At this year’s Academy of Management (AOM) Conference on August 6, 2023, in Boston—the world’s largest conference on business administration—the paper “Balancing the Exploitation-Exploration Paradox During Major Geopolitical Disruptions” was awarded second prize by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The authors of the paper are: Hamid Moradlou (University of Warwick), Heather Skipworth (Cranfield School of Management), Lydia Bals (Mainz University of Applied Sciences), Emel Aktas (Cranfield School of Management), and Samuel Roscoe (Thompson Rivers University). Five papers were nominated, all of which were highlighted by the ISM representative and the editors of the *Journal of Supply Chain Management* in attendance as outstanding in terms of practical relevance and their scientific contribution.
Prof. Dr. Lydia Bals presented the paper “Balancing the Exploitation-Exploration Paradox During Major Geopolitical Disruptions” virtually. The paper addresses the question of how companies can position their supply chains to minimize the impact of supply chain disruptions. When companies are able to be both efficient and flexible/adaptive at the same time, this is referred to in research as “ambidextrous.” However, the question arises as to how supply chains can be structured to combine both qualities—while taking disruptions into account. The “disruptions” examined in this paper are Brexit, the trade war between the U.S. and China, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on 29 interviews with 14 multinational companies, the following three strategies were identified.
- The Development of Parallel Supply Chains
- The significant reconfiguration of supplier networks
- The restructuring of internal units
We extend our warmest congratulations to the team of authors on this achievement.
