Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm

Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm ORDER NOW FOR CUSTOMIZED AND ORIGINAL ESSAY PAPERS ON Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm the whole aim needs to be changed and written again since the teacher wants it to look more into what we are looking for and what we want to reach with this study Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm literature review needs to be narrowed down more, for example, the first paragraphs needs to be narrowed down and leave the most important sentences instead of being very broad theoretical framework section needs to be deleted ( just like what you did before ) and combine it all together in the literature review ! Method, you did added the two parts that i asked for but do you think this is enough discussion about it should it be more related to what we are talking about?? two new interviews will be added along with the first one you already saw, the answers will be sent today and the other interview answers will be send either tomorrow or on sunday, as i am waiting for the respondent answers. modify the analysis part and method according to the new interviews as well Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm Please Rey pay a lot of attention to this modification as this is the most modification i need right now and it might be the last one before i have my final submission. please work on my file that i am going to attach here as this is the one i am going to submit. there are many sentences that are not referenced could you please have a look and fix them? PLEASE MARK WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO MODEFY WITH A DIFFERENT COLUOR SO I KNOW WHAT IS NEW KEEP REFERENCE IN MIND THE WHOLE THESIS. table_of_contents.docx Table of Contents: School of Business, Society and Engineering Introduction 4 Background 4 Problem Statement Aim and Purpose Research Question 7 8 9 Literature Review 10 Supply Chain Theory 14 Logistic Integration Theory 17 Uncertainty Supply Chain Theory 19 Blockchain Theory 20 Methodology 21 Design of the study 21 The Choice of Approach Data collection 24 Primary Data 24 Secondary Data 24 Interview Questions Reliability of Data 26 Limitations 27 Analysis 27 Conclusion 27 References 28 List of Figures 36 1.Introduction 1. Background 22 24 0 Global pandemics have been present and plagued humanity since the early days. Each pandemic caused both an economical and societal effect. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a worldwide spread of a new disease. A few examples of global pandemics which appeared over the years are Influenza, the Black Death, Smallpox, Cholera, HIV, SARS and also Ebola. These were all pandemics which threatened humanity. It has been well known that every 100 years, a pandemic emerges and spreads all over the world, infects people and affects the economy in different ways, It could result in a positive or negative effect in regards to both the society and the economy. Viruses have always been a nuisance to the global health sectors, and a threat to global economies, but solutions have always been found by limiting the spread of pandemics and creating vaccines against them. However, these pandemics have always resulted in a long-lasting effect that took years to fix and go back to normal. One example is the Black Death, It killed more than 20 million people in Europe and it began in Asia but spread into Europe through trading ships between the years 1347 and 1352. This plaque caused a disruption in the relationship between the lords who owned land in Europe and the peasants who worked in the farms. As people died, it became harder to find people to plow fields and harvest crops (Routt, 2008). As a result, peasants began to demand higher wages. Many lords agreed to these demands and this has resulted in positive effects in the economy. Peasants enjoyed a higher living standard so demand was higher for vegetables, fruits and clothing and production was also high (Routt, 2008). This has affected the supply chain negatively in the beginning but then resulted in a positive effect. Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm In the past, deadly viruses have been terrifying for several reasons. One of these reasons is that there were no strong supply chains that helped limit and eliminate these viruses, but with the developments we are witnessing from industrial and logistical progress, it has become more resilient than before. Supply chain is defined as the process involved in the production and distribution of a commodity. Consequently, the supply chain has been a major effective tool for reducing and eliminating viruses. This is because nowadays, it is easier to produce, trade and transport products and supplies all over the world. This also indicates that countries depend on each other for survival and competition in the market. In global supply chain operations, companies are susceptible to supply distributions, which may ultimately result in inventory shortage and loss of customers (Kumar, DuFresne, and Hahler 2007). The availability of smaller inventories, sick employees and fewer customers lead to a drop in sales. Inventory shortage may occur due to a virus or disease which has led the country to close its borders and prevent importing products into the country in order not to let the virus to spread globally (Kumar, Sameer & Chandra, Charu 2016). On the other hand, Supply chain is the core of every industry. However, economic shocks and other crises cause a major threat to the management of supply chains. For instance, economic shocks such as financial crises are known to reduce productions in a particular industry that is most affected (Jüttner & Maklan, 2011). This is always caused by reduced demand. Therefore, an economic shock specific to an industry or an organization directly impacts on the economic performance of the organization. Shocks also come from natural disasters and their influence in the supply chain is adverse. In the midst of these economic shocks, it is required that the supply chain should be resilient enough not to be adversely affected by these influences. It is apparent that when reacting to these shocks, no matter where they come from, the production part of the supply chain will be significantly affected.Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm The current COVID-19 global pandemic was named at the end of 2019 as a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. This condition resulted in an acute respiratory illness epidemic in Wuhan City in China (Alhazzani et al., 2020). The World Health Organization (WHO) then termed the disease as COVID-19 towards the end of 2019. The disease was very contagious and every country placed guidelines that could help prevent its spread. Having been termed a global pandemic, COVID-19 has caused ripples throughout the economy of the world as the control measures have been to prevent public gatherings and movements (Alhazzani et al., 2020). Therefore, the pandemic has been a health-shock, majorly characterized by uncertainties in the medical industry supply chain (Livingston, 2020). Although there have been other medical supply chain shocks, COVID-19’s effect is unique. This is because of its pattern of propagation that cannot be predicted. Furthermore, the disease affects both the physical and psychological state of manufacturers and personnel responsible for the Supply Chain Management (SCM). Thus, the main effect of COVID-19 is the uncertainty that it causes to the supply chain. Furthermore, the disease has stopped movement hence, less productivity as people are not performing in their respective companies and industries. With concern rising about medicine availability during the spread of the current pandemic, COVID-19, European Pharmaceutical review explores how their supply chain is faring. Since the outbreak started in China and lockdowns were imposed, supply from their manufacturers’ facilities has reduced and if people in China cannot get back to work as soon as possible, eventually supply chain shortage will start to disrupt everyone in Europe as they rely heavily on the imports of medicine (Balfour, 2020). In addition, the Institute of Supply Management revealed the first result of a survey focused on coronavirus 2019. Nearly 75 percent of companies report supply chain disruptions in some capacity due to coronavirusrelated transportation restrictions, and more than 80 percent believe that their organization will experience some impact. More than 44 percent of companies do not have a plan in place to address supply distribution from China since many foreign companies have shifted manufacturing to China, the country has become one of the most important and strong markets in the world. Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm A world economy that is so dependent on China as an industrial lifeline can become increasingly vulnerable to a major supply distribution caused by the disease (Newman and Zaho, 2003). COVID-19 creates fear and uncertainty by hitting the global economy and amplifying the volatility of the financial market. The supply chain in healthcare consists of pharmaceutical products, medical and surgical supplies, machines, and other products as required by the Healthcare department (Arora & Gigras, 2018). Most companies are experiencing a disruption in their supply chain as the import and export of their equipment and materials is halted because there is a decrease in demand amid the global pandemic COVID-19 virus. Therefore, those companies started to focus on domestic distributors to meet their needs. However, when the global distributors have shut down or slowed down globally, that means the business will negatively be affected and that will be bad for the cash flow as many companies will go bankrupt. Thus, the high speed of shutting down the global industries is currently causing a bad situation and will have a bad impact on supply chains both globally and domestically. 2. Problem Statement As the borders between countries are now closed and the imports and exports of goods and services are paralyzed, this issue has affected all countries who are facing the COVID-19 disease as there is both a shortage in supplies to treat the patients and also a shortage in employees due to sickness and fear of infection. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused many complexities to healthcare management, and the supply chain is not exempted. Economic harm that has been caused by the pandemic, just as other previously existing viruses such as SARS, has become severe and noticeable. This follows the fact that the global supply chain has been affected as well as there has been a declining demand for the goods that have been imported (Selmi & Bouoiyour, 2020). Comparing well with the 2003 SARS outbreak, COVID-19 has caused many challenges to the highly integrated economy. This effect is expected to hit the healthcare industry as well and has already started to be visible. Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm The shortage in supplies has affected the healthcare departement largely, as the need for sanitizers, protective masks, gear and oxygen machines is great and the demand keeps increasing due to the spread of this infectious disease. This has resulted in both the problem of high demand and low supply and also the problem of the movement of the products between countries. The only products people are demanding at the moment all around the world is food, medicine and healthcare. This has created an imbalance in the economy. This is because many retail shops, companies, factories, hotels and many other departments have nearly no demand at all. In addition, many governments forced a lockdown in order to prevent the virus from spreading (Asquith, 2020), as a result, this has also led to the complete shutdown of the whole market in many countries. According to Pierre Haren and David Simchi-Levi 2020, they predict that the impact of COVID-19 on the global supply chain will occur in mid-March, forcing thousands of companies to throttle down or temporarily shut assembly and manufacturing plants in the U.S and Europe. Like other countries, the Swedish government has also put in place certain measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 (Majid, 2020). The measures also demand that there be treatment schemes for those who have already been infected with the disease. In response, manufacturers all over the world are struggling to meet the high demands that have been caused by the pandemic, especially on the supply of medical products and services (Majid, 2020). At the same time, the manufacturers are challenged since they have to also protect their workers and ensure that they are safe even as they make the productions. For Instance, Majid (2020) demonstrated two main features in supply chain management that are important and connected to the healthcare industry. Those features are, production and delivery. Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm Both of these aspects depend on the human resource required to control the machines that are used in the process of production. Delivery is equally essential since it ensures that the produced products reach people and organizations as required (Majid, 2020). However, it is evident that these two aspects have been significantly challenged by the rise of COVID-19. Production is affected in the sense that people who are required in the production cannot freely move to attend their work for safety concerns. Similarly, the delivery has been challenged with the movement restrictions. However, The cases also continue to increase day by day. Considering other places in Sweden that have been the most affected by the pandemic, Stockholm becomes number one. This implies that the medical supply chain in the area needs to be intensified as more equipment to manage the issue arises. 3. Aim and Purpose The purpose of the study is to discover how the healthcare industry is affected by a global pandemic through the supply chain in Sweden. The shortage of pharmaceuticals are of critical importance for patients, the health status of patients is put at risk if they are not receiving their prescribed medicine in a timely manner. A shortage of medicine can also translate to a lower quality and safety of care. However, India is the biggest country that supplies medicine worldwide and India’s the biggest supplier of generic medicines and it imports 70% of it’s API from China, meaning that it will inevitably face shortage as the virus keeps spreading (Armstrong, 2020). Therefore, The European Agency has requested the EU pharmaceutical industry to raise awareness among their members of the potential impact of quarantine in China and elsewhere on the supply of medicine in the European Economic Area and remind them of their obligation to report any shortage to the EU authorities (European Medicines Agency, 2020). Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm This research aimed at investigating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the medical industry supply chain in Stockholm, Sweden. The research expanded to investigate how every aspect of the supply chain in the medical industry is being impacted in the area of focus. COVID-19 comes from various families of coronavirus, which has existed for years and ranges from the common cold to MERS and SARS respiratory viruses. Based on its nature and advances, this study shows how this pandemic has an impact on the supply chain in general and more specifically how it has an effect on the manufacturers, imports and exports, labor and the global economy in the Kingdom of Sweden. The research is specific to healthcare industry supply chain management in Stockholm, Sweden. 4. Research Question The following research question will be used in order to make this investigation and will help in answering the questions regarding the COVID-19 and its effect on the medical industry through the supply chain in Sweden. “To what extent does the global pandemic COVID-19 have an impact on the supply chain in the healthcare system in Sweden?” 2. Literature Review Aronsson et al. (2011) stated that healthcare challenges have been expanding over the past decades. The main cause of these challenges has been associated with the scarce resources that can be used to attend to healthcare issues. This implies that the field of supply chain management in the healthcare industry is the one that has experienced most of the challenges that are experienced in healthcare especially to those countries that depend on importing these resources rather than having manufacturers to produce them. Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm Supply chain management forms the basis of every business in any industry (Aronsson et al., 2011). According to Aronsson 2011, supply chain management (SCM) is essential since it ensures that cost reduction and competitive advantage is maintained in a company. Nonetheless, healthcare has been so reluctant in embracing these practices and ensuring that the production and overall supply chain management is focused on addressing scarcity challenges as well as meeting competitive advantage. The proper application of SCM is also made more complex with the increasing flow of patients in those healthcare systems. Other challenges inhibit the application of SCM in controlling the operations of healthcare systems. The main barriers include limited education on SCM and inadequate support from the executive (Aronsson et al., 2011). Surprisingly, healthcare facilities spend between 30% and 40% of their finances on the management of logistics (Aronsson et al., 2011). It is a real challenge to manage logistics in any organization without an SCM. The main intention of the development of SCM is that it is essential in solving functional problems that might occur between organizations (Aronsson et al., 2011). Evidently, healthcare organizations are interrelated in terms of operations. For example, a hospital must relate to another manufacturing company and rely on the manufacturing process to ensure that there are proper production and delivery of the medical products. The role of SCM is to ensure that there is a seamless process between two or more organizations as they distribute the products. Therefore, there must be an established SCM to ensure that there is smooth delivery of products and services in different healthcare systems.Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm The challenges with supply chain management SCM in Sweden are heightened by the fact that there is a considerable elderly population in the country, especially in Stockholm. Indeed, Aronsson 2011, stated that a large number of patients in Sweden are the elderly who are experiencing an increased need for social services. Most of these elderly patients are always required to stay within the hospitals, which is a major source of a challenge with coordination. Furthermore, the process of dealing with the patients requires that multiple departments are being brought together through a common communication (Aronsson et al., 2011). There can also be inter-organization transfers when handling patients. The activity of dealing with patients demonstrates a clear picture of the existence of a supply chain. The main role of hospitals in the patient healthcare supply chain is to offer a vast treatment spectrum. Undeniably, organizations are always separated and specialized in different ways (Aronsson et al., 2011). This creates the need to always transfer patients from one hospital to another to ensure that the specific conditions are addressed accordingly and effectively. Organizational performance is also dependent on the practice used in SCM ( supply chain management). For instance, innovation and efficiency in SCM have been reported as the main determinants of organizational success (Yap & Tan, 2012)Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm . Based on these practices, there will be the creation of customer value, reduction in medical error, efficient management of the patient and operational data, and swift processing of patient care. As a result, healthcare SCM needs to be more integrated so that it can foster efficiency in different operations. Appropriate SCM practices also influence the competitive capabilities of an organization. The competitive capabilities include differentiation in products, customer service, and cost leadership. Likewise, these capabilities also work for healthcare SCM. Logistics is also an important process that is compatible with the supply chain and medical industry. Logistics can be comprensible and useful for improving patient flow. Healthcare aims to serve people who need help with health problems, which in logistic terms is to meet customer demand and from a logistic perspective, patients pass different care functions, units, organization, and health facilities. However, the effect of logistics has made some hospitals in the European Union to cancel non-essential surgeries, which basically shows the importance of logistics in the medical industry (The Local, 2019). Due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic many ports, ships, and cargo airlines have shut down it current work which has highly affected retailers and huge companies in transporting their products to the final destination and has also affected healthcare organization and patients as well in regards that there is a shortage of medicines in most countries.Assignment: Coronavirus Effects on the Medical Industry Supply Chain in Stockholm In addition, Uncertainty in the market is a major threat to effectiveness and efficiency in SCM. Indeed, it has been shown that the current business environment is characterized by increased uncertainty (Merschmann & Thonemann, 2011). With globalization, the uncertainties in business increase more. Globalization causes more demands on the manufacturing, sourcing, and distributions since customers are expectant of customized products (Merschmann & Thonemann, 2011). Such challenges require that there be an established manufacturing flexibility that can respond to any dynamism in the business environment (Mer … Get a 10 % discount on an order above $ 100 Use the following coupon code : NURSING10

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