Skills that Advance Supply Chain Management Careers
As individuals climb the career ladder in supply chain management, what leadership skills are important?
These supply chain professionals, “move from tactical to strategic and become more integral to commercial, market-facing decisions,” said Joshua Merrill, Global Supply Chain, Dow AgroSciences.
“A supply chain leader effectively translates supply chain activities into business value, and conversely, desired market advantage into supply chain strategy.”
“The best supply chain leaders operate in a dichotomy of time horizons,” Merrill added. “They think three or four moves ahead while keeping one foot firmly planted in the operational reality of today’s implementation.”
The need to have a broad business perspective is emphasized by Daniel Stanton, Supply Chain Performance Manager, Caterpillar. “Supply chain leaders need to understand that businesses are really an interconnected network of people, processes, and technologies,” Stanton says.
“Small changes can have major impacts up and down the supply chain, and around the world. Learning how to build and leverage diverse teams can help you improve performance across this network, and mitigate risks that might have gone unnoticed.”
Effective team management requires excellent people skills, which have never been more important, believes Christine Krathwohl, Executive Director Global Logistics and Containers, General Motors.
Her view: “I believe that you need to be a stronger people leader than ever before. Today’s leaders should know how to build global teams that strive for the success of the corporation as a whole while balancing regional needs. Being a subject matter expert is useful, but is not as important as being a people leader because you have experts who can provide that kind of specialist knowledge.”
Keeping Pace with the Skills Needed to Manage Global Supply Chains
