Keele Research Repository

Lockdowns and social distancing from the COVID19 crisis took many by surprise. Panic grew about the implications. Supply chains became center stage. We consider decision making in large multinational companies and whether COVID19 responses focused on crisis management or a strategic, rational decision-making approach. Chief procurement officers from 22 multinational companies responsible for supply, production or distribution in front-line industrial sectors effected by COVID19 informed this study. We propose a reconceptualization of supply chain management with a framework of crisis severity and progression. The framework helps decision makers balance conservative status quo responses with innovative responses that may be gamechangers.