Many executives insist their organisations need to be resilient. Given all the adversities and disruptions businesses had experienced, it’s understandable to believe resilience is vital. Resilience is “an organization’s ability to adapt to and recover from disruptions, such as natural disasters or market shifts, while maintaining core operations and continuing to function.” But how doesContinue reading “What’s the Metric for Resilience?”
Tag Archives: risk
Pursuing Productivity Amid Adversity
The year 2025 arrived and what many businesses dreaded came true. Newly inaugurated American President Donald Trump and his economic hawks swooped and threw global trade into turmoil. Arguing unfair trade practices from many nations, President Trump imposed tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union (EU), withContinue reading “Pursuing Productivity Amid Adversity”
Engineering for Risk
The earthquake that hit Kobe, Japan in on January 17, 1995 lasted about twenty (20) seconds but with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale, it was enough to kill 6,400 people and damage up to 120,000 structures. The disaster disrupted the nation’s economy as the earthquake destroyed Kobe’s seaport, wrecked railways, roads &Continue reading “Engineering for Risk”
We Need Engineers to Solve Supply Chain Problems, Not Managers
We encounter lots of problems with supply chains. But how serious are these problems? How do we as managers prioritise which problems we will put most of our time and resources into? When the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020, governments immediately restricted the movements of people and merchandise. Continue reading “We Need Engineers to Solve Supply Chain Problems, Not Managers”
The Order-Winning Operations Strategy
We, whether we are executives, entrepreneurs, or employees, face challenges and disruptions every day. Most of us have goals or at least have things we want to realise or get done. We hate it when we run into obstacles. We therefore develop strategies to anticipate and overcome them, if not get around them. Goals areContinue reading “The Order-Winning Operations Strategy”
Don’t Forget Productivity in Promoting Resilience
When the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 catastrophically caused a sudden global economic recession, enterprises went on the defensive to keep their businesses afloat; executives promised stakeholders they would transform their organisations to become more resilient. Risk management was the popular precursor to resilience. In risk management, managers laid out possible threats and prepared for them. Continue reading “Don’t Forget Productivity in Promoting Resilience”
Adversities versus Miracles
Adversities are events that we don’t look forward to. They are the disasters that set us back, the incidents which lead to outcomes that we rather not face. Adversity is the unfavourable situation that we run into or that arrives in untimely fashion. Adversities have become more prominent in our daily lives and even ifContinue reading “Adversities versus Miracles”
Why We Need Engineers
I spent fifteen (15) minutes one morning pounding several pills into powder. The powdered pills are medicinal supplements for my pet cat, to fight against liver ailments. One of my cats tested for high SGPT, an enzyme when found high in a blood test, indicates problems with the liver. The vet prescribed the cat neededContinue reading “Why We Need Engineers”
There’s Air Up There
The scuba dive instructor was teaching us first-time divers what to do if we run out of air underwater. He pointed his finger to the sky and said, “Go up! There’s plenty of air up there.” It does not deserve any thought. If we scuba divers run out of air underwater, we simply go upContinue reading “There’s Air Up There”
Non-Moving Inventories: The Supply Chain’s Elephant in the Room
The phrase, “elephant in the room,” is said to have originated from a fable by Ivan Krylov that tells about “a man who goes to a museum and notices all sorts of tiny things, but fails to notice an elephant.” It has become a favourite expression for an obvious problem or issue that for someContinue reading “Non-Moving Inventories: The Supply Chain’s Elephant in the Room”
Ellery's Essays 