Strategic Inventory Optimization and Supply Chain Resilience: A Decision-Making Framework for Sustainable Business Performance

Abstract

Strategic inventory optimization, supply-chain resilience, supplier reliability, and operational sustainability collectively interact to support sustainable business performance. A quantitative cross-sectional analytical design was applied to 113,097 supply-chain observations representing product-supplier combinations across multiple countries. Inventory performance was assessed through warehouse inventory levels, historical demand, inventory coverage, inventory-to-demand ratio, and lead time, while resilience incorporated supplier reliability, logistics capability, route risk, disruption likelihood, delay probability, weather severity, customs-clearance efficiency, and lead-time efficiency. Operational sustainability was evaluated using shipping-cost efficiency, order fulfilment, delivery-time reliability, and supplier reliability. The analysis employed descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, one-way ANOVA, eta-squared effect sizes, risk-group comparisons, and supplier-reliability quartile analysis. The findings indicate that effective inventory management should not be considered independently of broader resilience capabilities. Higher operational performance is associated with stronger supplier reliability, improved logistics efficiency, reduced disruption exposure, and more effective risk-sensitive decision making. The integrated strategic decision score further demonstrates the value of combining resilience and operational sustainability within a unified managerial framework. Overall, the study shows that sustainable business performance depends on aligning inventory positioning with supplier capability, operational efficiency, and data-driven resilience strategies.