Supply chains are fundamentally networks. In this seminar, we will consider network related issues in supply chain management. We view supply networks as a complex adaptive system consisting of firms as agents.

We begin by discussing buyer-supplier relationships as a dyad. We then present triads as the basic unit of a network where we can study how a link affects another link and how a node affects a link once removed. We extend this discussion into supply base management and extended supply chains. After that, we get to the topic of supply networks and how these networks behave as complex adaptive systems.

The basis of our discussion will come from the draft version of a book manuscript, contracted with Oxford University Press. The draft chapters will be provided in advance. Any subsequent comments and questions will be appreciated. The chapters flow in the following way.

‧ Prologue
‧ CHAPTER 1 Introduction
‧ CHAPTER 2 Companies, Supply Chains, and Supply Networks
‧ CHAPTER 3 Dyads
‧ CHAPTER 4 Triads
‧ CHAPTER 5 Supply Base Management
‧ CHAPTER 6 Extended Supply Chains
‧ CHAPTER 7 Supply Networks
‧ CHAPTER 8 Supply Networks as a Complex Adaptive System
‧ CHAPTER 9 Emerging Topics
‧ Epilogue

In our last class (Class 4), everyone will be invited to share any new ideas that may have emerged during the seminar. As a group, we will try to help develop them further.

As a preview, the topics addressed in Chapter 9, which we plan to cover in Class 4, are listed as follows.
‧ Incomplete contracts and supply chain resilience
‧ Roots of the buyer-supplier relationships
‧ Digitization and supplier ecosystem
‧ Supply chain digitization and digital supply chains
‧ Tetrads in supply networks
‧ Supply chain financing and deep-tier financing
‧ Cyber threats through supply networks
‧ Finding innovation in the supply chain
‧ Modularizing global supply networks

The seminar will flow based on a two-way dialogue between the instructor and students and among the students. Everyone is invited to view the following video clip, as an introduction to this seminar. It frames supply networks as a complex adaptive system.
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/414925047
YouTube: https://youtu.be/8W_LhOF7n1g