Due to their growing global and complex nature, supply chains are increasingly vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters that disrupt the flow of goods. Today, recovering from disruptions represents a major challenge for supply chain professionals. In literature, most recovery methods are based on redundancy and flexibility. Their drawbacks are high inventory and coordination costs. The companies analyzed in this paper took another approach: they recovered by collaborating with their network partners, especially by temporarily sharing resources. Based on the relational view theory, this paper aims to describe whether and how companies can gain competitive advantage by relying on collaboration during the recovery process. A multiple case study with companies from the automotive and electronics industries is conducted. Six cases are analyzed with regard to the recovery characteristics and enabler. Seven propositions are derived that give potential for further research on this promising recovery method.
