Risk Management and Crisis Management Consulting

Strengthen the Resilience of Your Operations and Supply Chain

A crisis can take many forms, by scale (global, regional, national, or local) as well as by scope (health, economic, political, or logistical). In addition, certain challenging situations can escalate into full-blown crises if the measures taken are not adequate.

Whether a crisis is already underway, emerging, or simply a potential risk, we bring our expertise to help you secure your production operations and supply chain as early as possible.

Your stakes

In recent years, crises have proven to be multifaceted, sudden, and systemic. In an increasingly uncertain world, companies aim to protect their operations and respond effectively to all types of disruptions, better managing crises, preventing future ones, and strengthening resilience.

Managing an Ongoing or Imminent Crisis

Effectively manage the crisis while ensuring real-time communication to decision-makers
Anticipate upcoming issues or impacts beyond the immediate scope
Organize and prioritize actions, including deciding what cannot be addressed during the crisis

Temporarily Strengthening Your Teams

Support understaffed teams or compensate for the absence of a manager to prevent local crises
Adjust team capacity to handle complex situations
Identify the right profiles to support critical situations

Evaluer les risques et Assessing Risks and Anticipating Potential Crisesune possible crise

Conduct end-to-end risk analysis across the value chain (internal teams, suppliers, service providers, customers, ...)
Identify and assess risk points (frequency, probability, and impact)
Evaluate risk mitigation scenarios and support decision-making (costs of securing operations)
Implement risk reduction plans
Establish monitoring and validation processes

Securing the Future

Reduce the vulnerability of your operations to current and future disruptions
Build a more robust, resilient, and agile operating model to better equip teams and organization
Evolve company culture and strategy to strengthen resilience and support decision-making (e.g., choosing between a nearby, agile supplier vs. a distant, lower-cost supplier)

Nos convictions

In times of crisis—or in anticipation—it is essential to align strategic decisions with on-the-ground realities and observations.
During a crisis, organizations must be able to quickly make effective and operationally relevant decisions.
Operational teams must also rapidly understand the strategy and the decisions made, so they can focus on the right priorities.
To reduce risks and anticipate future challenges, strategies must also be aligned with…

Effective risk management and anticipation of potential issues require a 360° approach.
This analysis must cover the entire value chain, combining expertise at each level with overall consistency.
In a crisis, it is critical to ensure that actions do not focus solely on symptoms. Organizations must address root causes as early as possible, or ensure that the means to exit crisis mode are implemented in parallel.

A robust diagnosis must assess risks (frequency, probability, and impact) and quickly propose solutions to limit or contain issues.
The analysis must be thorough, yet highly pragmatic, delivering concrete actions that can be implemented effectively.
In a crisis, speed takes precedence over perfection in execution; however, clear and effective communication remains essential.

Assessing the impacts and associated costs of a crisis situation is essential to define the measures to be implemented—whether proactively or through a business continuity plan.
Additionally, certain levers can address multiple risks simultaneously (e.g., buffer stock to mitigate supplier, transportation, or demand variability).
Finally, implementing a continuity plan or a more agile operating model generates costs. These should be made transparent and clearly explained to stakeholders, along with documenting the rationale behind these decisions.

It is critical to establish a crisis management structure with sufficient decision-making autonomy and rapid access to key decision-makers for major trade-offs.
Organizations should rely on their core teams while bringing in additional expertise and resources to scale their response capabilities during a crisis.
Engaging teams in anticipation efforts also ensures that, if a crisis occurs, they can quickly reactivate and adapt the mechanisms developed together to the reality of the situation.

Our solutions
and approach

Diagnosis, Risk Identification, and Recommendations

Identification of major risk exposure points (frequency, probability, and impact)
Identification of risk mitigation scenarios and cost assessment; support for informed decision-making
Implementation of validated risk reduction plans
Establishment of regular monitoring and review processes
Empowerment of teams to continuously assess alignment and adjust the risk management plan

Process Structuring and Capability Building

Formalization of processes, including contingency processes
Identification of processes contributing to risk reduction
Team training
Post-training assessments

Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

Development of a multi-level Business Continuity Plan (BCP) based on different crisis scenarios
Training and simulation exercises for teams
Regular review and updates, particularly in anticipation of potential crises

Operational or Project Reinforcement – Talentwell

Profiles to support your teams, reduce workload, and mitigate risks: Interim Managers, Project Managers, and operational team support

Crisis Task Force Deployment

Rapid diagnostic and proposed organizational setup
Establishment of a crisis management team (within 24 to 48 hours)
Joint implementation of crisis management processes
Setup of reporting and communication routines

Your gains

Control of Financial Impact

Revenue preserved or limited attrition
Example: a Business Continuity Plan targeting 80% of sales maintained, ultimately achieving 90%
Reduced emergency logistics and expedited flow costs during the crisis

Control of Customer Service Impact

Reduction in the number, frequency, and impact of disruptions affecting customers (stockouts, delivery issues, etc.)
Improved ability to meet customer needs, even during crisis situations
Effective prioritization to serve the maximum number of customers

Improved Agility and Sustainability

Resolution of major incidents during emergency situations
Ensured business continuity
Increased resilience of the supply chain and operations to disruptions
Assessment of operational maturity, with defined and shared targets and transformation roadmaps

A project ? Contact us

Jean-Pascal Chichmanian

Partner

Jean-Pascal joined Citwell in 2007, following three years of experience at Decathlon. At Citwell, he has led numerous transformation projects across retail, industry, luxury, and pharmaceuticals. He has worked across all areas of the supply chain, from upstream phases (master planning, scoping, etc.) to implementation.

Today, he leads major transformation programs for our clients.