Hiperos Blog Third Party Management: Force Majeure - what's keeping you up at night?

The news continues to be consumed with circumstances beyond your company's control - tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, war... Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal Morning Risk Report reported on events in Russia and the real and possible impact that sanctions may have on business, particularly in the US technology sector. We're very fortunate at Hiperos to have earned the business of a significant number of (primarily very large) companies in the technology sector. So it's not really surprising that when the Wall Street Journal was considering an article on the topic of sanctions and how they impact businesses, they looked to Hiperos for insights and proof points. If you're interested in checking out the article and the conversation that Greg Dickinson, our CEO had with Greg Millman of the Wall Street Journal, click here.Most of our customers do businesses globally, so geo-political events like the current events in Russia are always of concern. If, like them, you work for a global company or manage or depend on a global supply chain, chances are you've already received a call on behalf of your CEO, Board or other executives wanting the answer to one question: "What's our exposure?" For almost all large companies, getting a fast and accurate answer to that question is not an easy task. The executives we speak with routinely struggle to answer five basic questions about their supply chain:Who are my third parties in a specific geography?What goods or services are they providing?Which of my products do they affect?Who in the company works with them?What are the terms of the contract I have in place with them?Assuming "force majeure" impacts your business, what does it take for you to be able to understand who you're doing business with in a particular region? What about drilling into what contracts you have in place with those companies, your lines of business that are affected, etc., etc.?If your answer to these questions is "I'm not sure", I encourage you to do a "dry run" soon and figure out how well you (you personally as well as your company) are insulated from events over which you have no control. If you already know the answer and are feeling a little uncomfortable, feel free to pick up the phone and give me a call. I'd be happy to put you in touch with some of our customers who sleep more soundly at night.For more information, listen to a recent webinar hosted by Hiperos discussing some of the myths in third party risk management.