Abstract—The aim of this paper is to contribute to the managerial knowledge development about supply chain capabilities. In the years to come, supply chains (SC) need not only to excel on cost and time, but also improve further in terms of flexibility. Our main contribution is a conceptual design framework that guides managers when investing in flexibility. First, we define a set of flexibility objectives, which differentiates between short- vs. long-term flexibility, and product vs. process flexibility. Second, the framework provides design constructs differentiating three design levels: single resource, single stage, and multi-stage SC.

Index Terms—supply chain management, flexibility, design framework

Cite: Philip G. Moscoso and Alejandro Lago, "Investing in Supply Chain Flexibility: A Design Framework," Journal of Advanced Management Science, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 271-275, May 2016. doi: 10.12720/joams.4.3.271-275