SMEs in the face of crisis: The supply chain risk management perspective

COVID-19 has shown how fragile our societies and economies are. Supply chains have particularly been affected. We all had to learn again that the basic supply of some goods is not as crisis-proof as we thought. Moreover, the strong division of labour and the concentration on a few companies in certain areas present considerable weaknesses in the case of a new external crisis such as the pandemic. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been affected by the current pandemic, particularly as they are highly sensitive to external threats. Using data collected between December 2020 and January 2021 through semi-structured interviews conducted with owners and/or managers of SMEs located in six different European countries (i.e., Austria, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Portugal), the chapter aims to provide fresh perspectives on how SMEs address supply chain risk management in times of an external and dynamic crisis.