According to www.mahoningmatters.com, Youngstown State University (YSU) assistant professor Alina Marculetiu has published two peer-reviewed studies offering empirically grounded guidance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) navigating supply chain disruption and sustainability pressures.
Practical Framework for SME Supply Chain Agility
Marculetiu’s article “Finding Your Rhythm: SME Supply Chain Footwork When the Rules Keep Changing”, co-authored with Sebastian Bockhaus and published in Supply Chain Management Review, draws on over 40 interviews with SME leaders and trade experts across the United States. The research identifies a core capability termed “supply chain choreography”—a dynamic coordination process among suppliers, customers, and partners that enables rapid adaptation amid volatility. This concept emerged directly from field observations of how regional firms adjusted procurement, logistics routing, and inventory policies during sudden shifts such as port congestion, tariff changes, and pandemic-related factory closures.
The study explicitly links agility to operational outcomes: firms applying choreography principles reported up to 30% faster response times to supplier delays and 22% lower average stockout rates during 2022–2024 disruptions. As Mousa Kassis and Mariah Hauser of the Ohio Small Business Development Center and Export Assistance Network stated:
“The United States is entering uncharted territory marked by supply chain disruptions, regionalization and shifting global trade patterns. Against this backdrop, this study is both timely and highly relevant. It provides important findings and clear guidance to help regional and local companies navigate international trade challenges.”
Two-Decade Benchmark of Environmental Drivers
In her second publication—“Benchmarking Institutional Pressures and Environmental Practices in Sustainable Supply Chains: Two Decades of Foundational Research”—published in Benchmarking: An International Journal, Marculetiu and collaborators conducted a systematic meta-analysis of 47 studies spanning two decades (2003–2023) and representing data from more than 9,600 firms worldwide. The analysis isolates the relative influence of four institutional pressure sources—regulatory mandates, investor expectations, customer demands, and peer benchmarking—on adoption of environmental practices such as carbon footprint tracking, sustainable sourcing, and circular packaging.
Findings show regulatory pressure accounted for 37% of early-stage sustainability adoption (pre-2015), while customer-driven demand rose to 52% of adoption drivers after 2019. Marculetiu emphasized the practical implication:
“Organizations today face increasing expectations from customers, investors, employees and regulators. Understanding what motivates companies to embrace sustainable practices can help business leaders make more effective decisions as those expectations continue to evolve.”
Real-World Integration and Ongoing Engagement
Both publications reflect Marculetiu’s dual commitment to methodological rigor and practitioner relevance. She conducted fieldwork in partnership with the Ohio Small Business Development Center, engaging 12 regional SMEs in pilot implementation of choreography frameworks between June 2025 and March 2026. Early feedback informed iterative refinements to decision-support tools now being piloted with supply chain professionals at manufacturing and distribution hubs in Youngstown, Akron, and Cleveland.
The research initiative remains active: Marculetiu and her team are currently recruiting additional participants—including procurement managers, logistics coordinators, and sustainability officers—from firms with annual revenues under $50 million. All contributions will feed into an open-access toolkit scheduled for public release in Q4 2026.
Source: mahoningmatters.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
