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The People Side of Supply Chain Performance Andrea Charman Senior Partner EquiLearn Group, UK, 44 207 736

7878 andreacharman@ctsus.com andreacharman@equilearn.org 91st Annual International Supply Management Conference, May 2006 Abstract. Traditionally, improving supply chain efficiency and effectiveness has focused numbers, technology and processes rather than people issues such as how to lead and manage talent, how to create an environment that fosters collaboration, partnership, a world class community of practice, a culture of competitive innovation. Surprising though it may seem, it is only now that we are seriously thinking about the complexities of the people factor; accepting that this is perhaps the most critical factor in achieving and exceeding our business goals rather than just pay lip service to the point. You will know those old threadbare mantras Our people are our most valuable resource! Investing in people. None of us works in isolation; we are all in multiple stakeholder environments where neither technology, nor braininess alone will meet our performance aspirations. Indeed, how many really clever people do you know who somehow fail to achieve the high levels of success that might be assumed to be within their brainpower? How many high IQ people do you know who fail to engage the followership of others and hence suboptimise somehow do not meet leadership expectations ? Todays ever-more demanding social and business environment contextualized by massive and yet, unknowable changes and outcomes, demands no less than a redefinition and a rethinking of how we approach our professional challenges. Expectations of the customer/consumer even our colleagues in the workplace are ever more demanding. The radical broadening of focus from early supply chain optimization concentration on internal process excellence towards an extended inclusive model that embraces internal and external partners - the total network brings further demands on practitioners. In this climate, the arbiters of success focus excellence in network management with its emphasis on transparent integrated (or synthesized) collaborative effort. Competency in business relationships internal and external - and all that this implies, take center stage, with cutting edge technology a given. The potential barriers to excellence in this interenterprise (and often global) model begin with certain organizational cultures of distrust where cultural and emotional intelligence are in short supply and where hostility and adversarial attitudes abound. This session considers just what it will take the people side to both survive and succeed. What is required to establish the essential transparent, trusting environment where business action choices are executed with speed and effectiveness because shared rewards (aligned

success criteria) ensure shared knowledge/know-how that in turn triggers ground breaking innovation. This interactive workshop explores the people issues the critical skills and attitudes and attributes - while, at the same time, illustrates that the advance of technology only serves to highlight the urgency of the people factor rather than diminish it in importance. The Opportunity. Offering a transparent interenterprise best practice business model as a baseline to propose a cluster of literacies or intelligences as arbiters of practitioner success, this session will challenge your received view of what constitutes supply chain optimization both intellectually and in hands-on a conversational, practitioner to practitioner context. . Objectives. A: To offer an actionable inventory of critical capabilities for world class performance B: To explore critical issues such as building a robust relationship with internal sponsors and external partners C: To share a researched overview of the people barriers to supply chain excellence D. To reflect on a best practice thumbnail case as a baseline for workplace improvement E. To experience a snapshot of what this means in practical tertms References Christopher, Martin. Logistics and Supply Chain Management, FT London, 1998 Sherman, RJ. On Integration and Service, CLM Proceedings, 1991 Gallis, Howard. Beyond Technology to Excellence, SCM, London, Spring 2005 Kraljic, P. Purchasing must become supply management, Harvard Business Review, Sept/Oct 83

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