Future gazing

Twenty twelve looks like being one of those years where it will pay to keep a very close eye on risks and opportunities alike.

The traumas inflicted by the events of the past five years, when at times it has appeared that  financial and political systems were on the edge of collapse and natural hazards increasing in severity and frequency must lead any risk manager to view the future with trepidation.

Yet, battening down the hatches and ceasing to look for opportunities may in the long term be the biggest risk. The pace of technological change continues unabated, and organisations that put innovation on hold until the world returns to normal may find themselves left behind.

Times of turmoil demand a balanced response. Flexibility and resilience are the keys to building a firm platform from which to look forward with confidence. This means that risks to the supply chain should be a top priority for 2012.

As we saw following the Japanese earthquake and the Bangkok floods, natural disasters coming one on top of the other can cause more disruption than a single event on its own. Add in the potential for political instability to affect the flow of trade, and it is clear that resilience in the supply chain may well be a crucial factor in an organisation’s survival.

But even the best supply chain is useless if customers don’t exist for the end product. Here lies the necessity to innovate. Organisations that don’t deliver on their promises (and there have been too many broken promises over the past years) will find themselves outpaced by nimbler competitors who put effort into keeping customers happy.

This means constant effort to ensure that technological innovation is combined with personal service. It is a good time to look at the organisation’s culture. Any lingering idea that customers are muppets or punters who exist merely for the greater glory of the business should be stamped on ruthlessly.