Hau L. Lee (Thoma Professor of Operations, Information and Technology, Stanford Graduate School of Business)

The disruption of the 2020 pandemic, coupled with significant economic tensions between China and the US, have resulted in global companies rethinking their supply chains. Many have called for drastic changes - reshoring, near-shoring, regionalization of vertical supply chains, increasing redundancies, or diversification of Chinese manufacturing to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa or Latin America, etc. Empirical data, however, reveal that many are taking a more cautious approach. Leading companies are continuing to develop innovative ways to redesign their supply chains that still preserve China as their key supply source. This talk will share some of these innovative ways that, in the end, may provide better long term values.