COVID-19 forever changed supply chain executives’ mindset. At least that’s what we’ve been told by industry experts, in the years since the pandemic hit.

The disruptions caused by global lockdowns and quarantines, coupled with simmering trade wars and geopolitical strife, got businesses thinking that cost shouldn’t always be the controlling factor in determining where to source materials and make product. Supplier diversification and the relocation of manufacturing to places closer to end markets — while requiring greater spending up front — became key elements of the playbook. It was all about ensuring supply chain resilience.

Nearly five years after COVID arrived on the scene, do executives still feel that way? A new survey by EY of 347 supply chain leaders from companies with annual revenues of at least $500 million causes one to wonder. In it, 88% say their C-suites view the supply chain as a cost center, “underscoring the shift in attitudes back to pre-pandemic views.”

The results uncover a disconnect between words and action. Ninety percent of survey respondents say their chief executive officer “appreciates [supply chain’s] impact on financial impact.” Yet 78% say their organization is back to prioritizing cost management when making key decisions.

So much for “appreciation.” “It’s all about making sure that costs don’t go up,” says Ashutosh Dekhne, Americas Supply Chain & Operations Practice Leader with EY. When the pandemic interrupted critical supply lines, he explains, many manufacturers shrank product portfolios to simplify processes. Now, as they reintroduce more SKUs into the production mix, the resulting complexity, along with higher interest rates, has them thinking again about rising short-term expense.

A degree of complacency seems to be creeping into managerial strategies. Having weathered multiple disruptions, organizations may be feeling like they’ve got things under control. They’re focused on the problem of the moment — rising costs — rather than preparing for the next big crisis.

In many companies, it’s the chief supply chain officer who serves as cheerleader for a far-seeing sourcing and production strategy. Today, however, that individual “has kind of become the wolf that continues to howl,” Dekhne says. Supply chain executives are considered to have “done a good job of getting everything back up and running.”

To be sure, the nearshoring of production away from China and other parts of Asia is well underway at a number of companies, “but not many are doing that at meaningful levels,” Dekhne asserts. And for some, risk-mitigation comes with a price that they’re unwilling to pay.

The EY survey also finds a perception gap when it comes to the issue of technology adoption. Twenty-six percent of C-suite respondents (other than, of course, CSCOs) say their efforts at digital connectivity with suppliers is limited to e-mail and sharing spreadsheets; that’s only the case with 16% of supply chain executives.

Executives are growing more conservative about making big investments in new systems that promise to transform supply chain planning and execution. They’re open to pitches about the value of such expenditures, Dekhne says, but they’re saying, “’Show me where the value’s coming from, and deliver it in much smaller periods of time.’”

In addition, EY says, the survey reveals a “stark difference” in executives’ respective outlooks on the future of “autonomous” supply chains. Twenty-five percent of the C-suite expect their operations to be “mostly” autonomous by 2030, versus 39% of supply chain executives, highlighting “an underestimation of supply chain’s progress in digital maturity.” C-suite leaders are more likely to say it will take an additional 10 years to reach that point.

In the minds of top executives, “it’s important to get all systems connected,” Dekhne says, “but it’s not that urgent. Digitization is happening in pockets.”

Remember all that talk about the importance of breaking down organizational silos and collaborating with external partners? Thirty-nine percent of supply chain executives cite as one of their top challenges proving the value of cross-functional collaboration, “missing out on a crucial avenue to help the C-suite better understand their impact.”

When it comes to promoting collaboration in ways that will ensure compliance with new environmental regulations, executives don’t really have a choice. But larger efforts at reaching out to suppliers upstream and customers downstream “haven’t really come.” Forecasts still aren’t easily shared among business functions and between supply chain partners.

It might take another major disruption to remind top executives about the need for supply chain strategies based on something other than an obsession with cost. Says Dekhne: “Supply chain executives must overcome the disconnects within the C-suite to reassert their place at the table, and guide the trajectory for future innovation and expansion.”