Risk Management: Extreme Weather Increasingly Disrupts Global Supply Chains

APQC studied whether senior executives at large global organizations are concerned about three significant, external risks to supply chain resiliency: high-impact natural disasters such as major tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanos, or floods; extreme weather such as devastating droughts, wildfires, or cyclones; and political turmoil in vitally important world regions.

This study shows that in the past two years alone a steady stream of natural catastrophes has devastated populations, property, and infrastructure. At the majority of organizations, the disruption was serious enough to draw the sustained attention of top executives or warrant their intervention. In order to deal with these challenges, supply chain and finance functions must balance sometimes competing interests in order to sustain efficient supply chain management.