Supply chain disruptions significantly impact firm performance, yet the link between supplier performance and disruption severity has been understudied. The paper “On supplier resilience: How supplier performance, disruption frequency, and disruption duration are interrelated” by Davide Burkhart and Christoph Bode, accepted by the Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, explores this relationship using exclusive supplier panel data from one of our key industry partners. Our empirical analysis of 352 suppliers reveals that poorly performing suppliers experience more frequent and prolonged disruptions. Additionally, the negative impact on performance worsens with higher disruption intensity. However, disruptions originating from historically good performers are less damaging. These findings highlight the critical role of supplier performance in predicting and mitigating disruption impacts, providing valuable insights for enhancing supply chain resilience. For practice, the key findings are:
- Good at being bad: Poorly performing suppliers are linked to more frequent and longer disruptions. Supplier performance is a strong proxy for supplier resilience.
- Intensified impact: Disruption intensity (disruption frequency × disruption duration) exacerbates the negative effect on performance.
- Quality concerns: Disruptions notably affect supplier quality.