How do geopolitical tensions affect foreign sourcing?

Rémi Charpin and Martin Cousineau, Associate Professors in the Department of Logistics and Operations Management, won the 2025 Outstanding Paper Award from the International Journal of Operations & Production Management (IJOPM).

Entitled “Friendshoring: how geopolitical tensions affect foreign sourcing, supply base complexity, and sub-tier supplier sharing”, their paper examines the influence of geopolitical tensions—operationalized as political divergence between governments—on firms’ foreign supply bases and the resulting effects on supply base complexity and sub-tier supplier sharing.

“In addition to promoting our department’s empirical work, this award reflects the importance of factoring geopolitical risk into supply chain management,” note the co-authors. “Our article was published online prior to Donald Trump’s return to power and has gained major traction since then. This strengthens our resolve to continue researching the risks that Canadian companies might face when reconfiguring their supply chains to reduce their dependence on the United States.”

About the award recipients

Rémi Charpin holds a PhD from Clemson University and an MBA from Winthrop University, both located in South Carolina. His expertise focuses primarily on political risk and empirical research. He won the Best Reviewer Award at the Academy of Management Conference for the Operations and Supply Chain Management Division in 2023 and 2024.  

Martin Cousineau is a regular member of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) as well as co-head of the Sustainable Health axis, member of the scientific committee, and regular research member of the International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technology. He holds a PhD in Management from McGill University and an MSc (administration) from HEC Montréal. He specializes in decision support systems, operational research and artificial intelligence. The School awarded him the 2024 Award for Teaching Excellence and the 2023 Research Impact Award.