Supplier resilience assessment in project-driven supply chains

Project-driven supply chains (PDSCs) integrate offsite and onsite supply chain activities and are used to manage complex projects. However, the risks associated with numerous suppliers in a PDSC pose a threat to project performance. To reduce the impact of supplier risks, this study identifies 24 factors and subfactors, derived from extant literature and expert consultation, that promote supplier resilience—supplier’s ability to reduce their vulnerability or to respond effectively to risks. We also propose an approach to measure supplier resilience and apply to New Product Development and Construction projects. Supplier resilience assessment is carried out using grey relational analysis to handle subjectivity and vagueness involved in human judgments. Results show that supplier resilience is sensitive to project context and can be used by managers to assess and select suppliers based on their resilience capabilities. It also allows managers to anticipate risks and proactively work towards enhancing the resilience of PDSC suppliers.