Introduction The Department of Homeland Security (2007) proclaims itself the “the lead department” for designing and implementing a strategy for global supply chain security (i). The DHS has undertaken this responsibility in large part because of the role it plays in detecting and responding to incidents, and making sure that trade can resume as smoothly as possible after an incident has occurred. In its Strategy to Enhance International Supply Chain Security, the Department of Homeland Security outlines the mission and guiding principles of its strategy, stressing the importance of collaboration with public and private sector organizations and industry stakeholders. The following is an analysis of the main sections of the DHS’s (2007) report.

Analysis

Purpose

This section of the DHS report includes five main sections, including “Strategic Strategy Objectives,” “Problem Definition,” “Risk Assessment,” “Goals,” and “Strategic Objectives.” The overall purpose of the strategy is to minimize disruptions to world trade. However, an important ancillary purpose is to create and maintain what the DHS calls a “unifying command,” whereby recovery efforts are highly coordinated and therefore highly efficient (p. 5). This section of the report also clarifies what the DHS constitutes as international trade, describing security efforts at each stage from point of origin at a factory to foreign port, then transit, to release at the domestic port, and then finally carriage to the final destination. It is important to...

The DHS also defines the problem as being essentially one of scope: there is no way to completely subsume supply chain security under one umbrella organization. Thus, the DHS calls for a “multi-layered, unified approach that must be international in scope,” (p. 7). The DHS problem statement is echoed in the literature from the private sector too. Writing immediately after September 11, Sheffi (2001) “suggests a new public?private partnership” to mitigate the challenges of global terrorism and non-state actors (p. 1).
Scope

Understandably, the DHS limits the scope of its operations to cargo transiting to and from the United States. The DHS advocates a thorough “end-to-end” strategy that identifies critical risk nodes and minimizes risk accordingly (p. 16). The strategy is also divested of the obligation to protect passenger services and anything that does not fall under the rubric of international trade. The greatest challenges with the DHS are regarding jurisdiction, particularly since the United States does not have jurisdiction over many of the ports with which its companies will have business. However, this section does outline and express in a visual chart the international organizations and their relationships with the United States. This coincides with the “total supply chain approach” recommended by Sheu, Lee & Niehoff (2006, p. 363).

Guiding Principles

The guiding principles of the DHS supply chain…