Companies often do a good job of preparing for the likely disruptions to their supply chains, butYossi Sheffi, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation &Logistics, is of the opinion that companies should instead be placing more emphasis on preparingfor less likely events.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Sheffi has noted that it’s not the likely events that are the mostsevere risks. Rather, it’s the “black swan” events – occurrences which are thought to be sounlikely as to be near impossible. As a result, in the incredibly rare occasions in which theyhappen, companies are left completely unprepared, and unable to respond. Of such events, Shefficites Hurricane Katrina, the Horizon oil rig explosion, and even the 9/11 terrorist attacks asexamples.
In preparation for such “black swan” events, Sheffi suggests incorporating the followingapproaches into a company’s disaster preparedness:
•Maintaining an emergency operations center, to assist in promoting a quickresponse, and to allow for contact of key members of an organization
•Aggressive identification of potentially disruptive events, so as to allow for earlyand advance planning
•Learning from experience, to incorporate key lessons from previous responses,and project for future responses.
Sources:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/guest-voices-black-swans-and-the-risks-in-supply-chains-1446056584
