In a post Covid world, risk management will become companies’ competitive advantage, says Laura Enny, alliances manager at US-based riskmethods which proactively identifies, assesses and mitigates supply chain risk. “Threats are imminent and the uncertainty we are feeling in light of Covid-19 will only continue to reign into the future. The volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (vuca) world is not new, but the dramatic events of the past few months with the outbreak of a global pandemic and international lockdowns has been a massive wake-up call for most businesses.” She said operating in survival mode was not without consequences – and looking at risk and finding ways to mitigate it would become the best way of gaining a competitive advantage for most organisations. “The vuca world in itself is not new as the concept has been around for several years. Covid-19, however, has woken us up to our vulnerabilities. This is all magnified by the massive pressure on organisations to be innovative and to cut costs,” she said. “Companies and their supply chains are more vulnerable than they have ever been. Building resilient supply chains that are able to manage risk is now more necessary than ever before.” Enny said the many challenges being faced, however, presented significant opportunity. “Going forward companies must take time to understand the rapidly changing market environment and build stronger networks so as to ensure they understand and implement innovation better and are utilising supplier capabilities better.”
INSERT: “Building resilient supply chains that are able to manage risk is now more necessary than ever before.” – Laura Enny
