Just as we all thought that life was slowly returning to normal and we could congratulate ourselves on surviving the COVID-19 disruption, the conflict in the Ukraine has reared its ugly head. But even when that's over, it will inevitably be followed by another, equally unexpected disruption. If you want to minimize fire-fighting and maximize long-term profitability, supply chain resilience is more essential than ever. But there’s no ‘quick fix’; you need to be willing to commit to a lifestyle change.
Disruption is here to stay
We’re all breathing a collective sigh of relief now that many coronavirus restrictions are being eased – and even being lifted altogether in some countries. We’ve survived the crisis and the unprecedented wave of disruption it caused in almost every supply chain! I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately we can’t relax – the ‘new normal’ of unpredictability is here to stay. After all, we live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.
COVID-19 and the Ukraine war are just the latest ‘Black Swan’ events in a steady stream of disruptions that are affecting businesses. In fact, the next new disruption may occur sooner than you think. There’s no guessing what it will be because the possibilities are endless: other geopolitical conflicts, trade wars, truckers’ protests, severe floods or storms, to name but a few. The question is, how can you optimally prepare your company to deal with today’s ‘new normal’?
Bounce back as a winner
For me, the boxer Mike Tyson summed up disruption nicely when he said, “Everyone has a plan, until they get hit in the face”. But what really matters is not when you get hit or by whom, but how quickly you can absorb the shock and launch yourself back into the fight. That’s what we call ‘resilience’, and in business it’s key to gaining competitive advantage and winning market share. Now that the global COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine war have catapulted the topic of supply chain to the top of boardroom agendas, it's the ideal time to make your supply chain more resilient to strengthen your market share and bottom line.
“Everyone has a plan, until they get hit in the face” – Mike Tyson
Embedding resilience
You can approach supply chain resilience from various different angles, such as by re-assessing your supply chain design, improving collaboration to share intelligence and anticipate risks more effectively, or optimizing your agility to respond faster to demand changes. But to be honest, none of this will truly work unless resilience is firmly embedded in your organization through your people. After all, it can’t just be switched on and off as needed.
Everyone in the organization has to feel it, live it, breathe it. Resilience has to become part of your organization’s DNA. Within Involvation, we often say it’s similar to the lifestyle change that is required in order to not only lose weight, but also to keep the weight off to enjoy the long-term health benefits.
Why a resilient supply chain requires a top-down vision
So what does this mean for you as a senior executive? Resilience is a broad topic and you can approach it from many different perspectives, which is why it requires a holistic view. But first and foremost, you have to commit to establishing a ‘resilience mindset’ and convey your vision from the top down. Then, you must continuously focus on reinforcing that mindset. This will require investment in your employees to help them develop the right ‘behaviour’ – the relevant attitudes, skills and capabilities, such as flexibility, creativity and an openness to change.
Support the lifestyle change
Besides an ongoing focus on your employees, it is also necessary to invest in other ways to support your lifestyle change, such as tools and processes that enhance collaboration, agility and effective decision-making. Only then will you keep resilience pumping through your organization’s veins so that you’re ready for the next inevitable blow.
Improving your supply chain resilience will help you to bounce back from the next disruption – whatever that might be – faster and stronger than your competitors to win market share. To learn more out how your organization can achieve this lasting lifestyle change, contact me or download our whitepaper.
Get to know more about supply chain resilience with the Resilience Mindmap: Click here
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