With much of the developed world mired in slow growth and fiscal austerity, many companies find the strong economies and rising incomes of certain emerging markets quite attractive. But there's a catch: talent is increasingly difficult to find and hold onto in such countries as Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC).

Managers of information technology systems in both the private and public sectors have had their hands full dealing with security breaches that come from hackers invading IT systems. Increasingly, however, IT systems are becoming vulnerable from another channel - the actual supply chain sources of both hardware equipment and software programs.

Ten ships were hijacked by Somali pirates in March, making this the most attacks in one month since December 2010. Four of the seized ships were used to make more attacks, rather than the usual holding for ransom acts. Maritime security experts believe that pirate groups will be encouraged by the latest hijackings and will be moved on organizing more attacks over the next several weeks.

New, relatively inexpensive technologies can help you redeploy labor, cut costs, and remain flexible and performance-minded, says Frank Devlin, manager, advanced technologies, at The Raymond Corporation, a forklift manufacturer.

Managing supply chain risk requires the ability to effectively and continuously apply three pillars of risk mitigation. Similar to the three legs of a stool, these are of equal importance, and when combined create the foundation for a comprehensive risk-management strategy.