All companies depend on their suppliers. When handled well, the supply chain is a source of strength and even regarded as a value chain. Conversely, a poorly managed supply chain will manifest its weakest link quite easily. All too often, the fallout requires much more than cleanup on aisle three. Consider the juxtaposition of Marco Polo’s Silk Road and the horse meat scandal during 2013.

Italian trader and explorer Marco Polo is perhaps the most well-known Western European in history to ply the 4,000-mile trade route known as the Silk Road. The route was not always so easy to manage, however. Challenges included vast distances, language and cultural differences, physical-support logistics, even war and death.

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