Shared sorrow is half a sorrow

Collaborative relationships in supply chains are known to be an important source of operational performance (Kamal & Irani 2014) that help supply chain partners to “achieve mutual advantages that are greater than the firms would achieve individually” (Cao et al. 2010: 6616). In particular, these inter-organizational relationships build social capital facilitating secure network ties, shared understanding, and trust (Nahapiet & Ghoshal 1998). While the relevance and importance of relationships for supply chain performance is evident for daily operations, little is known related to building and maintaining supply chain resilience (SCRes; Wieland & Wallenburg 2013). SCRes – the ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptions – is increasingly important (Tukamuhabwa et al. 2015) as events that harm the ability of an organization to bring finished products or services to the market are inevitable: in 2015, 74% of the companies experienced at least one disruption (Business Continuity Institute 2015). This chapter will explore whether and how social capital in inter-organizational relationships enables or limits SCRes.