Unplanned information technology disruption and telecommunications outages were cited as the second most likely cause of disruption according to 41 percent of the respondents.

Nick Wildgoose, global supply chain product manager at Zurich Global Corp., says in a statement, “At Zurich, we are finding that an increasing number of our customers are realizing that they can reduce costs of disruption and gain competitive advantage by understanding their critical supply chains risks better.”

“While just-in-time efficiencies and outsourcing strategies are here to stay in some form, this survey shows it is more critical than ever to strike a sensible balance between the need to drive down costs and the need for these cost savings not to be wiped out through disruption or unacceptable risk exposure, especially in the context of the longer term reputational damage,” says Lyndon Bird, technical director at the BCI.

A total of 559 organizations across 62 countries participated in the survey covering 14 different industries. The companies ranged from the small to the large with the largest group of respondents, 29 percent, coming from the 1,001 – 5,000 employees range.

Of the 62 countries responding, 42 percent of respondents were from the United Kingdom, followed by the United States at 12 percent.

Among some of the other findings:

• The earthquakes and tsunami experienced in Japan and New Zealand this year, affected 20 percent of responding organizations, which were headquartered in 18 different countries.

• Cyber attacks became a top three source of disruption in the financial services sector.

• Supply chain incidents led to a loss of productivity for almost half of businesses along with increased cost of working—38 percent of respondents—and loss of revenue—32 percent of respondents.

• Longer term consequences of disruption in the supply chain included shareholder concern, 19 percent of respondents, damage to reputation—17 percent—and expected increases in regulatory scrutiny—11 percent.

• For 17 percent of respondents the financial costs of the largest single incident totaled a million or more Euros. This figure almost doubles to 32 percent where less resilient supply chains are evident in the research.

• Loss of talent or skills rose from 14th place in 2010 survey to 6th place in 2011. This represents a warning that lay-offs among supply chain partners is leading to increased disruption, the report says.

• Seventy-four percent of respondents either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the proposition that outsourcing and just-in-time/lean strategies were making their organizations more vulnerable to supply chain disruption.

The survey was supported by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and DHL Supply Chain.