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According to extant Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) literature, manufacturing firms must align their choice of SC bridging or buffering strategies with their operating environment to achieve high plant performance and minimize SC disruption impacts. However, very few empirical studies have examined the relative performance of these strategies in dynamic industry environments. This study aims to address this research gap. This study also seeks to supplement the limited empirical research that has examined the empirical relationships between a firm’s Supply Base Complexity (SBC), the likelihood of SC disruptions, and plant performance.

This study uses data from a cross-sectional survey of 202 manufacturing firms in India. The data is analyzed, and the study hypotheses are tested using PLS path modeling and SPSS PROCESS Macro.

The study shows that increased SBC leads to an increased frequency of SC disruptions with a negative impact on plant performance. The study also finds that the firm’s implementation of SC bridging or buffering strategies effectively moderates this performance impact. However, the study results do not support the hypothesis that industry dynamism moderates the relative effectiveness of SC bridging or buffering strategies in mitigating the negative impact of SC disruptions.

The study adds to the limited empirical research examining the SC disruption risk associated with SBC and the resulting performance impact. It addresses a gap in extant research by evaluating the efficacy of SC bridging and buffering strategies in mitigating this performance impact in dynamic industry environments.

Manufacturing supply chains (SCs) across the world have become increasingly vulnerable to disruptions due to the increasing fragmentation of business functions and tasks across many firms located within the country and abroad. Despite the numerous instances of SC disruptions being reported in the literature, the study of SC vulnerability lacks adequate conceptual and empirical support. This study aims to address this research gap.

The concept of SC vulnerability was examined considering the outcome and contextual models of vulnerability, which are well established in extant multi-disciplinary vulnerability literature. An exploratory Delphi study was then conducted to understand the extent of vulnerability of various manufacturing SCs in India, drivers of this vulnerability and the key hazards exploiting this vulnerability.

The study confirms the increasing vulnerability of manufacturing SCs in India. It also highlights the lack of top management commitment to risk mitigation as the key vulnerability driver and frequent changes in government laws and regulations as the key hazard being faced by the manufacturing SCs in India.

This study highlights the utility of outcome and contextual models of vulnerability as conceptual frameworks for understanding SC vulnerability. These conceptual insights along with the key manufacturing SC vulnerability drivers and hazards identified in the study should provide a basis for SC redesign for vulnerability reduction and the selection of SC risk mitigation strategies.