Disasters, Disruptions & Development!

Resilience in supply chains and their component organisations in delivering Australian Defence Capability has been the key topic in during & post COVID world, however the quest for robustness, agility and resilience has the potential to inadvertently cause businesses and supply chains to experience greater stress and uncertainty. ?Constructing enduring benefit, community prosperity and contributing to regional security requires analysis of many forms in order to address potential deficits in capability as well as prepare for the future.

Examining the disruption wrought across global supply chains in times of geoclimatic and other disaster-scaled events, whilst seeking to enhance Australian industries’ natural advantages in supporting Defence’s current and future needs is a focal point for my thesis: “Disruption, Disorder & Deployments – towards Antifragility in Australian Defence Industry”.?? This research is being undertaken as part of my work towards a Doctorate of Business, through the Australian Institute of Business (AIB), due for completion in December 2024 and has achieved Ethics approval.

This has been my focus for the past months, not only have strides in developing industry capability been made by day; but by night (and those who know me, know I don't sleep much!): my research continues apace. Of particular note however and my news for today is: my Doctoral Supervisor Ethan Nikookar (PhD) has unleashed the round of invitations inviting Australian business people to participate in semi-structured interviews to discuss supply chain operations, particularly points of growth and barriers during times of disruption. I promise - that email is real, and not a scam, all thanks to those vigiliant people who called to check!

It is my plan to draw upon a "mindfully conducted body of research, designed to bring together the diverse perspectives and fresh approaches adopted by Australian businesses in addressing the challenges of recent disruptive events, to look at providing future-focused models to shape daily business as well as innovate in times of disorder. The key idea is that ? can unite the collective experiences of the Australian SMEs, Policy makers and the Defence Customers to look at what we achieved during disruptions, what enabled us to do more than just survive but to actively thrive. At the same time: hearing what obstacles you faced, and where challenges were nearly insurmountable is equally important.

My research explores the principles advocated by Taleb regarding Antifragility and seeks to encourage new thinking gauged at assisting businesses to rebalance and thrive in the face of catastrophe. ??As threats to national resilience, including the 2019 bushfires and COVID-19, have created disorder and disruption on an unprecedented global scale, the opportunity exists to test the concepts of Antifragility and gather real world examples of where benefit can be gained.?? ??

This research is directly relevant to the Priorities identified by the Defence Industrial Development Strategy, as well as other national initiatives, especially in Enhancing Australian Industry comparative advantage to support Defence posture and capability, as well as identifying measures to adapt and thrive in times of Threats to National Resilience and representing practical opportunities for Defence and Defence Industry to minimise the impacts of disruptive events. ?

If you do have experiences to share, I would truly appreciate the opportunity to sit down in an interview setting to get your thoughts on what Disruptions mean in your organisation & supply chains. Please get in touch though any channel such as LinkedIn, my email address: [email protected] or speak with my supervisor: [email protected]

I look forwards to hearing about your challenges!

Amanda