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Supply chain has surged from #13 to the Top 5 on corporate board agendas within a single year. Yet only 30 percent of executives possess deep insight into their company’s supply chain risks – and just 25 percent discuss the topic systematically. The greatest gap in corporate governance isn’t in the balance sheet – it’s in the supply chain.
TL;DR
- From #13 to Top 5: Supply Chain Disruption rose eight places on U.S. public company board agendas in one year (NACD, 2025).
- Only 30 percent grasp the risks: Fewer than one-third of boards hold deep understanding of supply chain risks (McKinsey, 2024).
- 60 percent Tier-1 visibility: Transparency over direct suppliers is improving – but visibility into Tier-2 and deeper tiers has declined for two consecutive years (McKinsey, 2024).
- Only 29 percent are future-ready: Less than one-third of supply chain organizations have built the capabilities needed to meet future challenges (Gartner, 2025).
- 74 percent see resilience as a growth driver: Three out of four business leaders view supply chain resilience not as a cost center – but as a strategic advantage (WEF/Kearney, 2026).
The Board Paradox: Attention Without Understanding
The NACD survey of over 200 public company directors reveals a striking shift: In Q2 2024, supply chain disruption ranked #13 on board agendas. One year later – in Q2 2025 – it had broken into the Top 5. That eight-place leap was driven directly by tariff escalations and geopolitical turbulence.
But attention ≠ competence. McKinsey’s Global Supply Chain Leader Survey 2024 – featuring 88 supply chain leaders – exposes the chasm: Only 30 percent report that their boards possess deep understanding of supply chain risks. Just 25 percent have formal processes to discuss the topic regularly at C-level. Most respond ad hoc to crises – not proactively through structured governance.
Source: McKinsey Global Supply Chain Leader Survey, 2024
The Tier-1 Trap: Visibility With an Expiry Date
Sixty percent of companies now enjoy comprehensive visibility into their Tier-1 suppliers – a 10-percentage-point gain over two consecutive years (McKinsey, 2024). At first glance, progress.
At second glance, a problem: Visibility into Tier-2 and deeper tiers has declined for two years running. Forty-five percent of companies either lack transparency into their upstream supply chain – or cannot look beyond their direct suppliers. The Business Continuity Institute estimates that only 17.1 percent of organizations have mapped suppliers beyond Tier-3.
Regulation demands more: CSRD, CSDDD, and Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act require transparency deep into sub-tiers. Operational reality delivers none. For boards, this means: The compliance gap is widening – not because requirements are new, but because visibility fails to keep pace.
What Boards Actually Prioritize
The NACD 2025 survey reveals where boards focus on supply chain: 58 percent prioritize managing supply chain exposures; 56 percent emphasize strengthening resilience. Regulatory and compliance management ranks third at 42 percent. Supply chain cybersecurity and supplier strategy each land at 26 percent.
What’s conspicuously missing? Digitalization and technology investment don’t appear among top priorities. That’s problematic – because Gartner warns that by 2028, 60 percent of all supply chain digitalization initiatives will fail to deliver promised value. The primary cause? Inadequate investment in learning and development. A survey of 579 supply chain practitioners (October 2024) confirms: Technology without capability building yields shelfware – not results.
74 percent of business leaders view resilience as a growth driver – not a cost factor. Tariff escalations redirected over $400 billion in global trade flows in 2025.WEF/Kearney, Global Value Chains Outlook, January 2026
The COO Renaissance: From Cost Optimizer to Resilience Architect
The COO role is experiencing a renaissance. According to McKinsey, the share of large enterprises with a COO had fallen to an all-time low of 32 percent by 2018. Since then, it’s rebounded – approaching early-2000s levels. But the role itself has fundamentally transformed: From tactical cost optimizer to strategic resilience architect – responsible for digital transformation, end-to-end supply chain resilience, and enterprise-wide coordination.
The talent gap is the biggest bottleneck: 90 percent of supply chain leaders surveyed by McKinsey say their organizations lack the talent and capabilities required to achieve digitalization goals. This isn’t an operational weakness – it’s a strategic gap visible directly at C-level.
Only 29 Percent Are Prepared
Gartner’s survey of 579 supply chain professionals (published February 2025) delivers the starkest figure: Only 29 percent of supply chain organizations have built at least three of five critical future-ready capabilities. The five criteria: Agility, Resilience, Regionalization, Integrated Ecosystems, and Enterprise-wide Strategy.
