The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage (Mit Press) - Softcover

Sheffi, Yossi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262693496 ISBN 13: 9780262693493

Publisher: The MIT Press, 2007

Synopsis

Stories from Nokia, Dell, UPS, Toyota, and other companies show how firms can reduce their vulnerability to high-impact distributions, from earthquakes to strikes, from SARS to terrorism, and use them for competitive advantage.

What happens when fire strikes the manufacturing plant of the sole supplier for the brake pressure valve used in every Toyota? When a hurricane shuts down production at a Unilever plant? When Dell and Apple chip manufacturers in Taiwan take weeks to recover from an earthquake? When the U.S. Pacific ports are shut down during the Christmas rush? When terrorists strike? In The Resilient Enterprise, Yossi Sheffi shows that companies' fortunes in the face of such business shocks depend more on choices made before the disruption than they do on actions taken in the midst of it―and that resilience benefits firms every day, disaster or no disaster. He shows how companies can build in flexibility throughout their supply chains, based on proven design principles and the right culture―balancing security, redundancy, and short-term profits. And he shows how investments in resilience and flexibility not only reduce risk but create a competitive advantage in the increasingly volatile marketplace.Sheffi describes the way companies can increase security―reducing the likelihood of a disruption―with layered defenses, the tracking and analysis of “near-misses,” fast detection, and close collaboration with government agencies, trading partners, and even competitors. But the focus of the book is on resilience―the ability to bounce back from disruptions and disasters―by building in redundancy and flexibility. For example, standardization, modular design, and collaborative relationships with suppliers (and other stakeholders) can help create a robust supply chain. And a corporate culture of flexibility―with distributed decision making and communications at all levels―can create a resilient enterprise.Sheffi provides tools for companies to reduce the vulnerability of the supply chain they live in. And along the way he tells the stories of dozens of enterprises, large and small, including Toyota, Nokia, General Motors, Zara, Land Rover, Chiquita, Aisin Seiki, Southwest Airlines, UPS, Johnson and Johnson, Intel, Amazon.com, the U.S. Navy, and others, from across the globe. Their successes, failures, preparations, and methods provide a rich set of lessons in preparing for and managing disruptions. Additional material available at www.TheResilientEnterprise.com.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"The Resilient Enterprise is more than a grab bag of stories about fires, thieves, and tornadoes. It is the timely analysis of an important--and overlooked aspect of business strategy. Mr. Sheffi argues that crisis control can be a competitive advantage for companies that get it right. Wise planning at headquarters is part of the answer, but only part: Companies need a whole culture of flexibility. It is impossible to know where trouble will hit next, but it is possible to create an atmosphere in which people at all levels respond to disruptions quickly and confidently. Metaphorically, levees can break at any time." -- Wall Street Journal

"[Sheffi is] quickly becoming the global expert on resilient enterprises." -- John Robb’s Weblog

"In this world of 'lean inventory' this is a cautionary book that needs to be taken seriously." -- 800 CEO-Read

We especially appreciated the book's "Profile of a Disruption" and its warning that disruptions can keep on disrupting long after the fire is out. Just ask Ericsson." -- Sean Silverthorne, HBS Working Knowledge

About the Author:

Yossi Sheffi is Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT and Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. He has worked with leading manufacturers and logistics service providers around the world on operations and strategy issues and is the author of three award-winning books: The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage, Logistics Clusters: Delivering Value and Driving Growth, and The Power of Resilience: How the Best Companies Manage the Unexpected, all published by the MIT Press.

About this edition

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0262693496
• ISBN 13: 9780262693493
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352