About

The Supply Chain Disruption Survey has the aim of learning about companies’ recent experiences and future expectations in terms of supplier relations. In the survey we focus on medium-sized and large firms operating in various manufacturing industries in multiple European countries.

The first round of the survey was conducted in winter 2023/2024 in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Denmark and had the aim to analyse disruptions and changes in global value chains induced by the Covid shock. The second round of the survey is conducted in more EU member states and focuses mainly on recent changes and challenges in supply chain relationships.

The second round of the survey starts in autumn 2024. We ask purchasing managers in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain about different aspects of supplier relations. We learn about the overall supplier portfolio with questions like „Do you expect a change in the importance of the following geographical markets for the sourcing of your strategic inputs in the next 5 years?”. Questions like “How easy or hard to predict are delays or interruptions for the delivery of your strategic inputs from the different geographical markets?” and “Have the suppliers for strategic inputs of your firm changed over the past two years?” inform us about the patterns of experienced and expected disruptions and firms’ reactions. Finally, we ask about information flows between buyers and suppliers with questions like “Does your firm audit any of its indirect strategic suppliers?” and “Does your firm engage in any of the following activities that require a close collaboration with strategic suppliers?”.

Filling in the survey should take about 10 minutes. Confidentiality in data processing and secure data storage is a top priority for the survey team, which is supported by the long-term experience of the KRTK Databank in handling highly sensitive data. We ensure the respondent’s anonymity and follow GDPR carefully throughout data processing and storage. Further details can be found here.

The first round of the survey was conducted in 2023 – beginning of 2024. We asked purchasing managers in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Hungary. We learnt about the overall supplier portfolio with questions like „How important are the following geographical markets for the sourcing of your strategic inputs?” Questions like „Compared to 2019, how has the risk of not supplying for a specific reason changed?” and „Does your firm audit either formally or informally any of its indirect suppliers?” informed us about risk perception and management. Finally, we asked about knowledge sharing and collaboration with questions like ”Does your firm perform specific activities that involve a close cooperation with strategic suppliers?” and „What would be the impact of having no possibility for any in-person meeting during the integration process of a new supplier?”

A selection of our results from the first round can be found here, and a more detailed description here.