It’s a fitting time of year for miracles, and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed by Congress today fits that description. Granted, the first major tax overhaul in more than three decades is not a panacea. It’s come under an increasing amount of criticism from many factions.

A combination of dynamic and powerful forces including cyber risk, ever-accelerating technological advances, regulatory complexity, natural and human-made catastrophes, and globalization of the supply chain confronts manufacturers more than at any other point in history. To respond to this continually evolving array of risks, executives need robust tools and fresh insights to support their understanding of the risk landscape, as well as to accurately assess the sophistication, effectiveness, and maturity of their risk management programs.

See the most popular content from 2017; the impact of hurricanes on the economy, infrastructure investment, encouraging diversity and inclusion in the workforce, the impacts of the GDPR, and the new language of digital.   

Definitions matter and they aren’t universal. In the digital landscape, we are each an interpreter navigating a brave new world. What is a digital strategy? Are we digitizing or digitalizing our business? Do those words mean the same thing or are they different? And what about digital transformation? Is this term a new business buzzword or a profound transformation on the horizon that requires significant preparation?

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investors were once perceived as an element of activist communities working to influence distinct aspects of company behavior. Over time, the focus of ESG investors has broadened as institutional investors have identified ESG topics as issues that impact company performance and value. In fact, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, there has been a 25% increase in assets managed under responsible investment strategies for a total pot of $22.89 trillion since 2014.

Building resilience into the business is important. Whether it is creating business continuity plans or assessing risks to the business or its employees, it is imperative that companies prepare to weather bumps in the road. At the same time, companies should also pay attention to the infrastructure surrounding their companies and the changes that can affect them as well.

In today's business landscape, data and computer controls are at the center of how organizations operate. Your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, manufacturing execution system (MES), financial planning system, human resources platform, customer relationship management (CRM) system, and payroll system are just a few of the key systems running your business. Every one of these systems is vulnerable and needs to be protected from cybersecurity threats. 

To achieve profitability targets over the next 12 months, nearly 80% of industrial manufacturing CEOs plan to focus on organic growth rather than cost reductions or M&A. While marketing isn’t entirely responsible for delivering organic growth, it plays a critical role in key growth enablers like innovation, pricing, and customer experience.

No one should be concerned that the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) pulled back from an unrealistic 60.8% in September to a still strong 58.7% in October. The September reading from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) has to be treated as an outlier and interpreted against the inevitable data distortions created by two devastating hurricanes. Hurricane Harvey, in particular, ravaged a manufacturing epicenter at a time when energy-related output is growing as a share of U.S. industrial output. ISM survey respondents in October noted weak business conditions and raw material shortages due to the hurricanes. The aftermath of these terrible storms is going to linger in the manufacturing picture for a while.

While technology advancements surrounding connected devices and data analysis hurtle forward – and costs and barriers to entry generally are falling – some companies still feel as if they’re missing out on something, scrambling to get on the cutting edge.