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A systematic review of China’s belt and road initiative:Implications for global supply chain management

A systematic review of China’s belt and road initiative:Implications for global supply chain management

Authors :
Matthias Thürer
Steven A. Melnyk
Constantin Blome
Hing Kai Chan
George Q. Huang
Mark Stevenson
Ivan Tomašević
UCL - SSH/LIDAM/CORE - Center for operations research and econometrics
Source :
International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 58, no. 8, p. 2436-2453 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the world’s largest infrastructure projects, with its potential political and economic impact being widely discussed since its inception in 2013. Yet the phenomenon has received only limited attention in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) literature. In response, we first conduct a broad systematic review of the literature to assess how China’s BRI is portrayed. Using this as a backdrop, we then distil the likely impact of the BRI on location decisions and supply chain flows. Finally, in a broader discussion of the SCM literature, we explore the implications of the BRI for future research in four key areas: supply chain configuration, supply chain resilience, sustainable SCM, and cross border SCM. While these areas are not new, the BRI presents a unique context that can be used to enhance theory and understanding in each area. The BRI reduces time distance independent of geographical distance by diverting supply chain flows from established routes to new routes via far less accessible regions. This introduces new risks and sustainability issues that call for multi-criteria decision support systems. Another important issue is the adoption and diffusion of the BRI since this will ultimately determine project success.reduces time distance independent of geographical distance by diverting supply chain flows from established routes to new routes via far less accessible regions. This introduces new risks and sustainability issues that call for multi-criteria decision support systems. Another important issue is the adoption and diffusion of the BRI since this will ultimately determine project success.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00207543
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 58, no. 8, p. 2436-2453 (2020)
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....47ceb9307b59bc704f545f48c4d5ae39
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2019.1605225