Supplier Resilience During Global Dis ruptions: Lessons from Bangladeshi RMG Factories Post-COVID
Mime, Nazma Ara (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121235797
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121235797
Tiivistelmä
The objective of this study was to investigate the operational, financial, and technological adaptations of a Bangladeshi Ready-Made Garment (RMG) supplier. The analysis has been conducted in several steps. The first step was to conduct a qualitative single embedded case study design, followed by an investigation into the dynamic capabilities which included sensing, seizing, and transforming. What followed after was the data collection which was measured through semi-structured interviews with ten functional leads across strategy, operations, and finance.
Furthermore, the study utilized organizational artifacts which was cancellation logs, weekly dashboards, and production records. The analysis helped to determine that specific operational vulnerabilities which included hidden work-in-progress and liquidity constraints were present. Here it can be seen that resilience was achieved not through large capital investments but through the institutionalisation of specific micro-routines. This goes on to show that the adaptive mechanisms were critical for the supplier to survive the power asymmetry within the global supply chain.
Key adaptive strategies included the establishment of a fixed weekly decision cadence, the enforcement of a 48-hour industrial engineering verification rule before commitment, and the explicit coupling of overtime caps to defect trends. These practices were observed to function as dynamic capabilities that stabilized cash flow, protected quality, and restored schedule reliability. A contextual framework was developed to demonstrate how suppliers stabilize operations under constraint. It is concluded that supplier resilience is grounded in codified, cross-functional routines that enforce visibility and govern the trade-offs between liquidity, quality, and delivery performance.
Furthermore, the study utilized organizational artifacts which was cancellation logs, weekly dashboards, and production records. The analysis helped to determine that specific operational vulnerabilities which included hidden work-in-progress and liquidity constraints were present. Here it can be seen that resilience was achieved not through large capital investments but through the institutionalisation of specific micro-routines. This goes on to show that the adaptive mechanisms were critical for the supplier to survive the power asymmetry within the global supply chain.
Key adaptive strategies included the establishment of a fixed weekly decision cadence, the enforcement of a 48-hour industrial engineering verification rule before commitment, and the explicit coupling of overtime caps to defect trends. These practices were observed to function as dynamic capabilities that stabilized cash flow, protected quality, and restored schedule reliability. A contextual framework was developed to demonstrate how suppliers stabilize operations under constraint. It is concluded that supplier resilience is grounded in codified, cross-functional routines that enforce visibility and govern the trade-offs between liquidity, quality, and delivery performance.