From Panic to Dispassionate Rationality—Organizational Responses in Procurement After the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Peak

Lockdowns and social distancing from the COVID-19 crisis took many by surprise. Panic grew about the implications. Supply chains became center stage. We consider decision-making in large multinational companies and whether COVID-19 responses focused on crisis management or a strategic, rational decision-making approach. Chief procurement officers from 22 multinational companies responsible for supply, production, or distribution in front-line industrial sectors affected by COVID-19 informed this article. We propose a reconceptualization of supply chain management with a framework of crisis severity and progression. The framework helps decision-makers balance conservative status quo responses with innovative responses that may be game changers.