Supply chain adaptability as a response to disruptions – theoretical and empirical aspects

This article concerns the increasing complexity and variability of the business environment and the challenges faced by enterprises that operate within supply chains to properly identify and anticipate disruptions and adequately respond to them (i.e., the ability to resist and rebuild). This article aims to identify and evaluate the importance of the main factors that determine supply chains’ adaptability in the modern economy. A review of the literature on the subject, and the results of a survey conducted in the third quarter of 2022 among entities from the transport forwarding logistics (TFL) industry, diagnose the determinants of the adaptability of supply chains that operate when there are disruptions. They indicate the challenges faced by TFL companies that result from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and the directions of changes that result from them, both from the short-term and strategic perspectives. The relationships between the development of adaptability of supply chains and the increase in the competitiveness of entities enable us to verify the research hypothesis that, in the face of increasing disruptions and uncertainty in the business environment, strengthens the adaptability of supply chains producing a great potential in terms of maintaining the competitiveness of enterprises in the TFL industry. To gain and maintain a long-term competitive advantage, companies should strive to create a resilient supply chain that can withstand challenges and disruptions.