An Empirical Investigation into Supply Chain Vulnerability Experienced by German Firms

• Stephan M. Wagner
• Christoph Bode

A growing number of academics and practitioners alike have recently put supply chain risks on their agendas, triggered by a series of devastating catastrophic events that impacted economies and supply chains around the globe in the last years. Given the increasing awareness for this important topic, the primary purpose of this research was to study supply chain risk sources in more detail and specifically investigate the relationship between supply chain vulnerability and supply chain risk. Based on the responses from 760 German-based firms it can be shown that structural variables of supply chain design, such as the firms degree of dependence on certain customers and suppliers, as well as the degree of single sourcing or reliance on global supply sources, are relevant for a firm’s exposure to supply chain risk. Overall, this research constitutes the first large-scale investigation and provides a more fine-grained understanding of antecedents of supply chain risks.

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