Viability is the ability of a supply chain (SC) to maintain itself and survive in a changing environment through a redesign of structures and replanning of performance with long-term impacts. In this paper, we theorize a new notion—the viable supply chain (VSC). In our approach, viability is considered as an underlying SC property spanning three perspectives, i.e., agility, resilience, and sustainability. The principal ideas of the VSC model are adaptable structural SC designs for supply–demand allocations and, most importantly, establishment and control of adaptive mechanisms for transitions between the structural designs. Further, we demonstrate how the VSC components can be categorized across organizational, informational, process-functional, technological, and financial structures. Moreover, our study offers a VSC framework within an SC ecosystem. We discuss the relations between resilience and viability. Through the lens and guidance of dynamic systems theory, we illustrate the VSC model at the technical level. The VSC model can be of value for decision-makers to design SCs that can react adaptively to both positive changes (i.e., the agility angle) and be able to absorb negative disturbances, recover and survive during short-term disruptions and long-term, global shocks with societal and economical transformations (i.e., the resilience and sustainability angles). The VSC model can help firms in guiding their decisions on recovery and re-building of their SCs after global, long-term crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We emphasize that resilience is the central perspective in the VSC guaranteeing viability of the SCs of the future. Emerging directions in VSC research are discussed.

中文翻译：

---

可行的供应链模型：整合敏捷性、弹性和可持续性的观点——COVID-19 大流行的教训和思考

生存能力是供应链 (SC) 通过重新设计结构和重新规划具有长期影响的绩效来维持自身并在不断变化的环境中生存的能力。在本文中，我们提出了一个新概念——可行供应链 (VSC)。在我们的方法中，生存能力被视为跨越三个方面的潜在 SC 属性，即敏捷性、弹性和可持续性。VSC 模型的主要思想是用于供需分配的适应性结构 SC 设计，最重要的是，建立和控制结构设计之间转换的适应性机制。此外，我们还展示了如何跨组织、信息、流程功能、技术和财务结构对 VSC 组件进行分类。而且，我们的研究在 SC 生态系统中提供了一个 VSC 框架。我们讨论弹性和生存能力之间的关系。通过动态系统理论的视角和指导，我们在技术层面说明了 VSC 模型。VSC 模型对于决策者设计能够对积极变化（即敏捷角）做出自适应反应并能够吸收负面干扰、在短期中断和长期中断期间恢复和生存的 SC 具有价值，社会和经济转型带来的全球冲击（即弹性和可持续性角度）。VSC 模型可以帮助公司在全球长期危机（例如 COVID-19 大流行）之后指导其恢复和重建 SC 的决策。我们强调弹性是 VSC 保证未来 SC 生存能力的核心观点。