It also highlighted that companies are not prepared for"grey swan" events, those which are unlikely to occur but can wreak havoc when they do.
"This past year has shown how volatile our supply chain can be and that it may not be as resilient as we once thought," says Lori Goltermann, CEO of US commercial risk and health solutions at Aon. With companies now knowing that anything can happen, preparing supply chains for the next grey swan event is critical."We've all lived through something that we didn't think was possible," Goltermann says."For those that did prepare, risk management has absolutely been a competitive advantage and it will continue to be for those businesses that do it really well."As the pandemic has shown, grey swan events can impact supply chains in a variety of ways.
"Whether it's relationships with customers, with suppliers, with suppliers of suppliers, it's truly understanding the risks associated with organizations that are further down the supply chain that can then impact your business in ways you perhaps didn't focus on before," he says.
aon What's a grey swan event, I hear you cry? Well... on p146 of Bear Markets and Beyond by dhrutishah and myself, you'll find a definition and delightful illustration (although the Business Insider article also explains it very well tbf)