Managing Supply Chain & 3rd Party Risk from an Organizational Perspective

On November 6, AmCham’s Security Forum, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy and the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), gathered at 360 Law Firm for a timely discussion on managing supply chain and third-party risks from an organizational perspective.

Organizations are growing dependency on 3rd parties, which has increased the need to focus on managing the associated business risks. With multiple areas of risk – leading to broad internal stakeholder groups – a coordinated effort can be challenging.

During the event, we heard from two security executives, who shared their firsthand knowledge on how to manage various business risks within multi-national corporations. First, we heard from Klaus Hedegaard, Senior Director Global Security, Europe, PepsiCo, who emphasized the importance of developing alternative operations plans to ensure business continuity in the event of a crisis or disruption. In addition to making the case for business contingency plans, Mr. Hedegaard also pointed to the need for a clear-eyed approach to which threats your organization may face down the road – whether it be physical or digital crises.

Afterwards, Thomas Boye Dyregaard, the Head of Global Security & Business Resilience at Maersk, where a long and complex supply chain including 3rd party entities, presents its own challenges. “Our customers contract with Maersk, not our subcontractors,” he noted.  “And it is critical to utilize enhanced screening to choose the right subcontractors”. Dyregaard also discussed how the company merged Business Continuity Management and Crisis Management after the 2017 cyber-attack, to create a stronger and more agile foundation for crisis response.

A very special thanks to the U.S. Embassy and the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) for making this event possible and the 360 Law Firm, who ensured a safe and healthy environment for this event.

Note: Due to confidentiality, we are unable to share the speaker’s presentations, however we hope you will join us for future AmCham Security Committee talks.