COVID-19 created a shock felt around the world, practically halting the global economy and impacting all sectors. As the pandemic’s grip tightened it created severe upset and unprecedented disruption to businesses and their supply chains. With supply chain shortages, border closures, and large-scale layoffs, how can organizations weather the storm and future-proof their business for potential future waves?
The Ivey Academy hosted a complimentary livestream in partnership with the CVCA to address these difficult questions. Joined by a panel of supply chain experts including the Ivey Business School's Deishin Lee, Associate Professor, Operations; Mario Gross, Chief Procurement Officer, LafargeHolcim; and Marcus Larsson, Partner, Isaac Operations.
Together they examined the current situation and explored how supply chains have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
“Previously we’ve had regional disruptions to supply chains. For example, the tsunami in Japan, flooding in Thailand, the drought in California,” said Lee. “Those things are very tragic and the supply chains experience huge disruptions. But other regions can step up and help. This time it’s everywhere in the world and it’s happening simultaneously. The worldwide scope has increased challenges.”
The panel shared lessons learned and discussed strategies that have worked and haven’t worked since the beginning of the global crisis, as well as strategies to safeguard organization’s supply chain in the midst of uncertainty.
