International supply chain agility ‐ Tradeoffs between flexibility and uncertainty
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 1 May 2001
Abstract
Firms operating in an international environment face a host of uncertainties that make it difficult to meet deadlines reliably. To be reliable in an uncertain and changing environment, firms must be able to quickly respond to changes. The ability to do this in a useful time frame is called agility. Unfortunately, measures taken to increase agility often lead to increases in complexity, which works against agility. We propose a theoretical construct linking elements of uncertainty with aspects of agility, pointing out the two‐edged nature of the requisite capabilities. We illustrate our points with examples from five case studies.
Keywords
Citation
Prater, E., Biehl, M. and Smith, M.A. (2001), "International supply chain agility ‐ Tradeoffs between flexibility and uncertainty", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 21 No. 5/6, pp. 823-839. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570110390507
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited