Burning The Midnight Oil

As developments in Africa and the Middle East threaten to engulf us all in flames, there's much at stake, not least the early arrival of the apocalypse Chuck Taylor regularly warns us about.  However badly things break, though, two things are clear.  One is that there's little to stop crude from cracking the $100 per barrel barrier, whether there's good cause or not.

The other?

This is not a time to point fingers among supply chain partners, nor is it a time to squeeze either suppliers or customers by making either assume the full burden of sure-to-increase fuel and transportation costs.  We had enough of that going on at the worst of the recent/current recession, and many business relationships have yet to recover from the beatings inflicted by the momentarily strong upon the transiently weak.

This is a time for all supply chain partners to put their grown-up pants on, behave responsibly toward one another,  figure out fair ways to get through whatever difficulties ensue from international political unrest and uncertainty, and stick together for the long haul.

Doing less sems a quick way to move from disaster to catastrophe, don't you think?