"Results in 2013 continue to indicate a passive approach to reviewing the likely effectiveness of supplier business-continuity arrangements," states the report, which goes on to say that supply-chain resilience is a complicated issue that is "not just about continuity."

While supply-chain disruptions are increasing—over the past four years, 75% of respondents annually experienced at least one incident—they are also occurring further inside the supply chain. Forty-two percent of business interruptions originated below the tier-one supplier (supplying parts to the manufacturer of the final product) in 2013.

The top-three causes of disruption occurred from unplanned IT or telecommunications outages, followed by adverse weather (40%) and service failure by outsourced providers (37%).

However, non-physical causes of interruption (that don't deter the immediate supply of a product or service but require crisis response to stakeholders or longer-term damage) made an impactful appearance: high-profile media reporting of the danger of cyber attacks rose from 18th place in 2012 to 5th place in 2013, and the non-availability of loss of talent increased from 10th place to 6th.  

Forty-one percent of respondents stated that customer complaints received after a disruption increased since 2012, placing it second behind loss of productivity as the primary consequence of supply-chain disruption. Twenty-four percent experienced reputational damage to their brand, but only 3% said it caused a fall in share price.

"Different parts of the organization need the supply chain to deliver different and potentially conflicting outcomes," says Zurich.

The report recommends several steps to reconcile enterprise-wide gaps in supply chain planning:

• Asking suppliers whether they have activated their BC plans with previous clients, and report their results.
• Asking suppliers how they identify their own 'critical suppliers' and what due diligence they undertake with them.
• Ensuring the vendor has a BC program and plan, the business has recovery capability built into their BCPs for reduced services in the event of a supplier being impacted, as well as contingency plans owned and developed by the business to cover total loss of a material supplier.
• Understanding the risk appetite of the directors of the supplier, which can be a guide as to whether the organization takes resilience seriously and their responsibility to their customers' continuity.
• Categorizing disruptive and financially significant suppliers and conducting annual due diligence and regular meetings with these parties.