The topic of supply-chain risk management is fraught with agonizing questions. Should global businesses emphasize risk prevention, or steel themselves to respond to whatever disaster might occur? Should they seek to transfer risk, or concentrate on achieving better risk-management up front? Should they attempt to do all of the above? The wrong answer can mean the death of an organization.

Supply chains are driving fundamental and transformational changes in today's organizations. More than that, supply chains challenge the very mental models and core processes that guide most of what people do at work. They challenge the prevailing organization paradigm, requiring significantly more focus on customers, horizontal relationships, integrative thinking, and dynamic and continuous adaptation. These values are difficult to consistently reinforce and support in siloed structures and can't be changed by sophisticated technology alone. Thus, all the promise of supply chain transformation hits an inevitable brick wall!