Gartner’s Top 25 Supply Chain Ranking 2025 reveals what top performers do differently: Schneider Electric leads for the third year running – recognized for integrating AI into planning, enabling flexible production control, and strategically linking sustainability to corporate objectives. NVIDIA climbed sharply to #2. Three macro-trends define the top tier: Agentic AI for autonomous decision-making, Autonomous Operations for orchestrating multiple processes simultaneously, and Water Stewardship as a core resilience issue.
CSRD Forces Supply Chain onto the Strategic Agenda
The CSRD reporting requirement applies to approximately 50,000 EU companies – and mandates double materiality: How do sustainability issues affect the company’s finances? And how does the company impact people and the environment? For supply chains, this means Scope-3 transparency – full accounting of indirect emissions across the entire value chain.
The EU Omnibus proposal of February 2025 could narrow the CSRD scope. Final amendments are expected in Q1/Q2 2026. Paradoxically, regulatory uncertainty heightens board attention: Compliance ambiguity is costlier than compliance itself. Harvard Law assesses the current landscape as a complex regulatory environment that makes board governance mandatory – not optional (Harvard Law, March 2026).
What Boards Should Do Now
Establish supply chain as a permanent strategic agenda item: Only 25 percent have formal processes. The remaining 75 percent react to crises instead of preparing for them. Quarterly supply chain reviews with the COO and Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) belong in the board calendar.
Extend visibility beyond Tier-1: 60 percent Tier-1 visibility is insufficient – for both compliance and risk management. Digital platforms like Resilinc, Everstream Analytics, or IntegrityNext deliver transparency down to Tier-3.
Talent before technology: 90 percent of companies lack talent for digital supply chains. Gartner warns that 60 percent of digitalization initiatives fail without capability building. Develop people first – then deploy systems.
Frame resilience as a growth strategy: 74 percent of business leaders see resilience as a growth driver (WEF/Kearney, 2026). Sell resilience as insurance – and you’ll get budget. Position it as competitive advantage – and you’ll earn strategic priority.
Conclusion
The supply chain has arrived on the strategic agenda – but hasn’t yet landed on C-level understanding. The numbers are unambiguous: #5 on the agenda, yet only 30 percent comprehension. 60 percent Tier-1 visibility – but declining transparency beneath it. 74 percent see resilience as a growth driver – yet only 29 percent have built the capabilities. For COOs and CIOs, this means: Board attention is secured. Now competence must catch up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why has supply chain suddenly risen so high on the strategic agenda?
Three drivers: Geopolitical disruptions (U.S. tariffs, U.S.-China tensions), regulatory pressure (CSRD, CSDDD), and repeated supply chain disruptions since 2020. The NACD survey shows a jump from #13 to Top 5 in one year.
What does Tier-1 vs. Tier-2 visibility mean?
Tier-1 suppliers are a company’s direct suppliers. Tier-2 suppliers are the suppliers of those suppliers. Sixty percent of companies know their Tier-1 suppliers well – but only 17 percent have visibility beyond Tier-3. That’s precisely where most risks originate.
What does poor supply chain transparency cost?
Thirty percent of all supply chain disruptions cost companies more than $5 million per incident; 16 percent exceed $10 million (RapidRatings, 2025). Add reputational damage and regulatory penalties for CSRD noncompliance.
Does every company need a Chief Supply Chain Officer?
Not necessarily as a standalone C-level position – but the function must be represented at C-level. McKinsey shows that companies with supply chain leadership at executive level deliver significantly better outcomes. The COO role is increasingly evolving in this direction.
What are Gartner’s five critical supply chain capabilities?
Agility (rapid adaptation to change), Resilience (resistance to disruption), Regionalization (local networks over global dependency), Integrated Ecosystems (connected partner ecosystems), and Enterprise-wide Strategy (supply chain as enterprise-wide strategy – not a silo).
Further Reading
More from the MBF Media Network
- Logistics and Supply Chain at cloudmagazin
- Logistics and Supply Chain at MyBusinessFuture
- SecurityToday – IT security for enterprises
Header Image Source: Pexels / Vlada Karpovich (px:7433840)
Translated from the German original using artificial intelligence. The German version is authoritative.