It is unclear to me exactly from which part of the supply-chain this problem arose--whether it be initial procurement of the toilet paper (failure to procure toilet paper or failure of vendor to deliver) or transport of toilet paper from inventory to dispenser roll for end-use.

It is clear, however, that lack of toilet paper in the men's room (or any facilities, for that matter) is creating a problem, both in a real and a public-relations sense. Expounding on the latter, there is likely a perception among the end-user that an organization that suffers from supply-chain management problems in a commodity as trivial as toilet paper may be suffering from organizational in-efficiencies that are impacting fiscal profitability, and hence the value of the end-user's stock options.

Contributed by Brian Leeper