Identifying critical supply chain risks through social network analysis: ICT company in Iran

Identifying and evaluating supply chain risks is one of the most challenging issues related to supply chain risk management (SCRM). Many risks may threaten a supply chain, but upon the costs, managers had better pay attention to those with the highest impact. The paper advances to identify and rank Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supply chain risks and investigate their intereffects in a directed graph through the social network analysis approach and experts’ opinions. Firstly, ICT supply chain risks were determined based on semi-structured interviews with organizational experts on the viable system model (V.S.M.). Then, they were asked to set a score between zero and five based on the impact of each risk on the other risks to assigning appropriate weight to edges. Finally, ICT supply chain risks were ranked based on centrality measures. The findings indicate that social and political conditions affect the ICT supply chain. As well as, the accuracy of the information and the emergence of new technologies are other factors that have the most significant impact on additional risks in the supply chain. We also situated the analysis on Tehran Internet Holding, a large company representative sales and after-sales service agent of Iran’s most outstanding digital operator.