Operations Between Aspiration and Reality

Global uncertainty, volatile markets, and fragile supply chains present operations with new challenges. This study examines how well companies are actually positioned today – and where aspiration and operational reality diverge.

Study Structure

The study is based on a survey of operations, production, and supply chain managers. The focus was on strategic positioning, process robustness, risk management, and crisis response capabilities along the end-to-end value chain (source-make-deliver).

Key Findings at a Glance

• Strategy: Only 27% consider themselves strategically well-positioned today – and only 15% believe their operations will maintain this strength in the future.
• Processes: 65% rate their processes as resilient to disruptions, but only 33% as truly effective.
• Risks: 49% manage supply chain risks systematically, but only 38% attest to a high level of crisis response capability.
• Control: Decision-making and reaction speed remain key weaknesses despite increasing data availability.

The study clearly shows that robustness is present, but strategic consistency and operational effectiveness are lacking. Operations are already the key factor for stability for many companies – but are still too rarely used as a strategic management system.