Disruption Risk Management and supply-chain resilience

This thesis aims to make a contribution to the area of Disruption Risk Management in Supply Chains. The key feature of a supply chain that provides it with the ability to withstand the adverse effects of disruptive events is resilience - the ability to adapt to disruptive phenomena. In this thesis we emphasize the role played by collaboration between supply-chain partners in dealing with risk management issues. We first lay out a theoretical framework to mathematically characterize the notion of collaboration, and the advantages it offers over a non-cooperative approach. We then consider a specific context of interdependent risk in supply-chains - that of protecting the containerized supply chain against terrorist attacks. Using a game theoretic approach we analyze the problem from the perspective of policy decisions at U.S. domestic ports, and then develop a queueing simulation model to evaluate actions that can be taken at the foreign ports themselves. Besides underlining the importance of collaboration to achieve resilience in supply chains, this research has resulted in the identification of new research questions along the way, the pursuit of which should help with shedding further light on the challenges associated with disruption risk management