Transform Your Supply Chain into a Force for Good by Moving from Risk Monitoring to Risk Management 

Focusing on sustainability adds complexity, risks… and opportunity 

Traditionally, Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) focused on ensuring timely delivery, meeting quantity and quality standards, and minimizing costs. However, the growing emphasis on sustainability—and the tools to track it—has added a new layer of complexity. Companies are now expected to contribute to a cleaner, safer and more equitable world, making sustainability not just a goal but a business imperative. 

This shift introduces new types of risks. Sustainability-related disruptions can have long-lasting impacts, particularly when unethical practices result in sanctions or regulatory bans. These intangible threats carry tangible consequences. 

To address these challenges, companies are turning to Visibility, Automation, and Control (VAC) frameworks. These frameworks can identify overlaps between all three steps to help pinpoint, monitor and respond to potential flare-ups in their supply chain. VAC isn’t just about damage control—it’s about mobilizing the supply chain into a force for good. 

Technology helps humans create transparency and growth 

Technology plays a pivotal role in moving from monitoring to management. For example, AI has revolutionized financial health monitoring, evolving from static annual credit ratings to dynamic, real-time dashboards. Platforms like Sphera’s Supply Chain Risk Management application have spent years training AI systems to deliver precise risk insights across departments. This reduces the time spent on manual investigations, allowing teams to focus on prevention and mitigation. 

However, technology can’t succeed without humans to assign clear roles and responsibilities when responding to alerts. You need a structured action flow across personnel to avoid confusion and maintain effective risk management across personnel.  

Reliable supply chain sustainability platforms also foster long-term, sustainable relationships with suppliers and provide a useful comparison metric for buyers. These platforms enable companies to: 

•       Assess and reduce their carbon footprints collaboratively
•       Strengthen procurement strategies and maximize leverage by linking with SCRM
•       Avoid crisis-driven costs, unlock capital and lower insurance premiums.

Moreover, supply chain sustainability platforms unify buyers and suppliers, enabling responsible sourcing, emissions tracking and enhanced environmental and social risk detection. They also improve sustainability reporting, making it more transparent and actionable. 

An action plan for positive change 

Looking ahead, sustainability will increasingly be measured in financial terms. Metrics for carbon, water, biodiversity and even societal goodwill will become standard, driven by growing expectations from both consumers and investors. Building sustainability into business processes will soon be a core component of business performance. 

Forward-thinking companies are already taking steps to reduce pressure on their operations, mitigate future liabilities and make meaningful sustainability decisions. While the journey requires time and investment, the rewards—improved processes, stronger people engagement and better access to capital—are well worth it. 

To succeed, businesses must adopt a broader cultural mindset. It’s not just about business or customer perspectives anymore. Companies must ask: How are societal expectations evolving? And what will future generations expect from us?  

Visualizing your environmental impact through the eyes of tomorrow’s consumers can guide more responsible decisions today. 

Ultimately, sustainability is innovation. Like any smart investment, it’s expected to yield returns.  

As Marushka points out in his book, these returns help companies avoid unplanned costs, free up working capital, save on insurance and improve response times. Sustainability enables companies to anticipate what’s ahead, minimize the potential impact and reduce the likelihood of a risk event from ever happening.  

These reasons are persuading financial leaders to see sustainability not as a cost but as a revenue driver and a cost-saving strategy. It’s not just good ethics—it’s good business. 

When considering sustainability, Marushka puts companies into two categories: Lions and Ostriches. Lions, he says, are champion corporations that see the need to go above and beyond, recognizing the dangers of inactivity in the face of social and environmental changes. Ostriches, on the other hand, keep their heads in the sand, doing the bare minimum for compliance and staying on the right side of the law and their investors.  

During the Great Recession in 2008, Lion companies stayed ahead of the impending regulations while the Ostrich companies played catchup. Many of those Ostriches are no longer around. Some, he says, were even eaten by the Lions.