Supply Chain Interdiction as a Competitive Weapon

Businesses have throughout time competed in the marketplace to maximize profits and market share against fellow competitor firms. The emergence of supply chain management has shifted this competition to one reflective of supply chains competing against one another rather than just firms. However, this “toward the customer only”–based competition may not represent the fullest basis of potential competition between supply chains. For example, over the centuries nations have fielded military forces that have competed not only in the open field against opposing forces, but also behind the scenes by constraining the resource base of the opposing force, in an effort to limit or avoid face-to-face struggles altogether. The military term for this competitive strategy is “interdiction,” and reflects longstanding military theory development, including practical as well as ethical considerations. This work outlines the military theory behind bidirectional channel competition, and compares historical military and contemporary business examples of the supply side–focused competition that interdiction prescribes.