Real Supply Chain Experts- High Demand But Lower Supply

Good solid supply chain thinkers are in high demand and low supply. I would know,

I run a company called Global Supply Chain Group for the last 17 years. It appears that it was not too long ago (when we formed this company)

– most business people were struggling to understand what is supply chain and what does it. We have come a long way since then.

Every politician’s speech today is laced with references to global supply chains and business networks that run the commerce on earth today.

Companies that are seen as supply chain trendsetters are leaving everyone else (even in adjoining industries) biting the dust.

Amazon Investments In Supply Chain Capability

But Amazon.com is not the only one.
The current trend is becoming clear- companies such as Apple, Zara, Uber, Airbnb have one thing in common –

Supply Chain Leaders as CEOs. Integrators are in high demand. Optimizers rule the roost.

Every era has its own heralds and the mantle changes every few decades.
As as example,

it only one or two decades ago that strategists coming from McKinsey or 3Bs (BCG, Bain, Booz) were the prime candidates for the role of the CEOs.

What made this necessary was the need for strategic thinking that was missing at the highest level before that.

But clearly the mantle has passed on the the integrators / Real supply chain leaders now. Here are the previous trends:

Supply Chain Experts Tends

• 1900 – 1925: Inventors, Creators
• 1925 – 1955: Makers, Builders
• 1955 – 1970: Promoters, Marketers
• 1970 – 1980: Accountants, Finance
• 1980 – 1990: Human Resources
• 1990 – 2000: Strategists
• 2000 – Current: Integrators, SCM Leaders

Supply Chain Affinity

It will take a long time to explain the picture above, if you don’t get it by seeing it. It is also perhaps unnecessary in that case.

Suffice it to say that two skills are becoming critical for business leadership:
Integration – of various parts of the 5-STAR Business network,

internal and external resources, into a complete unit that delivers the customer experience
Optimization –

that enables sound profitability while delivering the customer experience
I have many other pretty pictures to expound these points,

but I would rather focus on the outcomes.
So, what would you expect if above two skills were available in abundance?

For sure, you would expect good business outcomes. These could take the form of any of the 5 possible themes:

5 Possibility Themes of Supply Chain

This is the topic I cover in great deal of detail in my book THE 5-STAR BUSINESS NETWORK – so I will not talk about it in this post.

Rather I want to focus on the reason I wrote this blog:

Now, if you have read it this far, there is a good chance that you know someone who will benefit from this information.

Earn yourself some brownie points by letting them know – by sharing directly, or via groups. It only take 15 seconds.

Two Keys to Success: Integration – of various parts of the 5-STAR Business network, internal and external resources, into a complete unit that delivers the customer experience.

Optimization – that enables sound profitability while delivering the customer experience