Supply Chain Frontiers issue #11. Read all articles in this issue.
The recently published book written by CTL Director Yossi Sheffi, The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage, is ranked sixth on a list of top 25 best-selling business books for September 2005. The list was compiled by 800-CEO-READ.
The book also has won rave reviews from leading publications. "A timely analysis" and a "good read" is how the Wall Street Journal described the book, which is published by MIT Press. In the review, WSJ News Editor George Anders pointed out that in a world of growing security concerns - where natural disasters and terror threats abound - there is no systemic approach to corporate self-defense... until now. "In The Resilient Enterprise, Mr. Sheffi sets forth some wide-ranging ideas about how companies can stay one step ahead of trouble," wrote Anders. "It's a timely analysis of an important - and overlooked - aspect of business strategy."
The New York Times echoed these sentiments in an October 16, 2005, article entitled "Disaster Has Struck: It's Too Late to Start Planning." NY Times reporter Roger Lowenstein stressed that Professor Sheffi's book is necessary in this complex modern world where supply chains stretch across the globe - increasing not only a company's effectiveness but also its risk of disruption. "It makes for a more interdependent and fragile world. Your supplier's problem is your problem," Lowenstein noted. "Many of the author's prescriptions add up to tutorials on what companies can do (or have done) to become more resilient in the face of supply chain breakdowns."
In The Resilient Enterprise, Professor Sheffi argues that a company's survival and prosperity depend more on what it does before an unpredictable disruption occurs than on the actions it takes as the event unfolds. He explores high-impact/low-probability disruptions such as natural disasters, terror attacks, supplier failures and labor actions - focusing not only on security but also on corporate resilience - the ability to bounce back after such disruptions.