Looking inside the panarchy: reorganisation capabilities for food supply chain resilience against geopolitical crises

Purpose Drawing on panarchy theory and adaptive cycles, this study aims to investigate the role of reorganisation capabilities on firms’ supply chain resilience. The conceptual model underpinned by panarchy theory is tested in the agrifood supply chains disrupted by a geopolitical crisis and faced with material shortage. The study considers circularity as a core reorganisational capability and measures its interplay with two other capabilities: new product development and resource reconfiguration capabilities to achieve supply chain resilience.

Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research design is followed to test the relationships between circularity capabilities, resource reconfiguration capabilities, new product development capabilities and supply chain resilience. A cross-sectional survey is applied to a sample drawn from food manufacturers who are dependent on wheat and sunflower oil as raw material and who are faced with material shortages in the aftermath of a geopolitical crisis. Measurement models and hypotheses are tested with the partial least squared structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) based on 324 responses.

Findings The results show that new product development and resource reconfiguration capabilities fully mediate the relationship between circularity capabilities and supply chain resilience. In other words, the food producers achieved supply chain resilience in response to agrifood supply chain disruption when they mobilised circularity capabilities in combination with new product development and resource reconfiguration capabilities.

Practical implications The findings suggest that producers in the agrifood industry and even those in other industries need to develop circularity capabilities in combination with new product development and resource reconfiguration capabilities to tackle supply chain disruptions. In a world that is challenged by geopolitical and climate-related crises, this means leveraging 3R practices as well as resource substitution and reconfiguration in new product development processes.

Originality/value The study explores the release and reorganisation phases of adaptive cycles in a panarchy by analysing the interplay between different capabilities for building supply chain resilience in response to disruptions challenging supply chains from higher levels of the panarchy. The results extend the theoretical debate between circularity and supply chain resilience to an empirical setting and suggest the introduction of new variables to this relationship.