Supply chain resilience in the platform economy: Contrasting product with service models and business-to-consumer with consumer-to-consumer interactions

Authors

  • Mansoor Soomro Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, United Kingdom.
  • Zafir Mohd Makhbul UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Mara Ridhuan Che Abdul Rahman mara@ukm.edu.myaUKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Dzulkilfli Mukhtar Faculty of Entrepreneurship & Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, 16100 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
  • Mohd Helmi Ali UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol10iss2pp300-322

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Conventionally, service platforms with a business-to-customer (B2C) orientation are expected to outperform product platforms with a customer-to-customer (C2C) orientation in supply chain resilience. However, COVID-19 has revealed that this is not always the case. Remarkably, the supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 were experienced differently for various reasons by various firms. In this vein, the supply chain resilience may be incomplete and requires a deep dive to find an updated theoretical positioning

Methodology: Through Rasch Psychometric Modeling, this research studied 14 platform businesses to understand their supply chain resilience during the pandemic.

Findings: The results indicate that four supply chain resilience factors perform differently between product and service platforms: operations cost, offering quality, flexibility, and timely deliveries. Moreover, three supply chain resilience factors perform differently between B2C and C2C platforms: market position, offering flexibility and timely deliveries.

Contributions: This study have identified the vital areas of SCRes significant for dealing with the post-COVID-19 situation, especially from two perspectives- product & service platforms and B2C & C2C platforms

Keywords: Platform business, platform economy, supply chain resilience, pandemic, B2C, C2C.

Author Biographies

  • Mansoor Soomro, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BX, United Kingdom.

    Mansoor Ahmed Soomro is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainability and International Business at the Teesside University International Business School (TUIBS). He is also the Innovation and Enterprise Lead for the Future of Work (FOW) research center and Sector Lead for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering at the business school. He holds a PhD in Management from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia). He has a unique blend of work experience drawing from his work in the corporate industry and academia. In the past, he served in various international leadership roles with the global engineering giant- SIEMENS. Mansoor is also a Course Leader for the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at TUIBS which is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) for Senior Leader Apprenticeship (SLA). His research interests are in the areas of resilience, readiness, future of work, digital transformation, sustainability, and international business. His work on various occasions has been featured on BBC, EuroNews, CNN, Yahoo, United Nations, World Bank, Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS), and Enterprise Educators United Kingdom (EEUK).

  • Zafir Mohd Makhbul, UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

    Zafir Khan Bin Mohamed Makhbul is a Professor of Human Resource and Organisational Management at UKM-Graduate School of Business (UKM-GSB) and the Faculty of Economics and Management. He has served as Dean of UKM-GSB since March 2021. With over 27 years of academic and industry experience, including roles at Motorola, Hong Leong Finance, and Agrobank, he was also seconded to the Ministry of Higher Education as Deputy Director. A prolific author of over 50 books and 200 articles, he regularly contributes to mainstream media and owns 20 copyrights. He is frequently invited as a speaker and trainer for major organisations and holds memberships in several professional bodies. His accolades include the Tokoh Akademik Bahasa Melayu Award, National Book Award, and UKM's Excellent Service Award.

  • Mara Ridhuan Che Abdul Rahman, mara@ukm.edu.myaUKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

    Mara Ridhuan Che Abdul Rahman is the Deputy Dean (Partnership & Income Generation) and Senior Lecturer at UKM-Graduate School of Business (UKM-GSB). With over 20 years of academic experience, his expertise lies in corporate reporting, ESG, intellectual capital, and Islamic finance. He has published 38 journal articles with over 1,000 citations and has secured over RM1.1 million in research funding. Dr. Mara is actively involved in national and international academic engagements, serves as an MQA panel member, and contributes to SDG and community projects. He holds a PhD in Accounting from Newcastle University.

  • Dzulkilfli Mukhtar, Faculty of Entrepreneurship & Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, 16100 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.

    Dzulkifli Mukhtar is the Associate Professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK). He specializes in entrepreneurship development, innovation management, and strategic leadership. Holding a PhD in Innovation Management from Nottingham Trent University, his work spans research, consultation, and policy advisory, particularly in entrepreneurial ecosystems and SME growth strategies. He has published extensively in journals and books, and actively speaks at international conferences. Dr. Dzulkifli is committed to nurturing entrepreneurial talent, fostering academic-industry collaborations, and advancing sustainable entrepreneurship across Southeast Asia.

  • Mohd Helmi Ali, UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

    Mohd Helmi Ali is a Professor at the UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He currently holds an administrative role as Deputy Dean (Research and Innovation), and his research interest is in supply chain management and sustainability. He has published more than 100 articles in a number of high impact journals such as Trends in Food Science and Technology, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, International Journal of Production Economics and many more. Prior to joining academia, he has experience in multiple industries such as food, oil and gas, maritime, transportation, and construction. He has worked with many research grants, in particular on food integrity, food supply chain sustainability. He also served as editors in numbers of high impact global scientific journals

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Published

2025-07-31

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2: Journal of Nusantara Studies(JONUS)

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Supply chain resilience in the platform economy: Contrasting product with service models and business-to-consumer with consumer-to-consumer interactions. (2025). Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS), 10(2), 300-322. https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol10iss2pp300-322