Nearly three-quarters (74%) of businesses are taking a hands on approach to managing supply chain risks, according to the 2009 Risk in 21st Century Supply Chains survey. The survey found that harsher economic conditions has led to more stringent assessment of the risks in companies supply chains and business continuity plans should the worst occur.

This month’s edition of McKinsey Quarterly has a fascinating interactive report that explores a variety of strategies for increasing the energy efficiency of supply chains. According to the study, the transportation of goods now consumes some 15 million barrels of oil each day—that’s roughly equivalent to one-fifth of total production. Tobias Meyer, the author of the report, sums it up nicely. “Supply chains are hooked on oil,” he says. ” There’s no industry in which so few substitutes to oil are available.”

With 10 years of industry experience in supporting a community of over 1 million buyers and suppliers around the globe, the Aravo Global Services team is constantly assessing supplier-buyer relationships in order to recommend best practices implementations. After completing its mid-year assessment last month, the team reported that 2009 is proving to be a down year for overall supplier performance, based on observations of supplier relationship management programs and different key performance indicators tracked across Aravo’s customer base.