As global supply chains face mounting pressures from geopolitical tensions, technological threats, and natural disasters, organisations are re-evaluating the role of resilience in their strategic planning.
In this context, Simon Sølvsten, head of Organisational Resilience Hub at Willis Research Network, WTW, discusses how the perception and management of supply chains are undergoing a fundamental transformation.
“In the past, supply chains were treated as operational necessities; important, yes, but not central to strategy. The focus was on growth, efficiency, and shareholder value. But that mindset has proven too narrow,” Sølvsten says.
He cites a string of disruptions over the past thirty years – including the 1997 Aisin fire, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Suez Canal blockage, and the Russia–Ukraine war – as proof that each incident has acted as a strategic wake-up call.
“Today, supply chains have moved from the margins to the centre of strategic thinking. Supply chains have evolved from operational support functions to strategic enablers of organisational resilience.” He argues that resilience should be addressed at the leadership level and not confined to technical or procurement domains.
“Resilient supply chains depend on executive commitment and governance structures that extend beyond operational tools and tactics. Resilience must be integrated into core organisational processes and decision-making and not treated as an add-on. It’s a strategic capability that touches everything from capital allocation to crisis response,” he says.
Sølvsten characterizes today’s landscape as one where the capacity to anticipate, withstand, and adjust is more than just a competitive edge – it will define the leaders shaping the future economy.
“A drought in the Panama Canal, a ransomware attack on a logistics provider, or a port explosion in Tianjin can ripple across industries and geographies, halting production, eroding trust, and triggering inflation. Supply chains behave as complex adaptive systems, where local shocks can produce nonlinear, emergent effects,” he says.
He takes a critical view of past strategies, noting that many vulnerabilities were self-inflicted. Approaches once praised as best practices – such as lean inventories, sole-sourcing, and just-in-time delivery – were designed for efficiency but came at the cost of resilience. While they perform well in stable conditions, they amplify risk during times of disruption.
“Enterprise architecture itself can be a source of risk, requiring internal scrutiny alongside external threat monitoring. And addressing it isn’t a matter of operational tweaks – it’s a leadership imperative. Organisations must move from deterministic planning to probabilistic preparedness, recognising that resilience begins not in the supply chain, but in the boardroom,” he says.
He comments on the transition from efficiency to resilience, noting that for many years, supply chain strategy was primarily focused on reducing costs and increasing speed. Efficiency dominated the approach, but recent crises have revealed that resilience cannot be an afterthought—it must be integrated into supply chain design from the very beginning.
“The organisations that have navigated volatility most effectively, Toyota, Apple, Nokia, didn’t get lucky,” he says. “They made resilience a design principle. They diversified sourcing, modularised product architecture, empowered frontline decision-making, and maintained financial buffers. These aren’t reactive fixes; they’re strategic choices rooted in foresight.”
Speaking about leadership, Sølvsten notes that resilient organizations possess more than just operational strengths. He argues that they embed strategic intent into areas such as structural flexibility, decision-making speed, information transparency, strategic redundancy, cultural readiness, and integrated governance.
“Boards can no longer treat supply chain risk as a technical issue buried in operations. It belongs squarely within enterprise risk management,” he says.
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