Table 3.
Mean score for the identified recovery challenges.
| Name of the recovery challenges | Explanation of the recovery challenge | Mean score |
|---|---|---|
| Global economic recession in longer term | Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a global economic recession is likely to occur, and the global economy will take a long time to recover. | 4.1 |
| Pressure from buyers on reducing delivery lead time | While manufacturers are facing difficulties in continuing with their production smoothly, buyers can exert great pressure on on-time delivery. This ongoing pressure may hamper the relationships during the recovery process. | 4.3 |
| Increase of bankruptcy of supply chain partners | Supply chain partners have a high risk of bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This may reduce the availability of partners during the recovery. | 4.2 |
| Complexities in real-time forecasting | Due to the sudden impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand information becomes inaccurate and may not be available. This creates complexity in real-time forecasting. | 3.0 |
| Shortage of physical and financial resources | Lockdowns and other restrictions can hamper the provision of physical (material) and financial resources, which may slow down the recovery. | 4.1 |
| Sharp fall of demand for a longer period | There will be a challenge in maintaining the same level of product demands due to reduced purchasing along the supply chain for longer period. This could lead to a longer recovery process. | 4.0 |
| High level of layoff of highly paid workers | There is a high chance of layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees will expect more sustainable job assurance from the industry owners. This may lead to a shortage of skilled manpower during the recovery process. | 4.0 |
| Long time to make a recovery decision | The COVID-19 pandemic is altering regular activities and impacting the supply chain drastically. It will be difficult to identify and make recovery decisions rapidly. | 4.3 |
| Closure of operations of supply chain partners | Due to the lack of demand of some items, there is a high risk of closure of operations of supply chain partners. It could hamper the normal supply chain operations during the recovery process. | 4.0 |
| More sustainable demand from the employees | Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, social sustainability practices can be affected. The employees may become more demanding in ensuring social sustainability. | 3.5 |
| Changes in distribution networks | Global shutdown and spreading of the virus can disrupt the distribution networks during the recovery process. | 4.2 |
| Shortage of skilled manpower | A shortage of skilled manpower can be one of the recovery challenges as industry owners may lay off skilled manpower to cut costs. | 4.3 |
| A slow rise in productivity to normal levels | To slow down the spread of COVID-19, the social distancing requirement is commonly enforced with profound impacts. It can reduce productivity as employees will not be able to work normally during the recovery process. | 4.4 |
| Payment withholding from buyers | Buyers are facing demand shortages and may not have enough revenue to pay for inventory. Therefore, they may withhold payment. Suppliers could face challenges in maintaining normal activities during the recovery process. | 4.2 |
| Complexities in production planning | The COVID-19 has created multi-dimensional impacts and deep uncertainties in the production process which may increase complexity in its recovery planning. | 2.9 |
| Low level of preparedness | Many supply chain managers have no idea about the magnitude of impacts of the pandemic which indicates a low level of preparedness and this may slow down the recovery process. | 4.1 |
| Reduction in supply chain flexibility | Supply chain activities in a pandemic condition are subject to many restrictions. As such, flexibility of the supply chain during the recovery may decrease. | 4.0 |
| Difficulties in supply chain collaboration | Border closure has resulted in greater difficulties in collaborating with supply chain partners during the recovery. | 4.1 |
| Long-lasting impact on the activities of end customers | Panic buying and shifting of consumer goods demands are commonly observed during the pandemic. The impacts can be long-lasting. | 4.0 |
| Reduction in sourcing options | Due to the slowdown of manufacturing operations, border closure, and restriction of air transport facilities, sourcing options for supply chain partners could be reduced during the recovery. | 4.0 |
| Lack of air transportation facility | Due to the closure of international borders, availability of air transport has lessened. This may lead to disruption during the recovery. | 3.0 |
| Long time to recover | The COVID-19 is a unique type of pandemic and supply chain experts are not familiar with it. Therefore, it will take long time to recover. | 4.0 |
| Low level of financial flow in the market | A low level of financial flow will be one of the critical recovery challenges for supply chain partners. It can impact regular business activities during the recovery. | 4.0 |
| Problems in rapid communication | Most employees have been working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may create issues with rapid communication during the recovery. | 3.0 |
| Frequent order cancellation from buyers | Buyers are canceling orders due to a reduction in consumer demand. This could impact normal supply chain activities during the recovery process. | 4.1 |
| Increase in price of raw materials | Raw material suppliers are not able to operate the supply activities due to restrictions throughout the world. This may increase the price of raw materials while supply chains recover from the pandemic. | 4.0 |
| Pressure from buyers on using faster transportation mode | As some items such as textile-related personal protective equipment have a high demand on the market, buyers are forced to ship the products using faster transportation mode. This could create financial pressure on sellers during the recovery process. | 4.0 |
| Dilemma of ‘survival vs. sustainability’ in making a decision | Supply chain practitioners and experts are facing difficulties in focusing on sustainability while they are struggling for survival. During the recovery, many supply chain partners may not be able to maintain sustainability practices while recovering from financial impacts. | 4.1 |