JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

Abstract

This research studies how a multinational enterprise may apply adequate strategies to build resilience within their supply chain against external impact. The study was conducted in two parts, the author first goes over pre-existing literature that relates to supply chain strategies such as shoring strategies like regionalization, design for excellence concepts such as design for supply chain, and collaboration strategies that can further enable resilience within the supply chain. The author then goes over literature on sustainability and how it may relate to resilience building, as well as the telecommunication industry itself and how it has changed over the years both due to industrial evolution, but also external impact.

For the empirical research portion of this study the author interviewed ten specialists within the commissioning company from different roles in different internal organizations. The interviewees were asked to provide their perspectives on the role of the supply chain, their experiences with organizational changes, and their evolving attitudes about the importance of resilience, flexibility, and sustainability in their supply chains. Another topic of conversation included external impact and how participants’ personal work had been affected by the trade war, the conflict in the Ukraine, the pandemic, and any other geopolitical worries or other types of external influence. Participants also discussed potential future problems that they believe organizations should be on the lookout for.

The results of the study show that over the recent events companies within the telecommunication industry have been heavily affected by them, and organizations within the industry are evaluating the possibility of transforming their production capabilities through regionalization to build resilience within their supply chains for future concerns. Resilience is a topic that is affected by many different facets, and it can be enabled at all organizational levels meaning that it is not only a responsibility of supply chain teams themselves. Resilience and sustainability in most cases enable one another, but even then, it is beneficial for organizations to discuss these matters separately, even if sustainability can play a key role towards resilience in the future. Concepts such as design for supply chain are on the rise and can be utilized to make regionalization more worthwhile through higher volumes and easier production tool requirements. The main theoretical contributions through this research are found as confirmation of previous knowledge through industry implementation and the concept of supply chain resilience being built within an organization at all internal levels, and demonstrated how organizations may utilize a variety of strategies to strengthen supply chain resilience. Future concerns remain, and the results show that future research into production ecosystems as well as improved production forecasting methods would be beneficial.