The evolution of early warning effectiveness - Recommending proactive measures in the event of an early warning and resulting learning effects

Global supply chains have been lulled into a sense of complacency, by reducing costs and efficiency, leading to a continuously increasing degree of complexity, rigidity, and loss of control by outsourcing. Since supply chain risk management could not cope with this development, essential but overdue development steps are required. An EWS in SCM is powerful if the additional preparation time is used effectively in uncertain situations. By combining DSR and the qualitative data analysis of interviews, the study develops a framework to increase early warning effectiveness for supply chain disruptions. We chose this approach because early warning in SCM is in an exploratory stage. We have established a framework for the purposeful evolution of early warning effectiveness.This paper identifies a crucial framework for practitioners to increase early warning effectiveness and simultaneously develops a catalog of actionable measures in case of an early warning. Therefore, it provides practical guidelines for managers to take the right action steps when a supply chain disruption is imminent. This paper is among the first contributions to explore the evolution of early warning by
investigating learning effects and providing a catalog of measures in case of early warning.