Topic: Advancing Supply Chain Resilience for Excellence in the Post-Pandemic Era

Guest Editors
Tsan-Ming CHOI, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
Alexandre DOLGUI, IMT Atlantique, France
Guo LI, Beijing Institute of Technology, China
Suresh P. SETHI, The University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Xiaohang YUE, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA

Background
Frontiers of Engineering Management is an international research journal sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Engineering. It is published quarterly in English in both print and online versions. Frontiers of Engineering Management provides a high-quality international platform for academic researchers, industry professionals, and other constituent communities in the broad field of engineering management to impart and share the latest research results and knowledge in the form of research articles, reviews, comments, and super engineering.

Aims and Scope
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented severe challenges and uncertainties to the global supply chains. How to mitigate the increasing disruption risk has become a key issue for managing global supply chains in the post-pandemic era. One possible solution is to advance supply chain resilience (SCR). As shown by academia and the industries, SCR, which is described as “the intrinsic ability of a system to adjust its functioning before, during, or following changes and disturbances, so that it can sustain required operations under both expected and unexpected conditions”, can have a very good capability of defeating supply chain disruptions. Many firms have already done a variety of attempts to improve SCR in the post-pandemic era. For example, to reduce the uncertainties in delivery, some logistics service providers have exploited advanced technologies (e.g., AI and blockchain) to build more reliable distributional networks. Unfortunately, not all such attempts are successful as the COVID-19 pandemic has led the world into a new environment that people had never met. The past theoretical guides and practical experiences on SCR improvement fail to work efficiently in such a new environment. In the post-COVID-19 era, to successfully advance SCR, both the managers and policymakers need to thoroughly understand the critical roles of different new technologies in balancing SCR improvement and regular epidemic prevention and control. Thus, novel theories and new managerial insights on advancing SCR with full consideration of the essential characteristics of the post-pandemic era are required.
Motivated by the importance of resilience in supply chain operations, and being aware of the urgent need for both theoretical and empirical guides on SCR improvement, we propose this special issue intending to feature research on how firms can construct/advance SCR in the post-pandemic era by employing innovative engineering management technologies and methods. We welcome papers and examples of SCR that adopt a wide range of methods, including case studies, qualitative comparative analyses of multiple cases, various quantitative methods, etc.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to
The main objective of this special issue is to create a platform to address the focal issue on “advancing supply chain resilience for excellence in the post-pandemic era”. Submissions that adopt multi-methodology including analytical, empirical, simulation, and behavioral approaches from the individual, organizational, and/or societal perspective are strongly encouraged. Possible contributions may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
Ø Theoretical insights on achieving SCR in the post-pandemic era
Ø SCR management during the post-COVID-19
Ø The adoption of disruptive technology (e.g., AI, machine learning, and blockchain) in improving SCR
Ø Supply chain network design modeling from perspectives of resilience to new changes in the post-pandemic era
Ø The influence of omnichannel on the firms’ responsiveness to supply chain uncertainties
Ø Collaboration mechanisms on enhancing resilience in supply chains
Ø The effect of product design on supply chain elasticity
Ø The roles of different players in the supply chain (manufacturers, retailers, distributors, providers) to enhance resilience
Ø Proactive and reactive adaptations of SCR to severe and simultaneous demand and supply shocks
Ø Design and operation of resilient supply chains
Ø Reducing the huge bullwhip effects caused by uncertain demand and disruptions in the post-pandemic era
Ø Resilience mechanisms between government agencies/non-profit organizations and for-profit enterprises
The list is short and general on purpose, to encourage potential authors to adopt a variety of perspectives in approaching their research topics. The special issue co-editors welcome authors to contact them directly to discuss other possible topics for their suitability to the special issue. However, all submissions must fit the journal’s goal statements. All submissions will go through the same rigorous review process as regular submissions to the journal.

Submission Guidelines
To submit a manuscript, please visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fem. Under “Manuscript Type”, please select “Advancing SCR”. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed under the established policies and procedures of the journal. Papers will be selected for publication following the outcome of the peer-review process.

Important Dates
Submission deadline: April 30, 2022
Final decision notification: October 31, 2022
Expected publication date: December, 2022 (to be determined by the journal editor)