June 2023 MBR The Economic Studies Shelf

The Economic Studies Shelf

Reinventing the Supply Chain
Jack Buffington
Georgetown University Press
www.press.georgetown.edu
9781647122997, $29.95, HC, 216pp

https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Supply-Chain-21st-Century-Covenant/dp/1647122996

Synopsis: When the COVID-19 pandemic led to a global economic "shutdown" in March 2020, our supply chains began to fail, and out-of-stocks and delivery delays became the new norm. Contrary to public perception, the pandemic strain did not break the current system of supply chains; it merely exposed weaknesses and fault lines that were decades in the making, and which were already acutely felt in deindustrialized cities and depopulated rural towns throughout the United States.

With the publication of "Reinventing the Supply Chain: A 21st-Century Covenant with America", Jack Buffington explores the historical role of supply chains in the global economy, outlines where the system went wrong and what needs to be done to fix it, and demonstrates how a retooled supply chain can lead to the revitalization of American communities. Buffington then proposes a transformation of the global supply chain system into a community-based value chain, led by the communities themselves and driven by digital platforms for raising capital and blockchain technology.

Critique: With Buffington's proposals of new and effective solutions to supply chain problems that have been decades in the making, "Reinventing the Supply Chain: A 21st-Century Covenant with America" offers a clear roadmap to a more durable and efficient system. Critically essential reading, "Reinventing the Supply Chain" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library Globalization and Business Management collections. It should be noted for MBA students, academia, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, economists, government policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Reinventing the Supply Chain" is also available in a paperback edition (9783319368047, $54.99) and in digital book format (Kindle, $22.49).

Editorial Note: Jack Buffington (https://firstkey.com/who-we-are/leadership/dr-jack-buffington) is the director of supply chain and sustainability at First Key Consulting and professor and academic director of the supply chain management program at the University of Denver. He is the also author of several previously published books, including "The Recycling Myth and Peak Plastic".

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