Investigating sustainable and resilient supply chain management in Thai manufacturing

This thesis investigates the combinatory relationship between sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and supply chain resilience management (SRES) by developing a new concept of sustainable and resilient supply chain management (SResSCM). Supply chain management has been implemented by organizations for more than three decades and has been developed by integrating different but independent concepts, such as SSCM. Furthermore, organizations also pay attention to business continuity during periods of risk and disruption. Most organizations prepare alternative plans to maintain resilience and SRES was developed to fulfil this strategy. Both SSCM and SRES concepts are important for organizations in order to improve supply chain performance, and are linked in many ways. However, our knowledge is lacking on the combinatory relationship and effects of these two elements as little empirical research has previously been done. This thesis undertakes such empirical research by applying a three-phase, mixed-methods approach: semi-structured interviews to inductively confirm the combination of these two independent concepts, a survey of Thai manufacturers in the electronic/electrical and automotive sectors, and post-survey structured interviews to validate the survey findings. Thailand was chosen as the context for the study as it is a major manufacturing nation for western customers.The research found interconnections between SSCM and SRES from the practitioners’ perspectives which enabled the theoretical development of a ‘House of SResSCM’ framework that organizations around the world can apply. This thesis also contributes theoretically by providing measurement scales of SResSCM practices to assess and define current levels of adoption SSCM and SRES, which supply chain managers can implement in their organization to improve current practices. Finally, the Thai Government could use this study to support Thai manufacturing and provide direction for supply chains to become more sustainable and resilient