Four approaches to manage disruption
20 Aug 2021
Blog
Disruption to your business doesn’t have to spell disaster. Whether it’s minor supply chain hiccups, competitor activity, or global events, many organizations can turn these situations to their advantage and even find new ways to disrupt the markets in which they operate.
Here are four approaches that can help you go from the disrupted to the disruptor:
- Identify and analyze day-to-day operational issues: this will help you avoid repeating the same problems in the future by fixing them for good. Not only will the practice improve your existing processes, improve productivity, enhance efficiency, and grow profits, but it will also get you out of focusing on short-term issues and move your thoughts to the medium to long-term issues before they cause you disruption in the short term.
- View disruption as an opportunity rather than a challenge: many high-street retailers took their businesses online during the pandemic and now have access to wider-reaching customer bases with fewer overheads.
- Ensure full visibility and collaboration across your supply chain: that includes suppliers, contract manufacturers, wholesalers, and third or fourth-party logistics providers. Understanding the capabilities of your partners allows you to work together and adapt to changing market conditions quicker.
- Facilitate an open and honest working environment: businesses that are successful disruptors accept bad news and want to hear about it sooner rather than later. Having a company environment that accepts that it is ok to be wrong is crucial as it allows the business to learn, and for strategies to be devised to help overcome challenges before they become major issues.
How can Integrated Business Planning help my organization become an industry disruptor?
By following a structured, Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process across your business you can put in place robust processes supported by embedded technologies that let you anticipate and mitigate the potentially damaging impacts of disruptive events. Meanwhile, your teams are empowered with the insights required to make rapid, informed decisions that can help you proactively create new opportunities and become a successful market disruptor yourself.
IBP isn’t just for large, complex organizations. Using IBP as the way to run your business can help deliver insights that enable smaller companies to outstrip their larger, less agile rivals. Sophisticated IBP technology was once only available for larger enterprises, but now modern solutions are accessible to businesses of every size, providing game-changing insights to help them detect and act on new opportunities.
I’m often asked, “What’s the first step to getting started with Integrated Business Planning?”
My answer: Accepting that you can challenge the status quo.
You’ve got to want to change and make things better for yourself, the people around you, and your business. If you’re happy with what you’ve got then you’re never going to change the way you work. Having the drive and desire to be great - not just good - is key.
To learn more, listen to Mike’s feature on The Digital Supply Chain podcast or download his free white paper with SAP, From Disorder to Agility How Integrated Business Planning Can Help Companies Become Disruptors.
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