From SCDigest's On-Target e-Magazine
- Aug. 19, 2015 -
Supply Chain News: The Number One Skill for Success in a Supply Management Career
Managing Data, Collaboration, Execution Important, but Not as Key as Understanding How a Company Makes Profits, Joel Sutherland Says
SDigest Editorial Staff
Supply management - sometimes referred to in less lofty terms such as procurement or purchasing – provides substantial career opportunities within that domain alone or connected to the broader supply chain.
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Sutherland concludes by saying that "a key reason an increasing number of supply management practitioners are being promoted to C-level positions is that they know how to improve a firm's profitability." |
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What Do You Say?
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To maximize one's career potential, it would certainly be good to know the skills companies are looking for in supply management professionals. Joel Sutherland, managing director for the Supply Chain Management Institute at the University of San Diego and CSCMP Distinguished Service Award winner, has some interesting insight on that.
First, Sutherland led a survey effort a couple years ago at the university across several hundred companies.
Writing in a recent issue of the Institute for Supply Management's Inside Supply Management magazine, Sutherland says the data showed companies want supply manages with skills in three distinct areas:
Being Good with Information: Successful supply management practitioners should possess analytic problem-solving capabilities and the ability to turn data into useful information, especially by leveraging big-data opportunities. That in turn requires having a clear perspective of the end-to-end supply chain and the effects decisions that are made upstream have on the supply chain downstream.
Being Good with People: Supply managers need to be able to work with people across all functions in the supply chain. They should be effective in developing collaborative relationships with all cultures, genders and personality types. They also need to be able to effectively communicate complex issues, gain buy-in from stakeholders, and drive the decision-making process with confidence.
Being Good at Execution: Supply managers also should project a proactive attitude, see what's needed and take action without being told to do so. Too often, decisions are made and then not well executed. Effective planning and project management skills are essential to drive plans forward to realize results that are both timely and cost-effective.
The Most Important Skill of All
The three skills summarized about are at one level kind of obvious, yet offer supply managers a framework for assessing their own capabilities across each one.
But interestingly, Sutherland argues that the most important skill of all is being able to well understand how a company makes a profit and the role effective supply chain management plays in contributing to the bottom line beyond just purchase price reduction.
(Sourcing and Procurement Article Continues Below)
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"While there are still firms that focus on leveraging the supply chain functions to reduce costs, best-in-class firms understand that effective supply chain management can reduce costs and grow revenue in a way that maximizes both profit and return on investment," Sutherland says, adding "They need people who can foresee both."
