Flood risks and impacts_ A case study of Thailand’s floods in 2011 and research questions for supply chain decision making

This paper investigates the impact of floods on the global economy through supply chains, and proposes measures for the related supply chain risk. We examine Thailand’s 2011 flood since it is a notable example of the impact of floods both on industries and the whole economy. The protracted floods affected the primary industrial sectors in Thailand, i.e., the automotive and electronics industries, with a devastating impact on the whole economy. The impact of natural hazards on the global supply chain is increasing. However, the impact on each firm that is exposed is different depending on how well they are prepared and how they respond to the risks. Designing supply chains in a more resilient way will ultimately reduce risks to the economy. Comparing different supply chains and industries’ structure in Thailand, this study identifies the factors in private investment decisionmaking, such as locations of facilities, alternate locations of production, the diversified sources of procurement, emergent assistance from other partner companies in the same supply chain, and degree of the recovery of customers and proposes a hypothesis and related questions for future research. & 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.