NBCC Forum: Why Value Chain Resilience Is Important For Businesses

Friday, February 19, 2021 / 6.30PM / Ottoabasi Abasiekong forWebTV/ Header Image Credit: NBCC

Value Chainresilience is one of the key components that distinguish businesses that arestrategic, innovative, and sustainable. The CEO/Group Managing Director ofFlour Mills Nigeria Group, Mr. Omoboyede Olusanya, said this as a keynotespeaker at a recent webinar hosted by the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce(NBCC).

Speaking on"Strategic Business Transformation: Playing to Win" he emphasized the need forbusinesses to link the value-chain of their operations to their valueproposition. According to him, this is the approach that Flour Mills Nigeriahas taken in the Agric sector, connecting its strategies with the entire valuechain and ecosystem of the industry.

He stressed the fact thatBusiness Transformation must always tie into the conviction and belief ofcompanies and the environment they operate in. Speaking further he said FlourMills had invested in backward integration, which was vital to manufacturingand industrialization for any nation; developing a robust value-chain for itsbusiness operations.

The business leaderhighlighted the following strategic areas that organizations should consider asa top priority;

High Value for Corporate Governance
Integrating the Sustainability Component in their BusinessOperations
Investing in skill sets and talents
Broad-based engagement with stakeholders

Olusanya also emphasizedthe need for companies to be innovative, technologically inclined, leveragingdata, and having a strong distribution network.

He said Flour MillsNigeria had led a legacy of impact, job creation, and social development in thecountry through the following areas;

Focusing on the upside; while finding innovativeways to overcome systemic challenges
Forging a close relationship with communitiesand all stakeholders
Having the "Can-do" attitude, to overcome supplychain constraints (experience of BagCo, GTC)
Emphasizing manufacturing excellence and strongdistribution

In terms of afew common strategy mistakes that businesses make, Olusanya noted some issuesthat should be addressed urgently;

Lack of a clear strategy and plan
Underestimating the challenges associated withentering new industries or undertaking major new initiatives
Failing to differentiate sufficiently fromcompetition or finding blue oceans in an attempt to be a "better" version ofthe competition (e.g Tesla )

Giving theopening remarks the President of the NBCC, Mr. Kayode Falowo, said the choiceof the theme for the webinar, was influenced by the need to emphasize strategictransformation as an imperative for business leadership.

Mr. Falowo said thewebinar was in alignment with the goals of the chamber, which was to empowerits over 350 members that comprise companies, organizations, and institutions.