I expected the percentage to be low, but when the final results were calculated, I have to admit, my jaw dropped. In a recent survey of financial, procurement and risk executives who participated in Aravo's supply chain risk webinar series, we found that:

Risk consultants told SM that purchasers are too focused on costs and are not using market information effectively at a time when potential supply chain disruption is close to hand.

For the second straight quarter, more than one-third of North American manufacturers responding to MFG.com's MFGWatch survey say they've experienced a significant supply chain disruption in the past three months.

Basing its analysis of corporate supply chain standards on the framework of the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted in 1998 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), EIRIS, a UK-based provider of corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research, found that 45% of companies "have no policy or management systems in place to protect labor standards in their supply chain and fail to report on the issue."

The recent extremes in weather have been providing some text book examples of disruption to the procurement process, and the value of truly understanding the risks that can impact your supply chain.

Would your company survive a major incident such as a fire, flood, act of terrorism, or a pandemic like the swine flu?

New research from the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) reveals that nearly half (45 percent) of businesses have no –or only vague –plans to deal with the effects of flood or storm damage.

Last month, the Network for Business Sustainability released a report describing the top sustainability challenges facing business in 2010.

The Network for Business Sustainability is a group of 300 researchers and 1000 business leaders representing each of Canada's major economic sectors, and this new report demonstrates that companies today are looking beyond measuring their own carbon footprint to understanding their wider environmental and social impacts.

Supply chain are becoming increasingly global and complex –and now more than ever before, companies are beginning to focus on their suppler networks to gain a competitive edge, leverage innovative ideas, and cut costs. But, how are supply chain executives juggling all these challenges? Are they taking full advantage of the supply chain management IT /technology that’s now available?