Just a few years ago, most people thought supply chains were so boring that in the Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series on Prime, secret-agent Ryan throws people off the scent of what he really does by telling them he works on supply-chain stuff. Their eyes glaze, they try to escape the conversation, and his secret’s covered over elegantly.
But today, we’re bombarded with real and imagined supply-chain scenarios around the clock on everything from food to gas to electronics to medical supplies to housing to used cars to shipping containers and beyond. Just the other day, the local-TV weatherman said it would not rain tomorrow due to “supply-chain constraints in the atmosphere.”
It can get goofy, but the supply-chain struggle is indeed real—we’ve all seen it, felt it, and been rattled by it. And it has become a dominant theme for many businesses across every industry and every part of the world as supply chains and logistics intersect with and have huge impacts upon every single part of an organization.
At the same time, the past couple of years has also triggered enormous changes within the C-suite. No longer isolated fiefdoms run as autonomous states with only limited interest in what goes on outside their borders, corporate teams in the acceleration economy must be open, intensely collaborative, sparked by data that’s available to all CXOs, and relentlessly focused on customer opportunities, customer behavior, customer preferences, and most of all customer experiences.
So I would posit that every CXO needs to be intimately familiar with her/his company’s supply-chain strategy, operations, capabilities, and limitations. And to further that understanding, I’d suggest that business leaders from every part of a company consider these questions about the significance of supply chains.
1. How does my company connect our supply chain with our demand chain?
Supply chains in isolation are not only inefficient but, in today’s world, can be a huge drag on a company’s ability to dazzle its customers. Since supply chains should ultimately be in place to meet demand, how tightly interconnected and integrated are your company’s supply chain and demand chain?
2. Over the past 2 years, to what degree have our sources of supply changed?
Are we pretty much where we were 2 years ago, with all the attendant risk and exposure? Are we calibrating risk versus opportunity across our supply chains every day? Or are we still employing “hope” as a primary strategy?
3. How broadly are supply-chain data and insights shared across the C-suite?
Shortages lead to higher prices—is the CFO fully wired in? Shortages lead to restricted inventory—are the CMO and CRO able to instantly revise how they engage with customers and prospects? Does the head of manufacturing and production have full access to the latest supply-chain info?
4. How do your supply-chain operations help create superior customer experiences?
What metrics do you use? Who sees them? Who’s involved in recommending changes in allocations, priorities, outcomes? On this key point, do you have precise data or are you operating on instinct and intuition?
5. Where does the supply-chain organization reside within your company’s org structure?
Is it there because “it’s always been there”? Is it aligned optimally with new digital-commerce capabilities that are the future of the company’s business? Is supply-chain data shared according to org structure, or according to the potential to drive growth, dazzle customers, and minimize risk?
Final Thoughts
Of course, there are many other questions to consider: technology, budget, personnel, etc. But my hope is that these 5 questions will help you and your peers gain a new perspective on just how well—or how poorly—your company is orchestrating its supply-chain strategy and operations to drive revenue growth and enhance customer experiences and manage risks.
That’s the challenge of the acceleration economy, and it’s also very much the responsibility of the New CXO, whose vision and engagement is no longer siloed, and whose grasp of supply-chain strategy and outcomes needs to be tighter than ever before.
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