Emergency Management

Emergency Management

Reengineering the Defense Industry Supply Chain with a Resilience Approach: Developing an Operational Roadmap

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Akbar Rahimi 1
Masuod Darabi 2
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Management and Industrial Engineering, Malek-Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Crisis Management, Faculty of Passive Defense, Malek-Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Modern large-scale, short-term, and technology-driven military conflicts inflict the most devastating impact on national security due to their intensity and sudden shock. The recent 12-day war was a clear example of such a crisis, which affected the country's defense structures. Within this context, the defense industry supply chain, as the backbone of these industries, was also damaged. Disruptions in the supply of strategic raw materials, physical damage to factories, and the assassination of specialized human capital endangered the continuous operation of this chain. Given the lack of genuine resilience in this critical chain, this research aims to develop an integrated, practical, and indigenous operational roadmap for rapid recovery, overcoming this shock, and ultimately achieving long-term resilience. To achieve this goal, a mixed-methodology was employed. First, through in-depth library studies and focus group interviews with 20 experts and managers, 19 strategies were identified and extracted into two categories: "Rapid Recovery" and "Long-Term Resilience." Then, by employing Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM), the complex and hierarchical relationships between these strategies were analyzed, the final roadmap was drawn, and finally, the critical strategies and paths of this roadmap were determined based on sensitivity analysis. The findings revealed that the strategies are interconnected within a five-level hierarchical structure. At the most fundamental level, "Establishing a Centralized Command Post" and "Localization and Internalization" were identified as the most effective levers for transitioning from crisis to resilience. Three critical causal paths were also identified, revealing how the outputs of the rapid recovery phase transform into essential inputs for long-term resilience. The simultaneous and hierarchical focus on both rapid recovery and long-term resilience is the novel and proposed approach of this study, which can sustainably ensure the resilience of the country's defense industry supply chain against future crises.
Keywords
Supply Chain Rapid Revival
Resilient Supply Chain
Defense Industries
Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM)
MICMAC Analysis
Subjects
1. World Economic Forum. (2023). Global Risks Report 2023.
2. Sheffi, Y. (2015). The power of resilience: How the best companies manage the unexpected. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10141.001.0001
3. Taleb, N. N. (2012). Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. Random House. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118725675.ch14
4. Gunessee, S., & Subramanian, N. (2020). Ambiguity and the logistics of defense supply chains. The International Journal of Logistics Management, *31*(3), 525-548. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-02-2019-0046
5. Ivanov, D. (2023). The future of supply chain resilience: A digital, cognitive, and behavioral perspective. International Journal of Production Research, *61*(18), 6039-6050. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2022.2130392
6- رحیمی، اکبر، کریمی گوارشکی، محمدحسین و طالبی، فریبا. (1402). ارائه مدل ساختاری تفسیری جامع موانع تاب‌آوری زنجیره تأمین. مدیریت بحران، 12(1)، 119-95.
7. Pettit, T. J., Croxton, K. L., & Fiksel, J. (2019). The evolution of resilience in supply chain management: A retrospective on ensuring supply chain resilience. Journal of Business Logistics, *40*(1), 56-65. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12202
8. Overy, R. J. (2022). The German economy: From the end of the war to the present day. Penguin Books.
9. Ivanov, D., Tang, C. S., Dolgui, A., Battini, D., & Das, A. (2022). Researchers' perspectives on industry 4.0: Multi-disciplinary analysis and opportunities for operations management. International Journal of Production Research, *61*(1), 111-129. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2021.2002968
10. Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management (5th ed.). Pearson UK. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11891-8_7
11. Ghadge, A., Er Kara, M., Moradlou, H., & Goswami, M. (2020). The impact of Industry 4.0 implementation on supply chains. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, *31*(4), 669-686. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-10-2019-0368
12. Dubey, R., Bryde, D. J., Foropon, C., Graham, G., Giannakis, M., & Mishra, D. B. (2021). Agility in humanitarian supply chain: An organizational information processing perspective and relational view. Annals of Operations Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-021-03985-6
13. Brandon‐Jones, E., Squire, B., Autry, C. W., & Petersen, K. J. (2014). A contingent resource-based perspective of supply chain resilience and robustness. Journal of Supply Chain Management, *50*(3), 55-73. https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12050
14. Fatorachian, H., & Kazemi, H. (2021). Impact of Industry 4.0 on supply chain performance. Production Planning & Control, *32*(1), 63-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2020.1712487
15. Niemimaa, M., Järveläinen, J., Heikkilä, M., & Heikkilä, J. (2019). Business continuity of business models: Evaluating the resilience of business models for contingencies. International Journal of Information Management, *49*, 208-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.04.011
16. Birkie, S. E. (2016). Operational resilience and lean: In search of synergies and trade-offs. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, *9*(1), 191-211. https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.1540
