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Re-thinking the cost of supply chain security

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Abstract

Post 9/11 we have witnessed the introduction and further strengthening of a range of trans-border security programs designed to protect international supply chains against acts of unlawful interference. In some cases compliance with these programs is mandatory. In other cases compliance results in a preferential treatment by appropriate authorities. To a great extent, these programs comprehend the introduction of situational measures. In most instances, however, operators within the supply chain—being made responsible for their actual implementation—are left with limited guidance. In this paper it is argued that a lack of guidance may result in measures being introduced without taking full account of their potential consequences. Based on an analysis of previous research findings and on the outcome of a literature review, direct and indirect implementation costs have been differentiated from a range of (consequential costs provoked by) potential reverse effects, and from a series of generic preconditions, enabling practitioners in industry to conduct a proper cost analysis and come to an informed decision on what particular measure(s) best to implement. It is argued that criminology and management science can support this decision making process, provided that policy makers allow operators a certain freedom of choice between alternative measures and approaches.

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Notes

  1. This code was incorporated into European legislation with Regulation (EC) No. 725/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on enhancing ship and port facility security, OJ, L 129/6, 29 April 2004.

  2. Regulation (EC) No. 2320/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 establishing common rules in the field of civil aviation security, OJ, L355/1, 30 December 2002.

  3. Commission of the European Communities, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee on a simple and paperless environment for Customs and Trade and on the role of customs in the integrated management of external borders, COM (2003) 452, Brussels, 24 July 2003.

  4. As an example, recent interceptions of improvised explosive devices originating from Yemen have triggered US and EU governments to further enhance air cargo security regulations.

  5. The TAPA Freight Security Requirements (FSR) have been established by security professionals within the high-tech industry to address the nature by which high-tech products and materials are handled, warehoused and transported as they move throughout the supply chain (source: www.tapaemea.com, accessed 18 November 2010).

  6. Fixed costs are expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods or services produced or sold, while variable costs are considered to be expenses that change in proportion to the activity of a business (source: http://www.accountingtools.com, accessed 9 November 2010).

  7. According to Clarke ‘a situational project is more effective when it adopts a package of measures, each of which is directed to a particular point of the process to committing the crime’. It goes without saying that each individual measure within this package should be carefully considered prior to its implementation, and any potential interdependencies should be recognized and overcome prior to the actual implementation.

  8. Time costs are imputed on the basis of the duration of a transportation movement, distance costs according to mileage (source: [46]: 73).

  9. Standard of living is defined as the economic means and non-economic capabilities for achieving a certain quality of life ([49]: 7–11).

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  1. Faculty of Law, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Harald Haelterman

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Haelterman, H. Re-thinking the cost of supply chain security. Crime Law Soc Change 56, 389–405 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-011-9304-7

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