The award, presented in December during the conference in Athens, recognises outstanding research in the field of International Business.

Award-winning research on global supply chains

The winning paper The connectivity paradox: impact of global disruptions on adaptive reconfiguration of global value chains examines how multinational companies adapt their global supply chains when faced with major disruptions. The study focuses on two recent shocks with worldwide impact: the US–China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic.

How companies respond to disruption

Scalera’s research shows that companies respond very differently to global crises, depending on how technology-intensive they are. High-tech firms often rely on specialised locations and tightly connected international networks. This makes them efficient in stable times, but less flexible when disruptions occur. As a result, these firms are more vulnerable when global trade is disturbed and are pushed to rethink where they operate.

Lower-tech firms, by contrast, tend to spread their activities across more locations from the start. This gives them more room to manoeuvre when disruptions happen. After a crisis, these firms often concentrate their activities in a smaller number of well-known and relatively safe locations.

A shift towards caution

Across all companies studied, the research finds a general move towards simpler and more cautious supply chain structures after major disruptions. Firms reduce the number of international connections and rely more on backup options, even if this comes at the cost of efficiency.

Recognition at EIBA

The European International Business Academy conference is one of the main international academic conferences in the field of International Business. The Best Paper Award highlights the relevance of Scalera’s work for understanding how global companies can build more resilient supply chains in an increasingly uncertain world.