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CHIEF SUPPLYCHAIN OFFICER Having the right Supply Chain Management leader is critically important to ensuring the success of any supply chain strategy. This individual should understand the overall business objectives as well as have a superior grasp and understanding of the fundamentals of supply management. Having the full range of knowledge in supply chain from purchasing through logistics is a key enabler for the leader to perform this job efficiently. Also, a good working knowledge of the technology that is available is a must. Most good supply leaders are able to move between industries and apply the skills needed to get the job done. This leader should be a good judge of people and have great sales and communication skills. Ultimately, what this individual spends a great deal of time doing is selling the value of the organization. He or she also needs to be a visionary and one that is tuned in to the changing business climate. Great supply-side leaders are innovators and not afraid to take a risk. Being able to gain the respect of critical business leaders as well as having credibility with the supplier community will cause this leader to be effective. The supply chain chief has to interact with the seasoned sales and marketing personnel from the industry and trade so must have an influencing personality to make the things happen . SCM is a top management issue Top management formulates supply chain overall performance objectives derived from corporate strategy and corporate objectives. In addition top management supports a break down of overall supply chain objectives on the functional level and is aligned with functional goals and supply chain strategy.

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Ideally the chief Supply Chain officer (CSO) should report directly to the chief executive officer and even be considered for board status. The important issue is to make sure that the chief Supply Chain Management officer should be in next one level from the CEO and has regular access to him. In a well-run company, you would expect the chief Supply Chain Management officer also to make presentations at the board level. You should have scheduled meetings with your chief Supply Chain Management officer at least quarterly and on-demand access either way as needed. Everything he does and dont do sends a powerful signal throughout the enterprise. For example, do he subject the purchasing department to an annual, tactical budget debate with every location in the company, where the opportunity to optimize the whole companys performance is lost in local service charge arguments? Or does the head of purchasing present his or her business case to the executive team, outlining purchasing commitments for the coming year in exchange for a strategic decision regarding purchasing resources and budget? Even if he just say supply side is important, thats a positive start. It is not advocated here that one learn strategic sourcing or contract management. But at least he should know the concepts and the right questions to be asked. Incorporate the sourcing into the strategic plan. Set at least one or two measurable goals related to sourcing, and then measure them. Quarterly is fine as long as the Supply Chain officers have access to his office. It is also important to show interest in the most powerful allies of the supply base. Make sure that business unit leaders have a personal relationship with the CEOs of two or three most important suppliers. Participate personally in annually recognizing the very best suppliers. Let them know we value their role in our success. Organizations go through phases as they move toward outstanding supply management. Now let us evaluate the essentials ingredients of a CSO.

Strategist & visionary CSO should have the capability to look into the future and could predict with higher level of accuracy that what way the world will move in short, medium and long run. He is to evaluate the environment and its constraints

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and accordingly decide what will work in his organization and what will not work. In todays global economy he is to establish a global supply management strategy. This will essentially require integration of people, processes, resources, technology and information across the organiosation to achieve optimum operational as well as financial performance. A good example is recent upturn (in 2005-2006) of world economy whereas all the commodity prices have touched the roof. There had been unprecedented increase in all metals and other commodities like cement, coal, crude etc. These are the times when there is a real test of capabilities of the leader who could see the bigger picture rather than spending valuable time in routine transactions. The strategists who booked these resources just at the beginning of the upturn are mining the gold. A change manager Today the systems and technology is changing fast and any CSO has the responsibility to persuasiveness to sell whatever is required to be change with time. There is resistance not only from the employees who are used to work in a particular way for years together but the managements also sometimes are not updated on latest trends and its gains in future so unwilling to spend on technologies. Technology solutions require an open mind to resolve technical challenges to be addressed at the time of implementation so leaders should be updated what is available to fit the organizational needs. example is Adoption of eauction has changed fortune of some of the biggest public sectors in India who till now had been in red despite monopolistic business. Similarly application of GSM in courier & transport business has improved their efficiency to higher level.

