The City of New Orleans and private businesses that struggled to survive the devastation of Hurricane Katrina learned some valuable lessons. One of the primary caveats when it comes to business continuity is to mitigate risk by embracing the cloud.
When the Fukushima disaster rocked Japan in 2011, it created a serious disruption to the global supply chains of electronics, automobile and other major industries. Where should you focus your risk management efforts to avoid this kind of disruption?
Are top executives getting a pass on cyber security responsibility? Eric Anderholm, CEO of Sergeant Laboratories, a cyber security firm, believes so. He notes that when the CIO is asked what happened after a breach, the answer is usually, "We don't know." Anderholm notes that answer is often viewed as acceptable, particularly when the CEO is loath to admit that he or she wouldn't understand the clear answer.
In the late 1680s, a group of ship owners, merchants and ships' captains - in essence, the supply chain managers of the day - transformed global commerce by "inventing" business insurance. In 2015, the insurance industry will return the favor by supporting supply chain innovation through sharing the tools that insurers have depended on to predict and quantify risk. How and why (now) will that happen? And what do supply chain stakeholders need to do?
Analyst Insight: There is now a false sense of security in supply chain risk management. Sixty-eight percent of companies believe they are better prepared than five years ago, yet supply chains experience an average of three material disruptions a year, according to Supply Chain Insights. Supply chain preparedness is for standard risk factors, such as financial viability, natural disasters, product quality, globalization and outsourcing. But, what about other risks and the security of supply chain? – Mickey North Rizza, VP Strategic Services, BravoSolution
Chief financial officer wear a lot of hats. They oversee the treasury, monitor our markets and position our companies for the future. Here's another hat they should be wearing: that of the champion of supply chain resilience.
Lack of preparation leaves supply chains in Brazil, China, India and the United States more vulnerable to climate risks than those in Europe and Japan, according to research released by CDP and Accenture. However, suppliers in China and India deliver the greatest financial return on investment to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrate the strongest appetite for collaboration across the value chain.
Nearly a quarter of respondents to a survey claimed their organisation had suffered losses of at least €1m ($1.25m) during the previous 12 months (up from 15 percent last year) as a result of supply chain disruptions, according to a report from the Business Continuity Institute. Slightly more than 13 percent suffered a one-time disruption that cost in excess of €1m (up from 9 percent last year). The study also showed that 40 percent of respondents claimed their organisation was not insured against any of these losses while 20 percent were only insured against half of these losses.
