The Importance of Geopolitical Fluency
In today’s Supply Chain and Manufacturing Market Movers and Makers, we’re exploring geopolitical fluency and its emergence as a critical business skill, helping companies anticipate disruption, navigate regulatory shifts, and uncover new growth zones.
In a recent McKinsey survey, executives named geopolitics the top risk to growth. Yet for many firms, it’s still siloed in legal or external affairs instead of being integrated across core operations.
The companies that get it right are already seeing results.
Apple’s decision to manufacture AI servers in Texas is one response to global tech tensions—reducing exposure while securing future-ready production.
Toyota is playing a similar long game, tilting toward high-margin electrified vehicles. By investing $1.3B in a U.S.–Mexico battery plant and deepening partnerships in China and Asia, Toyota is proactively diversifying risk and rewriting the playbook for global manufacturing.
In uncertain times, geopolitical fluency isn’t just a defense strategy—it’s a growth engine.
Curious how your peers are preparing? I’ll be unpacking more examples and strategies in upcoming SupplyChain and Manufacturing Market Movers & Makers posts—follow along.
