An efficient supply chain is one of the most underrated and misunderstood aspects of business management. Your supply chain, which can be quaint and local or multi-organizational and global, controls the flow of products and information and, therefore, the flow of capital. As supply chains become increasingly complex and outsourcing activities are on the rise, organizations need to evaluate and actively manage the risks related to them.
Supply chain management involves optimizing operations to maximize both speed and efficiency. Speed is important because customers value fast service. Increasing speed, however, can cause costs to skyrocket, so maximizing efficiency is equally important. The most effective supply chains deliver products as fast and as cheaply as possible without sacrificing quality.

Who would have imagined? At a time when the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbs above 15,000 for the first time and investor euphoria persists, trust in companies and their CEOs ranks near or at record lows. In this case, “rank” can serve as an adjective, too. Investors even have turned against the CEO who once could do no wrong, JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, urging him to surrender one of his roles as chairman and CEO because of some celebrated gaffes.

Have risk considerations become all of a sudden critical to decision making? Is this interest truthful or is it just an illusion? During the last couple of years so many CEOs and other Board level Directors talk about risk management in such an enthusiastic way. It seems that among the large Greek enterprises risk management has become one of the trendiest topics of the C-suite. Nowadays the annual reports of the large Greek companies all include a chapter on risk management. “Managing risks is a way of being more proactive and increases our ability to adapt effectively to a changing business environment”, says one, and “Managing risks and opportunities is a fundamentally important part of our Group’s long-term sustainability” argues the other. Amazingly there is not even one with a sign of a wolf in it. Is it possible this to be due to the fact that the cold, hard facts could make their stakeholders nervous?

Board Risk Blindness, Inadequate Leadership on Ethos and Culture, Risk “Glass Ceiling”: Those were among the underlying risks that would increase the likelihood of a crisis arising and/or the ability of the company to manage that crisis, in a report published by Airmic entitled “Roads to Ruin” that investigated the causes and subsequent management of a number of corporate crises. Eighteen high profile corporate crises of the last decade were investigated and companies involved in these crises including AIG, Arthur Andersen, BP, Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola, EADS Airbus, Enron, Firestone, Maclaren, Northern Rock, Shell and Société Générale. The research identified the key lessons associated with the failure to prevent each crisis and thereafter manage the consequences.

The strategic stakes in the Syrian conflict are rising. It now risks the stability of Syria’s neighbors and poses a direct security threat to the West, magnifying the risks to businesses that operate in the Middle East and those that rely on regional supply chains. Political Risk Insurance is a business insurance product that reimburses losses caused by social or political disruption in a country.

The collapse of Enron and other corporate scandals in the early 2000s and ever since demonstrate how imprudent company cultures can lead to unethical practices and outright fraud. The more recent implosion of Lehman Brothers showed how a culture of risk-taking permeated financial institutions and precipitated the global financial meltdown. A healthy risk culture gives employees a stake in risk management. Employees’ basic principles, values, and attitudes – as well as their understanding of how to deal with risk – shape a company’s risk culture. An appropriate risk culture is necessary for corporate risk management procedures to work effectively.

Forecasts of increased M&A activity, combined with a global economic climate where risk aversion is the name of the game, present an opportune moment for examining M&A insurance as a viable means of reducing risks in business transactions.

Some business executives believe that this type of policy, D&O for short, is only for publicly traded companies. Not true, experts say. Although privately held businesses don’t risk exposure to securities class action suits, a business doesn’t have to have shareholders in order for its directors and/or officers to be personally sued.

Stavros Papagiannopoulos back to the “Business Continuity & Supply Chain Conference”, organized by the Supply Chain Institute of Southeastern & Central Europe, that took place on October 14, 2015 in Athens Greece, this time as panelist and selected “Think Tank” Member.

Also addressing the UNiBA Partners Annual Conference on “Supply Chain Risks of Large Companies”, held in Singapore, Oct. 22-24, 2015, Stavros Papagiannopoulos negotiated the importance of cost-effective supply chain risk management as essential to a successful business together with innovative risk transfer solutions through specialist insurance.

Feb. 26, 2015 – James Clapper, the director of U.S. national intelligence, testifying on Capitol Hill, said 2014 was the worst year on record for global terrorism, as he presented the annual worldwide threats assessment. The country’s top intelligence chief told members of Congress that terror attacks reached their highest number since such records started being archived. “When the final accounting is done, 2014 will have been the most lethal year for global terrorism in the 45 years (since) such data has been compiled,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. As they have in recent years, U.S. intelligence agencies once again listed cyber attacks as the top danger to U.S. national security, ahead of terrorism. Clapper opened his prepared remarks by discussing cyber threats, which are “increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication and severity of impact.”. “The cyber threat cannot be eliminated; rather, cyber risk must be managed,” Clapper said.

Mr. Stavros Papagiannopoulos, CEO, EXL Consulting, delivered the opening address on the subject of Supply Chain Risk Management, at the October 23, 2014 Congress on Supply Chain Trends: “Supply Chain: 10 Years Ahead”, organized by the Supply Chain Institute of Southeastern & Central Europe, in Athens Greece.