Service Oriented Present business scenario requires high service orientation by most of businesses itself. the impact goes further several folds to the service function like SCM. So the leader is required to work tirelessly in improving the
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processes and systems that serve and delight the ultimate customer be it internal or external. He should not be a slave of the system which makes him defunct but should have the ability to establish efficient and flexible systems. This essentially requires great balancing skills between customer expectations and cost. Today when the world is moving with zero inventories in the supply chain the risks due to delays and opportunity costs due to sudden demands are required to be given due weightage and unless CSO is an empowered person to take quick and professional decisions in such instances rather than spending time in preparing justification notes and waiting for the approvals and sanctions the whole supply chain system will become inefficient despite best of the people and resources deployed. Relationship oriented CSO needs to maintain good relationships with key business partners be it suppliers, service Guardians or customers. There can be situation of glut or scarcity in the market depending upon several internal or external factors. Business today is highly dependent on the key suppliers particularly when the companies are reducing their vendor base. A personal rapport with the business partners is ultimately helpful in securing a favor in organizations interest. This is specifically more important in case of monopolistic supplier or a major customer disruption with whom could affect the companys financial performance adversely. In the business deals too ideally there should be win-win situation rather than sucking the last penny out from the opposite party. Most of the deals eventually fail when done on one upmanship, unjust pricing or manipulation on indirect commercial impacts. A good example in this case is ENRON, s Dabhol project which ultimately failed after huge investments due to unviability of price built on the basis of smartly drafted parameters of costs. Ethics and personal values When it comes to the personal values and ethical behavior of the leader to stand tall like a tower. His character should inspire others in the system as a role model. He should be beyond any doubt. He should not only be doing right but should look right also. With effective spend management there is
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no scope for dubious business practices. We have seen collapse of some of the major companies (among the world leaders in energy and communication) in this decade due to unethical behaviour of their leaders. As written by Ashok Sharma the ethical management of supply chain is not an optional extra, but an integral part of brand management. A study by Roman, Hayibar and Agle (Business & Society) examined 51 research studies done over the past25 years- and found that in 33 cases there was a positive relationship between ethics and corporate financial performance.

Effective Communicator One of the preambles for any SCM top boss is he should be excellent in oral communication although written communication is also important but it can be substituted by a specialist assistant. Major portion of his time is spent in interacting with the people He is to interact with top brass of vendors, marketing chiefs, economists, top bureaucrats and tax officials and may be some time with the politicians and administrators. In the global economy he may be required to visit/work on foreign assignments or may invite foreign delegates/designatories at his place. His exposure and understanding of foreign culture and business practices are important while interaction with different nationalities and cultures. For example overcomitment and delays may be a norm in Asian countries but affect business prospects adversely in European or North American countries. Similarly talking of reducing cost by saving taxes may be a tick off point with Japanese or Singaporean business partner but will be no problem with south Asian, Chinese or Hong Kong dealer. Americans/Europeans will be centralizing on legal aspects of a deal whereas Asians/Jews will stress on relations in the business deals. His personality and etiquettes are also important as he is representing the organization to the outside world and is helpful in improving the image of the company.

Team Leader

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Essentially the SCM requires scores of personnel with variety of skill sets for each sub-function as well as level. The skill sets/specialization required for planners, buyers, warehouse personnel, logistics, distribution and systems personnel are all different. The leader essentially should have enough knowledge (if not specialization) of each sub-function. CSO is not only expected to build and strengthen the team on the basis of core competencies required for each job but also provide them motivating environment and impartial reward system where they can give the superior performance in their respective specializations. Conclusion
It is not easy to find a person with of all the above ingredients but once identified internally or externally organizations should ensure to prepare a performing platform for such individuals. They should be given adequate resources and appropriate authority to operate efficiently. Above all the there should be recognition of supply chain as boardroom function rather than backroom function.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES USED

What is leadership by Richard Bolden .Business Ethics in Procurement-more than just a catchphrase by Ashok Sharma The privilege of leadership - Anthony S Nieves in Supply Chain Management Review May 1, 2005

This topic was a part of Fellowship thesis at CRIMM/IISWBM CENTRE FOR RESEARCH IN MATERIALS MANAGEMENT (CRIMM). Which has been set up jointly between the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta (ISWBM).the first management institute of India, (setup in 1953) and IIMM, Calcutta.

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CRIMM is one of the research centre and only one in Asia under International Federation of Purchasing and Materials Management (IFPMM) Vienna. The other three being. "European Centre for Research in Purchasing & Supply", Vienna, Austria. "Centre for Advanced Purchasing Studies", Arizona, USA. "Centre for Advanced Purchasing Studies for Africa", Johannesburg, South Africa.

There is a co-operation agreement between all the four Research Centers of the world. jaswantchopra@yahoo.co.in

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