CASE TEXT (for Questions 1 & 2) Supply Chain Crisis Hampering the Global Economy Of recent, there is a shortage of everything, ranging from general merchandise to food, resulting in panic and concems that the issue may even prolong way past the Christmas season, where consumer spending is usually the highest in the majority of countries. The problem is attributed to the supply chain crisis that is currently hampering the global logistics of goods. As you have learnt in Chapter 15, the supply chain concerns the activities involved in getting the goods from their points of origins to the end customer. As the supply chain has become highly globalized, component parts are shipped from all over the globe, finished products go through many intermediaries, warehouses, distribution centres, ports before reaching customer. If any of these processes are disrupted, it will set off a chain reaction and stun the whole supply chain. In 2020, Covid-19 lockdowns across the globe meant that factories are not producing, warehouses and distribution centres are empty, and people aren't really shipping much goods. However, in the months and year following the gradual reopening of the economy, the supply chain has become extremely crucial. Nonetheless in 2021, severe backlogs of cargo ships were experienced, effectively crippling the supply chain. As shown in Figure 1, cargo ships remained anchored and unable to dock. And there are about a hundred of them when this case was written. Among the main reasons for the supply chain bottlenecks are: labour shortages in a period of rising trade volumes. Figure 1: Anchored ship at Long Beach, Califomia Source: Forbes (2021, October 28). Case written by Hew (2021, October 31) QUESTION 2: Explain how trading volumes are influenced by changing consumer behaviour, leading to the supply chain crisis (10 marks) (Hint: You may discuss your answers by observing changes in the world consumer purchasing pattems since the Covid-19 pandemic period, and how this affected trading volumes, and eventually caused the crisis). Type your explanation here. Maximum 250 words Number of words: State the number of words here. Select text, and go to Review Word Count