systems of supply such as healthcare services and the United Nations are dynamic and complex systems of interconnected supply structures and processes. Areas of research that supply chain management researchers are now engaging with, such as sustainability and humanitarian aid, require understanding of greater interconnectedness, dynamics and complexity. Traditional, firm-based theories used in SCM may not be appropriate to tackle these more wicked problem areas. Supply chain management for government organisations operating across multiple supply system levels require different approaches to research and governance.