Closing Keynote: Escaping the Silo: Strategic Supply Chain Leadership in the New Economic World
Supply chain management faces a critical nexus. Companies are now following the two divergent supply chain management paths. Both result from dramatic changes that have taken place since the Pandemic (i.e., beginning in 2020) for both physical supply chains, and in managing the supply chain function within organizations. Both paths are important, yet both paths point to very different future states.
Most importantly, we believe these changes have effectively made obsolete much of the thinking and much of the work published prior to the Pandemic. The first path is very tactical and is being driven by technological developments such as:
- Artificial Intelligence,
- Large Language Models (LLMs),
- Big data,
- Advanced econometric methods.
This is a path that many schools and programs teaching supply chain management are focusing on, because it is consistent with the research interests of the faculty teaching these courses. It is also the path that many organizations have adopted in order to achieve continued marginal improvements in their supply chain operations. Furthermore, there is a great deal of hype in the press (both public and academic), focusing on these developments and their application/impact.
The second path is very different; it focuses on supply chain management as a strategic goal. By strategic supply chain management, what we mean is firms and their management, especially at the top level, recognize that the supply chain is a weapon that can be used to positively enhance the firm’s strategic ability to compete financially, operationally, and, most importantly, in the market.
And this second path is becoming increasingly important both within business, and with certain business educational classes [e.g., capstone supply chain management classes, MBA classes (especially those dealing with supply chain management), and executive MBA classes]. As proof of this increasing attractiveness to industry, consider the following pieces of “evidence”: Increasingly, firms are turning to the supply chain for their strategic leadership. Fortune 500 CEOs such as:
- Tim Cook (Apple)
- Mary Barra (GM)
- Dough McMillon (Walmart)
- Brian Cornell (Target)
- Joe Hinrichs (CSX Railroad)
– all came from the supply chain side of the firm. This is a relatively new development. Previously, the CEOs came predominantly from finance, marketing, or general management.
Join us as Dr Melnyk walks us through a fascinating presentation on Supply Chain Leadership!
