Achieving supply chain efficiency and resilience by using multi-level commons

We offer the notion of “commons” at different levels—within company, private across company, and government-sponsored across-industry sectors—and discuss how the creation of such commons enabled firms to be both efficient during normal times and resilient against the disruptions resulting from COVID-19. At the same time, there are many proven strategies providing resilience in supply chains. For instance, companies that used multiple channels to improve efficiency when facing day-to-day demand-and-supply variations found that the structure also offered resilience without additional cost when COVID struck. We discuss how the presence of commons lowers the cost for firms to adopt such resilience-building supply chain strategies. We discuss factors that impact the creation of these commons and conclude with a number of questions to guide further research into the role of industry commons in facilitating supply chain resilience.