Crisis Management 101: A helpful supply chain primer

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If you live in the supply chain, you are familiar with disruptions. In some cases, those disruptions rise to the level of a crisis. Remember when the Evergreen vessel got stuck in the Suez Canal? For anyone with product on that ship, that was a crisis.

But there are many other kinds of crisis supply chain planners must deal with, and it is these crises that often rise to the level of C-suite involvement. Think about a cyberattack that paralyzes a network. Or a company tractor-trailer involved in a deadly accident. How about the failure of a bank where all your assets are tied up? And, as unlikely as it sounds, what about a situation of workplace violence?

Where are the crisis plans?

Most of these are rare circumstances, but for businesses that face an existential crisis, navigating the days and weeks ahead will impact the organization’s finances at a minimum, and perhaps even its survival. And yet, most companies do not have a crisis management plan in place. According to ReputationManagement.com, 59% of businesses have experienced a crisis, but a 2023 survey conducted by Capterra found that just 49% have a crisis management plan in place.

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