Strong Supply Chains Through Resilient Operations

CHAPTER 16Some Questions to Ask Yourself About the Future of Your Operations

Reading this book should not be a theoretical exercise or a thought experiment. Instead, it should be a conversation starter. We want you to be able to use it to begin solving your own specific problems. We believe that such solutions will lead—maybe now, maybe later, depending on the dynamics of your situation—to a rich and productive transformation of your entire enterprise.

Transformations are good. Indeed they're required, because that's how the VUCA world works. Sooner or later, the need to transform will present itself. You will be asked questions, maybe as soon as tomorrow. To be prepared, you might want to start thinking about the answers today.

Some of these questions may include the following:

How will your business model change? For example, as the world presents opportunities to get closer to your customers, or move toward circularity, will you be better off changing the parameters by which you make money? The profitable innovation in the fast‐fashion industry wasn't just making clothes more quickly, it was changing the business model to take advantage of that.

Will you take advantage of new customer segments or geographies? We tend to see volatility as bad because it destroys existing ways of doing business. Whether it's hurricanes, wars, or changes in fickle consumer sentiments, we wish for the simplicity of stability. But as Joseph Schumpeter said, the magic of capitalism is creative ...