Two years of COVID-19 pandemic: Understanding the role of knowledge-based supply chains towards resilience through bibliometric and network analyses

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) catastrophically disrupted most of the global supply chains (SC). Knowledge-based SC can cope with the pandemic disruptions by the efficient use of data, information, knowledge, human intelligence and emerging technologies. This article aims to critically analyse the SC research during the two years of COVID-19 pandemic to understand the role of knowledge-based supply chain towards SC resilience. A review of the 281 shortlisted articles is presented, along with bibliometric and network analyses in order to create an intellectual map of the domain and to identify the emerging knowledge themes. Bibliometric analysis reveals that the knowledge focus during this short span has migrated from COVID-19 pandemic to SC risk management and finally to risk mitigation strategies. The network analysis identifies five emerging knowledge themes, namely impact of COVID-19 on SC;SC risk mitigation and resilience;supply chain viability;sustainable SC strategies;and food SC. This review also elucidates the strategies to mitigate COVID-19 disruptions for incorporating resilience in SC. Future research directions for a knowledge-based sustainable-leagile-resilient (S-leagilient) supply chain have also been propounded.