One of the key business themes globally at the moment, is risk. How do we manage it? How much is acceptable? What trade-offs should we make to lower our exposure to it? And are lower costs always worth higher risk profiles?

There aren’t any simple answers to these questions. For every business it will be different. But it’s true that ‘risk’ is a major challenge for almost every industry, in almost every location. And, as the engine of global economic growth shifts away from developed, western economies and further towards developing ones, the way we manage risk is becoming a more pressing and complex concern for us all.

The global nature of networks, supply chains and customer bases means that more of us will be faced with negotiating poorly regulated industrial frameworks, more often. Yet, the business community has appeared for some time to trade lower costs for higher risk as if this were the only viable option. In times of high growth, this made sense. But there are real signs that this is changing, particularly in the U.S..

Now, after several decades of a ‘cheaper is always better’ mentality, the relative safety and security of the U.S. manufacturing sector is again looking attractive. Local production is not as ridiculous as it had started to sound.

Companies are now being challenged not only to consider the actual cost of production in their offshoring decisions, but also the potential cost of poor regulation and other market risks, such as losses to brand reputation and the protection of intellectual property.

When it comes to offshoring production, most businesses now are starting to consider what new burdens (and in some cases hidden costs) will ensue. Issues of social and political instability, inconsistent and corrupt bureaucracy and other more tangible gaps in physical infrastructure are all issues that now need to be fully costed before major supply chain decisions can be made.

Growing and building a reliable supply chain (and keeping it that way) is no mean feat. So, more detailed, risk-related questions are now being asked. And ultimately, this is making more tightly regulated and secure markets more attractive for some manufacturing businesses.

This post  belongs to "4 Signs of Life" a free ebook discussing four issues that are quietly creating new opportunities for local manufacturing in developed economies such as the U.S.