Vishnu C. R.

Dr. R. Sridharan

Abstract

Natural disasters and its after effects on business operations is one of the major risk factors that supply chain risk management practitioners still find difficult to manage. Researchers in this area have extensively studied the impact of such unpredictable incidents on supply chain performance, major example being the impact of 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami on electronics and automotive industries around the globe. Consequently, Toyota lost their top position as global car producer in 2011, handing the title back to General Motors. Despite this, research papers have also discussed the impacts of Thailand floods and US hurricanes like Sandy, Katrina etc. Accordingly, this case study is the first attempt to put lights on the impact of the severe flood that happened in 2015 December at Chennai from the supply chain perspective. As Chennai is one of the four metropolitan and major manufacturing hubs of India, any calamity in that location can affect the overall production of the nation. This study investigates the effects of flood on supply chain disruptions in four major industrial sectors with respect to some major firms located in the city. In addition, the study documents the strategies that these companies adopted to manage the disruptions. Furthermore, the paper also suggests strategies that firms can adopt in catastrophic situations like these.

Keywords- Chennai floods; supply chain risk management.