BEHS 210 6381 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL SCIENCES
Psychology Project Plan
Topic
Supply chains are amongst the most adversely affected economic sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The supply chain is a broad concept encompassing different. According to KPMG (2022), all supply chain dimensions faced significant challenges during the pandemic. However, with the pandemic alleviation strategies and economic recovery frameworks, most aspects indicate commendable recovery progress except for the labor force shortage, which poses future uncertainty. KPMG (2022) argues that the pandemic aftermath has created a complex work environment prompting organizations to re-evaluate the workforce and labor strategies. Thus, the paper will analyze the labor and workforce disruption caused by Covid-19 and the future uncertainties.
Social Sciences Importance
Labor and workforce are societal issues stemming from the relationship between people, organizations, and external factors, leading to a network of interactions that are intricate to detangle and comprehend. Thus, there is a need to employ a scientific approach using social sciences to investigate this sophisticated relationship. According to UKRI (2022), social sciences provide a generalized delineation of the interplay between different variables in society and the outcomes impact on human beings and their systems. Further, social sciences allow the implementation of a multidisciplinary approach by combining various disciplines. Pedersen (2016) postulates that there is a paradigm shift from relying on single scientific insights to an interdisciplinary approach that offers different and lucid perspectives. Each social science provides a unique viewpoint that can complement another to form a constructive argument.
Preliminary Arguments
Social sciences are critical to addressing the importance of human labor in the supply chain processes and its susceptibility to unprecedented incidents. Labor is a critical driving force for all supply chain activities, including production, packaging, and timely delivery. Thus, any unforeseen occurrences affecting labor in supply chain levels predispose the entire system to an operational impasse. The research will also focus on the current switch to a technologically-driven labor force in supply chains in the wake of Covid-19. Contrary to the belief that the approach would mitigate labor shortages, it has escalated the puzzle to a more complicated level whereby shortages in the workforce persist, straining the operations and making future implementation challenging. Further, the paper will narrow into the mitigation frameworks that can harmonize technology and the human labor force to create a formidable supply chain workforce that is impregnable by future unpredictable events. This objective aligns with KPMG (2022), which argues that resilience is the most potent mitigation approach for workforce and labor shortages in supply chains.
Social Science Disciplines
The final paper will incorporate sociology and anthropology to study the above phenomenon. Sociology analyzes societal patterns to understand human demeanors efficiently (CrashCourse, 2017). It is a unique social science, providing an in-depth perspective of issues to improve rationality and transparency. According to CrashCourse (2017), an initial sociological analysis entails a general viewpoint of issues and further narrows to outlining the anomalous dimension of the things people are acquainted with. These sociological features align with the research topic as they will aid expound human labor’s complexities and vulnerabilities and unravel the relationship between technology and the human force. Anthropology is the other social science that the paper will employ. It is a science that explains the holistic existence of human nature and how it has evolved in the broader society. In this case, the paper will utilize cultural materialism and functionalism to illustrate the need to improve the supply chain infrastructures through technology and human labor to develop a resilient system.
References
Armchair Academics. (2021). the 10 Most Important Theories in Social Science | Part 1 [Video]. Retrieved 30 August 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMjGZ-H6GYs.
CrashCourse. (2017). What Is Sociology?: Crash Course Sociology #1 [Video]. Retrieved 30 August 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnCJU6PaCio
KPMG. (2022). Six key trends impacting global supply chains in 2022, From logistics disruption to workforce and labor. KPMG. Retrieved 30 August 2022, from https://home.kpmg/sg/en/home/insights/2022/03/six-key-trends-impacting-global-supply-chains-in-2022.html
Pedersen, D. (2016). Integrating social sciences and humanities in interdisciplinary research. Palgrave Communications, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/palcomms.2016.36
UKRI. (2022). what is social science? Ukri.org. Retrieved 30 August 2022, from https://www.ukri.org/about-us/esrc/what-is-social-science/
