According to analysis by research firm Forrester, Apple was alone among corporate giants in foreseeing the pandemic risk several years ahead of the global COVID-19 outbreak.
“COVID-19 wasn’t a black swan; any infectious disease expert could have told you a pandemic was inevitable. Yet when we reviewed the Fortune 50’s current 10-K reports, we saw that while 50 per cent mentioned a pandemic in their risk profiles for investors, they classified it as an ‘act of God’. Only Apple had insured the downside,” it said.
Attitudes among all vendors will change as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has swept across the world… Forrester said it sees firms bringing “islands” of risk management in cybersecurity, IT, and operations under the umbrella of “ERM” – enterprise risk management. Firms will invest in supply chain risk management, intelligence, mapping, and visibility while CIOs create a “dependable-by-design approach for all IT services, regardless of hosting model or location” in the medium term, the report said.
MacDailyNews Note: For one example of many of Apple noting the possibility of a pandemic affecting business operations, here’s Apple’s Form 10-K filed on October 30, 2013:
The Company’s business may be impacted by political events, war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters and other circumstances.
War, terrorism, geopolitical uncertainties, public health issues, and other business interruptions have caused and could cause damage or disruption to international commerce and the global economy, and thus could have a material adverse effect on the Company, its suppliers, logistics providers, manufacturing vendors and customers, including channel partners. The Company’s business operations are subject to interruption by, among others, natural disasters, fire, power shortages, nuclear power plant accidents, terrorist attacks and other hostile acts, labor disputes, public health issues, and other events beyond its control. Such events could decrease demand for the Company’s products, make it difficult or impossible for the Company to make and deliver products to its customers, including channel partners, or to receive components from its suppliers, and create delays and inefficiencies in the Company’s supply chain. Should major public health issues, including pandemics, arise, the Company could be adversely affected by more stringent employee travel restrictions, additional limitations in freight services, governmental actions limiting the movement of products between regions, delays in production ramps of new products, and disruptions in the operations of the Company’s manufacturing vendors and component suppliers. The majority of the Company’s research and development activities, its corporate headquarters, information technology systems, and other critical business operations, including certain component suppliers and manufacturing vendors, are in locations that could be affected by natural disasters. In the event of a natural disaster, the Company could incur significant losses, require substantial recovery time and experience significant expenditures in order to resume operations.