17. Ali, A., Mahfouz, A., & Arisha, A. (2017). Analysing supply chain resilience: Integrating the constructs in a concept mapping framework via a systematic literature review. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, *22*(1), 16-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-06-2016-0197
18. Roege, P. E., Collier, Z. A., Mancillas, J., McDonagh, J. A., & Linkov, I. (2014). Metrics for energy resilience. Energy Policy, *72*, 249-256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.04.012
19. Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management (5th ed.). Pearson UK. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11891-8_7
20. Bode, C., & Macdonald, J. R. (2017). Stages of supply chain disruption response: Direct, constraining, and mediating factors for impact mitigation. Decision Sciences, *48*(5), 836-874. https://doi.org/10.1111/deci.12245
21. Scholten, K., & Schilder, S. (2015). The role of collaboration in supply chain resilience. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, *20*(4), 471-484. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-11-2014-0386
22. Ben-Daya, M., Hassini, E., & Bahroun, Z. (2019). A novel integration of IoT and blockchain for supply chain resilience. Computers & Industrial Engineering, *136*, 555-570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2019.07.058
23- ترابی، حسن، نقی لو، امیررضا و خلوصی آرام، محمدرضا. (1403). چارچوبی برای ارتقاء تاب‌آوری زنجیره تأمین از طریق فناوری‌های شالوده شکن. مدیریت بحران، 13(4)، 88-71.
24. Ivanov, D., Dolgui, A., & Sokolov, B. (2019). The impact of digital technology and Industry 4.0 on the ripple effect and supply chain risk analytics. International Journal of Production Research, *57*(3), 829-846. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1488086
25. Liu, Z., & Li, K. W. (2020). A systematic review of additive manufacturing in supply chain management. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, *55*, 53-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2020.03.005
26. Khajavi, S. H., Partanen, J., & Holmström, J. (2019). Additive manufacturing in the spare parts supply chain: a review and research agenda. International Journal of Production Research, *57*(11), 3528-3551. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1490726
27. Scholten, K., Scott, P. S., & Fynes, B. (2019). Building routines for non-routine events: Supply chain resilience learning mechanisms and their antecedents. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, *24*(3), 430-442. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-05-2018-0186
28. Dertouzos, M. L., Lester, R. K., & Solow, R. M. (1989). Made in America: Regaining the productive edge. MIT Press.
29. Breznitz, D. (2021). Innovation in real places: Strategies for prosperity in an unforgiving world. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197508118.001.0001
30. Amsden, A. H. (1992). Asia's next giant: South Korea and late industrialization. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/0195076036.001.0001
31. Zheng, P., Wang, Z., Chen, C. H., & Pheng Khoo, L. (2021). A survey of smart product-service systems: Key aspects, challenges and future perspectives. Advanced Engineering Informatics, *42*, 100973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2021.100973
32 Gholz, E., & Sapolsky, H. M. (2000). Restructuring the US defense industry. International Security, *24*(3), 5-51. https://doi.org/10.1162/016228899560551
33. Liu, Z., & Li, K. W. (2020). A systematic review of additive manufacturing in supply chain management. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, *55*, 53-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2020.03.005
34. Edmondson, A. C., & McManus, S. E. (2007). Methodological fit in management field research. Academy of Management Review, *32*(4), 1155-1179. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.26586086
35. Morgan, D. L. (1996). Focus groups. Annual Review of Sociology, *22*(1), 129-152. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.129
36. Okoli, C., & Pawlowski, S. D. (2004). The Delphi method as a research tool: an example, design considerations and applications. Information & Management, *42*(1), 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2003.11.002
37. Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2015). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (5th ed.). Sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483384433
38. Liamputtong, P. (2011). Focus group methodology: Principle and practice. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473957657
39. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, *3*(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
40. Attri, R., Dev, N., & Sharma, V. (2013). Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach: An overview. Journal of Management Research, *5*(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.5296/jmr.v5i2.3405
41. Warfield, J. N. (1974). Developing interconnection matrices in structural modeling. *IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC-4*(1), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSMC.1974.5408524
42. Sushil. (2005). A flexible strategy framework for managing continuity and change. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, *6*(3/4), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03396526
43. Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483384433
44. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8
45. O'Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2020). Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: Debates and practical guidelines. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, *19*. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220
46. Kim, J. (2020). The Korean economy: From a miraculous past to a sustainable future. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12144.001.0001
47. International Organization for Standardization. (2019). ISO 22301:2019 Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Requirements.

  • Receive Date 13 August 2025
  • Revise Date 02 October 2025
  • Accept Date 11 October 2025