Supply Chain Leader

 Because of the current economic recession, supply chain management has become a hot topic! In fact, operational and supply chain efficiency is becoming the leitmotiv of CEOs and COOs in order to reduce and master costs, and balance the erosion of customer demand.

This is both a good and a bad news for the field of supply chain.

On the dark side:

Service providers, mostly consulting providers, from all fields understand these trends. And being opportunistic, they start to package their services and to market them as enablers of supply chain and operations efficiency (see Kennedy report).  So you start to see strategy, marketing, IT, HR, and Finance consulting companies, to name a few, talk to executives about their services as operational and supply chain efficiency services and as extending supply chain management to include other fields. Worse, they propose core supply chain services where they don’t have the expertise.

For example, HR consulting services which aim to improve employee motivation can help enhance operational efficiency, but at the same time, should motivation be considered part of the supply chain management field? A similar case could be made for many other fields.

These phenomena could, in the long run, have a very bad impact on the credibility of “true” supply chain improvement methods because these other providers will likely not deliver the results and will bring confusion to the market by extending the field of supply chain to no end! This confusion will make it harder and harder for supply chain experts to demonstrate their unique added value.

On the bright side:

This crisis increases the awareness of the importance of supply chain management as a strategic weapon/ advantage to survive bad economic times and to prepare for better ones to come. This might represent an opportunity for true experts in the field of supply chain, as long as they are able to position themselves clearly and to keep innovating to demonstrate the real added value that they bring to organizations.

Furthermore, the fact that more and more people from other fields are becoming interested in supply chain management can be a plus, since other specialists, in conjunction with true supply chain experts, may help bring to the fore innovative methods to enhance operational efficiency. My position is not that other specialties are irrelevant or that supply chain experts need to “defend their territory”. Rather, I am arguing that the field of supply chain should be circumscribed to what it truly is, rather than including extensions to the field that will lead to confusion that might, in the long run, be detrimental to all those who want to focus on true supply chain issues. I guess I just don’t want supply chain management to be or become a dog’s breakfast…

Am I a purist? Maybe.

Thank you for your comments!

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To answer this question, in the first posting of this blog last week, I tried to define what a Supply Chain Leader is not. In this second post, let’s turn to what a supply chain leader is.

 First of all, and perhaps most obviously, a supply chain leader should have the necessary knowledge and know-how of supply chain and should master best practices and best-in-class systems needed to fulfill his or her duties. These skills are the technical and functional supply chain skills; technical expertise is the foundation upon which a supply chain leader can rely in order to assert their credibility as a leader, and from which they can start influencing people and implementing a higher-order vision.

Then come the 5 main skills that will make turn a supply chain manager into a supply chain leader. To do so, a supply chain leader needs to be or learn to be a(n):

Transformational leader, to motivate and inspire troops … by defining an appealing vision, communicating it in a way that is motivational and that raises enthusiasm, by stimulating people and inspiring them to fulfill this vision and reach higher levels, and by uniting them around a common goal…

Improvement leader, to ensure greater efficiency … by proactively looking for improvement opportunities, assessing return on investment and risks, ranking and planning initiatives and managing the projects and the changes needed to make these initiatives sustainable…

Customer-centric leader, to provide higher value ….by understanding the current and future needs of the customers and planning the operations accordingly, and by being the voice of the customers— remember, customer service and supply chain are the first and last contacts with the customers…

Collaboration leader, to establish trusting relationships… by putting in place and managing collaboration inside the company to unite all stakeholders around a unique sales and operations plan and by establishing collaboration outside the company with the trading partners to reduce bullwhip effect…

Corporate sustainability leader, to incorporate social and environmental objectives within the company …by putting in place green supply chain techniques, work safety practices,  respect for the  employees’ and the  suppliers’ rights, and consideration of all stakeholders in the decision-making process…

Thank you for your comments!

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