Key Takeaways:

• Engaging the right stakeholders early creates the foundation for alignment, visibility, and shared ownership across the organization.
• Taking the time to clearly define the problem prevents teams from solving for the wrong processes, suppliers, or metrics.
• A strong problem statement focuses on long-term performance and aligns directly to organizational goals.
• Skipping these steps leads to activity without progress, reinforcing the same crisis management cycle organizations are trying to break.

In the first blog in this series, we outlined a structured approach to moving beyond reactive risk management and toward sustained supply chain performance. The steps are straightforward. Executing them is not.

Most organizations struggle not because they lack tools or data, but because they miss the foundational work required to align teams and define the right problem. Without that foundation, even the best-intentioned initiatives fall back into the same cycle: reacting to disruption, addressing symptoms, and repeating the process.

This article focuses on the first two steps for effective change management: engaging stakeholders and defining the problem statement. These steps set the direction for everything that follows. If they are rushed or incomplete, the outcome will be the same: continued crisis management.

Step 1: Engage Stakeholders

Any function can take the lead in engaging stakeholders. In most organizations, procurement or supply chain management is best positioned to own this process.

Why? Because supply chain teams sit at the center of both internal and external relationships. In many companies, 60% or more of the goods and services required to operate come from suppliers and as such Procurement plays a major role in managing that process and those suppliers. That means the majority of risk resides within the supply chain — along with a significant portion of the information needed to manage it.

Take a leadership role

Procurement and supply chain management operate at a crossroads of stakeholders: operations, finance, HSE, sustainability, suppliers, and more. That position creates both visibility and accountability.

That means it’s critical for procurement and/or supply chain to take ownership of this initiative from the start.

Identify all stakeholders

Start by taking the time to define the right stakeholders. This includes both internal and external stakeholders across functions, levels, and roles.

Without a clear view of who should be involved, organizations risk missing critical perspectives, duplicating efforts, or reinforcing existing silos before the process even begins.

A structured approach helps. Many teams use a RACI framework to map who should be responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed.

If unsure where to start, ask a few simple questions:

• Who is impacted by supply chain performance?
• Who has information related to supply chain performance?
• Who needs information from the supply chain?
• Who has been affected in the past by risk or disruption of any kind?
• Who benefits most from sustained supply chain and supplier performance?

It’s also important to consider broader organizational context, such as company priorities, goals, culture, and structure.

Gain alignment

Once stakeholders are identified, engage them directly.

Meet with each group to understand their objectives, concerns, risk exposure, and any existing efforts already underway.

This step is not about presenting a solution. It is about gathering perspectives and building a shared understanding of the current state.

It is also where silos begin to break down. Many organizations discover that multiple teams are addressing similar risks independently, often with different definitions and priorities.

Document and share information

Capture what is learned. Identify common themes, gaps, and differences in perspective. Then share that information back with stakeholders.

This step reinforces transparency and builds trust. It also ensures that no single function controls the narrative. The goal is a shared view of the problem — not competing interpretations.

Prepare for a risk management workshop

With initial input gathered, begin preparing for a working session.

The objective is to bring together a smaller, representative group to:

• Validate findings
• Align on priorities
• Begin defining the problem

Stakeholder engagement does not end here. It continues throughout the process. But this step establishes the structure needed to move forward with clarity.

Step 2: Define the Problem Statement

A clear, concise, and aligned problem statement is one of the most overlooked steps in this process.

Many teams move too quickly into solutioning. They start evaluating tools, defining processes, or implementing changes before they have fully defined the problem — both for themselves and across the organization. Without a shared understanding, different functions end up solving for different things.

That is how silos persist.

When teams don’t use a standard approach to defining the problem, they risk focusing on the wrong processes, the wrong categories, the wrong suppliers, and the wrong metrics. The result is familiar: activity increases, but outcomes do not. The organization remains stuck in a cycle where perseverance is mistaken for resilience.

The goal at this stage is not to define solutions. It is to define the problem clearly and completely. That starts with understanding the end state.

The objective is sustained performance over time: driving revenue, improving margin, strengthening working capital, and increasing customer satisfaction. This is not about the next disruption, or even the next quarter. It is about designing a supply chain that performs consistently over multiple years.

The problem statement becomes the foundation for that design. It should be clear enough to guide decisions and broad enough to align multiple functions. It also becomes the basis for establishing a risk management team charter.

Before moving forward, it is worth asking a few simple but important questions:

• Does the organization have a common definition of risk management? If not, that definition may need to be part of the problem statement.
• Does the full team (not just procurement) understand what the organization is trying to solve for?
• Is there alignment on long-term goals for revenue, margin, or other key metrics?
• Is there clear prioritization?

If there is not alignment on these points, the problem statement needs to be revisited.

This step requires discipline. It is easy to move on too quickly, especially when pressure to act is high. But defining the problem correctly is what allows the organization to take the right actions later.

After drafting the problem statement, test it against long-term objectives. If it does not align, refine it. The goal is not to document the current state. The goal is to change it — and to design sustained performance into the supply chain.

Use this simple problem statement workbook to document your problem statement.

Moving Forward

Engaging stakeholders and defining the problem are not preliminary steps. They are foundational.

They determine whether the organization continues reacting to disruption or begins building a system designed for sustained performance.

In the next article, we will focus on alignment and measurement, two steps that ensure the process remains connected to organizational goals and delivers measurable outcomes over time.