Latest posts

Book Review: Ethical Risk

This a book for companies wishing to survive into the future, simply because developing effective protection against exposure to ‘ethical risk’ is the only possible way forward, as corporate social responsibility is growing in importance. Not the only possible way, but the only viable way.

Posted in BOOKS and BOOK CHAPTERS


Supplier selection based on supplier risk

This is a highly quantitative paper, yet it seems to be very applicable in practice. It proposes a hybrid MCDM method based on ANP and Fuzzy TOPSIS to enhance previous solutions for the problem of selecting the best supplier from a set of potential alternatives based on a set of risk factors.

Posted in ARTICLES and PAPERS


Trade compliance risks

This webinar – in German – takes a closer look at the risks and pitfalls involved in trading across borders, and in particular how non-compliance with trade and regulations can severely hamper supply chain operations.

Posted in THIS and THAT


Does a blog need a Mission Statement?

What is the purpose of this blog? Where should I be headed? Finally, I have developed a “mission statement” and those of you following this blog on a regular basis will probably have noticed the subtle changes already. So…what is this blog going to be about in the future?

Posted in my BLOGGING


Blog Review: The SCRMBlog

My featured blog this month is the SCRMBlog by Daniel Stengel, as it happens perhaps my fiercest competitor in the supply chain risk blogging scene, if there indeed is such a scene. Daniel’s blog has existed for not more than a little over a year, but he has already made considerable impact.

Posted in BLOGS and WEBSITES


Are supply and demand elasticity a risk?

This paper describes the performance of supply chains based on their elasticities of supply and demand. The model can be used to predict a supply chain’s ability to respond to supply interruptions, cost increases, and demand shifts, while also quantifying the degree to which it is prone to the bullwhip effect.

Posted in ARTICLES and PAPERS


Call for papers: S-D Logic and Supply Chain Risk

The International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics (IJPDLM) is planning a Special Issue on papers dedicated to Applying service-dominant (S-D) logic to physical distribution and logistics management, including topics such as Supply network resilience and Natural disaster management in supply networks.

Posted in ARTICLES and PAPERS


Call for papers: Supply Chain Risk in China

Supply chain and operations management are increasingly global, and China has become the world’s manufacturing centre. That is why the International Journal of Applied Management Science (IJAMS) has issued a call for papers for a special issue on Supply Chain and Operations Management in China.

Posted in ARTICLES and PAPERS


Hiperos – the Integrated View of Supplier Risk

In this whitepaper by hiperos.com, supplier risk management is focused on four areas: the supplier’s viability, performance, compliance and corporate social performance. That is a perspective very much in line with my own ideas of holistic risk management and how a company should work with risk.

Posted in REPORTS and WHITEPAPERS


Call for papers: Global Supply Chain Risk Management

Are you currently planning to write or actually writing a paper on supply chain risk and wondering what would be a good journal to publish it in? Here is one for you: A special issue of Production and Operations Management titled Global Supply Chain Risk Management

Posted in ARTICLES and PAPERS


The UK Transport Network Resilience…and I

The report, written by the Hyder Consulting Group, dated 2010 and titled Network Resilience and Adaptation, assesses and details in great depth the vulnerability and resilience of the transport infrastructure in the East of England. And it uses me as a reference.

Posted in REPORTS and WHITEPAPERS


Zycus and the Supply Risk Explosion

Today’s list of supply-related risks can seem nearly infinite and how can any firm not be overwhelmed by this? Zycus, the self-proclaimed spend management experts, have written a whitepaper about it, where they detail how firms can move towards holistic supply-risk management.

Posted in REPORTS and WHITEPAPERS


Earthquake, tsunami, meltdown and data backup

Perhaps I’m capitalizing on the current catchphrases of the day, but in a sense I too was in disaster management mode the last night. My blog was down. I had caused it myself, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to solve it. Until I found the rescue button: Site Backup and Restore.

Posted in my BLOGGING


Visualizing the risk of global sourcing

A picture says more than a thousand words, and here is one paper that has it all and that literally illustrates the differences between different sourcing strategies, defining three basic cost elements in global sourcing: static, dynamic and hidden cost.

Posted in ARTICLES and PAPERS


Book Review – Fraud Risk

This is a fascinating book, showing how easy it may be for employees, customers, clients and consultants to commit fraud, and how easy it may be for management to detect and to prevent this. It is a book I highly recommend for anyone working in procurement or supply chain management.

Posted in BOOKS and BOOK CHAPTERS


Future Value Chain Trends 2020

The twelve future trends that will shape value chains and supply chain management during this decade. Are you ready for the 12 global root trends that address change in society, shopper behavior, environment and technology? Above all, sustainability is the new buzzword.

Posted in REPORTS and WHITEPAPERS


Extreme Weather Hazards and Transportation Vulnerability

Weather Extremes: Assessment of Impacts on Transport Systems and Hazards for European Regions is an EU project that aims at analysing the economic costs of more frequent and more extreme weather events on transport and on the wider economy and explores adaptation strategies in the context of sustainable policy design.

Posted in THIS and THAT


Time is precious

Time is important and a supply chain works best when it is on time. For trains it is imperative to be on time and in 1944, Hans Hilfiker (1901-1993), a Swiss engineer and designer and employee of the Federal Swiss Railways, created a clock, which has since become known as the “Official Swiss Railways Clock” and a national icon.

Posted in THIS and THAT


How Effective Pallet Management Can Benefit the Full Supply Chain

One seemingly small link in the supply chain of goods is pallets; those little timber crates on which most goods are secured for movement and handling. Despite their relatively small role, how we think about them and how we use them can have a massive knock on effect to the whole supply chain.

Posted in THIS and THAT


Food commodity supply chains at risk?

Have the prices gone up at your local supermarket recently? Maybe your favorite chocolate is suddenly a lot more expensive? Do you wonder why? You may not think much about it, but the bigger picture that lays behind is grim-looking, to say the least.

Posted in THIS and THAT


ARTICLES and PAPERS
Contingent flexibility
Can contingency planning increase flexibility and minimize risk exposure to supply chain disruptions[...]
Risk Management: Contingent versus Mitigative
The risk management literature separates between mitigative actions or strategies and contingent act[...]
BOOKS and BOOK CHAPTERS
Can your business take a blow?
Are you prepared for whatever mishaps your business throws at you? If you're not, you better start l[...]
Book Review: HBR on Supply Chain Management
Today we continue my exploration of the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series that I started yes[...]
REPORTS and WHITEPAPERS
The Benefits of Investing in Supply Chain Security
With the memory of attacks by Somali pirates still fresh in mind, supply chain security has come to [...]
The supply chain of the future
Many global supply chains are not equipped to cope with the world we are entering. Most were enginee[...]