How companies are becoming increasingly dependent and what they need to do to become resilient

Labour sociologist Professor Ferry Koster researches the interaction between technological and social innovation. In recent decades our work has become more flexible and automated. Thanks to economic and technological developments, organizations are becoming increasingly intertwined internationally with a growing interdependence.

Ever Given

The extent to which companies depend on each other became painfully clear when the container ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal in 2021. It had major consequences for world trade. As far as Koster is concerned, the image of that ship straddling the canal illustrates the consequences when the production chain gets stuck. "The chain for making an iPhone, for example, has become increasingly stretched and fragmented over the years. Before you buy a phone in a store around the corner from you, it has already seen so many companies and countries... Such a complex production chain is vulnerable. Because if for any reason there is a serious hitch somewhere in the chain, the entire production schedule goes haywire."

You need to have slack

According to Koster, mutual dependence doesn't have to be a problem if you have factored it in as a company. That requires a long-term vision. And in that vision, companies need to take responsibility for the entire chain from a position of commitment and trust, Koster believes. "The fact that you pass on work to an independent contractor does not mean that you can shrug off your responsibility. That contractor is also part of your chain. If you want to be resilient, you need to have slack. So make sure you have room in the whole chain. Make sure you have a backup if things go wrong somewhere."

Collaborative community

Vulnerability in systems arises because dependencies are approached in a too limited way, observes Koster. "These are often mainly focused on efficiency and cost reduction and therefore not on the long term. A company that only goes for the short term and makes as much profit as possible ends up alienating itself from its own employees. A company with resilience goes for long-term relationships, in which there is room for trust, solidarity and mutual support." In his research, Koster calls this the collaborative community. A community where efficiency, flexibility, informal relationships and trust-building have a place. "An organization that floats on these values has the ability to innovate. Resilience can help a company get through a crisis. After all, you know you can fall back on each other if needed. Moreover, I think that you perform better at the bottom line because you combine the strengths of price, control and trust. Various studies confirm this, and we see good examples from, for example, the automotive industry, but also the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries."