Jessica Spungin, Adjunct Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School, is returning to the BBC airwaves as a featured guest on The Bottom Line.The former McKinsey partner, known for her sharp analysis of corporate strategy and organisational transformation, will join host Evan Davis to unpack the forces reshaping modern business. Her appearance marks a renewed collaboration between London Business School and the flagship Radio 4 program, bringing rigorous, real-world management insight to a broad audience of business leaders, policymakers and engaged listeners.
Jessica Spungin on the evolving role of operations in a volatile global economy
Drawing on decades of boardroom and factory-floor experience, Jessica Spungin explains how operations has moved from a backstage cost centre to a strategic nerve hub in an era of trade tensions, political shocks and fragile supply chains. Rather than optimising for lowest unit cost alone, leading firms now balance resilience, speed and sustainability, with COOs sitting alongside CEOs and CFOs in shaping corporate destiny. Spungin highlights how the most progressive organisations are re-mapping global footprints, building scenario-based capacity plans and investing in data-rich visibility from supplier to customer, transforming operations into a real-time intelligence system for the whole business.
She also points to a new skill set emerging at the top of the function: part technologist, part macroeconomist, part change leader. Today’s operations chiefs must orchestrate cross-functional teams that can respond to shocks in days, not quarters, often by reconfiguring networks on the fly and rethinking what should be made, sourced or automated. Spungin notes several practical priorities:
- Reshoring and nearshoring to shorten exposure to geopolitical risk.
- Dual and triple sourcing to avoid single points of failure.
- Digital twins and predictive analytics to stress‑test networks.
- Sustainability by design embedded in product and process decisions.
| Operations Focus | Yesterday | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Goal | Cost efficiency | Resilience & agility |
| Decision Driver | Stable forecasts | Scenario planning |
| Leadership Role | Support function | Board‑level strategist |
Behind the microphone insights from the recording of The Bottom Line
Seasoned studio teams at New Broadcasting House know that when Jessica Spungin walks into the green room, the conversation shifts up a gear. Before the red light blinks on, she can be found sketching value chains on scrap paper, turning pre-show small talk into a rapid-fire clinic on cost structures and competitive advantage. Producers compare notes on recent boardroom flashpoints, while Jessica stress-tests their assumptions with the same rigour she brings to her London Business School classrooms. Between sound checks and level tests, she works with the show’s host to streamline complex case studies into crisp, radio-ready narratives that still preserve the underlying analytical spine.
- Live problem‑solving: real company dilemmas reshaped into broadcast‑amiable case studies.
- Classroom in a studio: frameworks normally seen on whiteboards translated into clear, conversational language.
- Editorial sparring: producers challenge, Jessica reframes, and the final script becomes tighter and sharper.
| On-Air Focus | Jessica’s Lens |
|---|---|
| Margins under pressure | Operational discipline over headline growth |
| Leadership calls | Decision-making under real uncertainty |
| Audience takeaways | Practical tools executives can apply next week |
Behind the glass, there is a choreography that merges editorial instinct with executive education. Producers push for vivid stories, Jessica insists on analytical clarity, and together they land on anecdotes that serve as mini case studies rather than loose war stories. The result is a recording process that feels more like a live seminar than a scripted programme. Listeners never see the pages of notes, the debates over a single turn of phrase, or the diagrams quietly erased between takes-yet those unseen decisions are what allow complex topics like supply-chain resilience, pricing power and scaling strategy to sound effortless in a 28‑minute broadcast.
What business leaders can learn from Jessica Spungins approach to resilient supply chains
Spungin urges executives to move beyond cost-only thinking and rather design supply networks with redundancy, optionality and visibility at their core. Rather than relying on a single “perfect” supplier,she advocates a portfolio mindset: diverse sourcing across regions,tier-two and tier-three openness,and clear contingency playbooks for when – not if – disruption hits. This shift demands closer collaboration between procurement, finance and operations, supported by real-time data that alerts leaders to emerging bottlenecks before they become crises.
- Build multi-region sourcing to avoid single points of failure.
- Invest in data and analytics for early-warning signals.
- Re-negotiate contracts to include versatility and shared risk.
- Scenario-test regularly so response plans are rehearsed, not improvised.
| Old mindset | Spungin-inspired mindset |
|---|---|
| Lowest unit cost | Total resilience value |
| Single supply hub | Distributed, flexible footprint |
| Reactive firefighting | Proactive risk sensing |
| Opaque sub-tiers | End-to-end transparency |
Her approach also reframes suppliers as strategic partners, not interchangeable vendors. By sharing demand forecasts, technology roadmaps and even sustainability targets, businesses can co-create resilience rather than push risk downstream. For many leaders, this means rewiring incentives: rewarding teams for continuity, agility and customer service levels, not just for shaving pennies off contracts. In a world of geopolitical shocks, climate volatility and shifting regulation, Spungin’s playbook positions resilience as a competitive asset – one that protects margins, safeguards brand trust and enables faster recovery than less prepared rivals.
Practical recommendations for executives navigating disruption and transformation
Spungin argues that leadership teams need to replace vague talk of “agility” with a concrete playbook that can be executed at pace. That begins with sharpening what gets measured: rather of tracking only quarterly financials, boards should insist on a handful of behavioural and customer-led indicators that signal whether change is truly taking root. Executives are also urged to ring‑fence small, cross‑functional teams with permission to experiment at the edges of the core business, while keeping a tight grip on risk. In practice, this means re‑wiring decision rights – moving more authority closer to the front line, and demanding shorter, evidence‑based updates rather than lengthy strategy decks.
- Clarify the “non‑negotiables” – spell out which values, customers and capabilities must be protected as disruption accelerates.
- Create a dual-speed organisation – allow innovation cells to move fast while the core business transforms more deliberately.
- Invest in storytelling – ensure every manager can explain, in plain language, why the transformation matters now.
- Stage decisions – commit in small, reversible steps instead of betting everything on a single, grand programme.
| Leadership Focus | What Changes | Early Signal of Progress |
|---|---|---|
| Customer proximity | More time with clients than in internal reviews | Faster feedback loops |
| Talent mix | Blending industry experts with digital natives | Richer challenge in exec meetings |
| Governance | Shorter cycles, clearer ownership | Decisions made at first, not fifth, meeting |
In Summary
As businesses continue to confront disruptive forces and shifting expectations, conversations like those on The Bottom Line will only grow in importance. Jessica Spungin’s return to the BBC programme underscores London Business School’s ongoing role in shaping the debate on how organisations can adapt,compete and thrive.
Her insights from both the classroom and the boardroom offer a clear reminder: effective leadership today demands not just technical expertise, but the capacity to navigate complexity with clarity and purpose. For LBS, it is further evidence of the School’s influence at the intersection of academic thinking and real-world business practice-where the future of work, strategy and leadership is being actively defined.
