Change Management

Feb 12, 2017

Best Practice: Creating a Governance Mechanism for Analytical Learning in Organizations

I recently interviewed a large semiconductor company that developed a cross-enterprise initiative to drive analytical learning across its entire supply chain. The company established a supply chain IT organization that reports… 

Feb 6, 2017

Red Flags that Every Supplier Business Development Team Knows to Look For

One of the most important elements suppliers seek to avoid involves participation in an RFP when there is a low probability of success.  Procurement people think that every supplier will… 

Jan 29, 2017

Why do high quality suppliers pass over big RFQ/RFPs?

In a recent discussion, a large supplier of services shred that they fail to respond to almost 50% of every RFP that comes their way!  This insight was very surprising to… 

Jan 13, 2017

Post-mortem on Christmas Logistics Chaos: On Customer Commitments and Transparency

As we look back on the chaos that erupted during the pre-Christmas rush, discussions with executives suggest that there is still a long way to go.  Most logistics companies are… 

Dec 14, 2016

Day 3: Lenovo Goes About Creating the End to End Transparent Supply Chain

On the third day the team visited the Lenovo “Green Data Center”, and learned of how Lenovo is working to create their “converged” network servers that are on the leading… 

Dec 12, 2016

Caterpillar BCP Tour opens up executive eyes to "Big Iron" supply chains

Over the course three days last week, a group of executives from a variety of different companies came together to share ideas and thoughts on the future of supply chain.… 

Oct 12, 2016

A "Swiss Army Knife" of Supply Chain Talent Requirements: Views from a Former Wolfpack Student

Stuart William was in one of my former MBA classes at NC State in 2008, and graduated into one of the worst economies ever in May of 2009. Upon graduation, there… 

Oct 8, 2016

It's About Time for a new "World Class Supply Chain" Paradigm

As a young assistant professor at Michigan State University in 1992, I was part of a group called the Global Procurement Benchmarking Initiative. This initiative benchmarked over 300 global companies,… 

Jul 23, 2016

Beyond Collaboration: Supply Chain "Federation"

The idea that large organizations can create a “federated” network, by integrating smaller firms into their network and drive a common purpose is a concept that is emerging as key to… 

Jul 8, 2016

The Growing Fragmentation of Global Trade: Guest Post by Tim Barnes

Globalization and supply chains have been tied at the hip over the course of history. Supply chains naturally take advantage of efficiency and cost advantages and over the centuries, as…