I just finished viewing insights from Risk Expert Joe Yacura of ISG, in the video, Supply Chain: Understanding The Risk Factors. This was an excellent, less-than-30-minute overview of supply chain risk management that I enjoyed with my bagel and tea. Joe discussed the critical nature of supply chains and the sources of risk, and he made some recommendations on how to harden the supply chain, specifically addressing cyber-attacks. A company’s supply chain and it's criticality to the company’s reputation is more evident as the sources and frequency of risk increase. Joe defines supply chain risk simply as "the disruption of the flow of products or services that meet the requirements [of the company]." Consumers and regulators alike want greater transparency into supply chains, with a better understanding of vulnerabilities, and as a result we are seeing an increase in mandates for company supply chains. Major sources of risk include weather, natural disasters, product reliability and consistency, counterfeit information and misrepresentations. Let's consider some of those risks: weather...who among us thought Manhattan could be so vulnerable until Sandy hit? How many of us, our hearts aching for the victims, were also concerned about our financial institutions and information, servers and files drowning in rancid water? Were there back-ups? Was my credit card statement floating in Battery Park or the basement of the bank I use? Cyber-attacks: wow, even the New York Times went down recently. If they can lose their bread and butter who else can be hit?
Mary Zampino, Senior Director of Global Sourcing Intelligence, SIG
Two years ago, McKinsey & Company published an article on Big Data, calling it "The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity." I recently ran across the article and it struck me that in many ways it was spot on. Frankly, analyzing large data sets isn't a new concept...it just has a title now...Big Data. And now that it does, as I mentioned in my last Big Data post, I can't stop thinking about what it is and how it can be better used in the world of sourcing, outsourcing and supply chain. One of the things that really captured my attention in the McKinsey article was their reference to the issues that need to be addressed regarding Big Data, including privacy and security. Imagine the collective power of the information consumers give to various sources--banks, loyalty programs, online retailers, healthcare providers--most of the time, the information you provide in one place isn't meant to be accessed by another. We expect our information to be kept private and confidential. Disclosing personal data is a slippery slope. As Jeff Bertolucci recently said in InformationWeek, "...companies implementing big data strategies might consider this informal motto: 'Don't be sneaky.'" Be honest with how you plan to use the data you collect and don't share it without prior knowledge, unless you are ready for the mistrust that will follow. Ideally, Big Data should result in something that benefits both the company collecting the information and the consumer or organization providing it. Why else would people be willing to give freely of private information?
This blog was written just before our Summit last month in Amelia Island: Right now I feel a bit like Santa. It is the week before Christmas (read: Summit) and the elves are hard at work and the reindeer are being exercised and the turbo sleigh just had a tune up but still, so many things can go wrong. What if the doll legs or logo’d wine glasses don’t come in? Why did the price of memory skyrocket at the last minute for the robot brain or in our case flash drives? Who is on the naughty list (still don’t have their final presentations) and who is now on the good list (confirmed for executive roundtables)? What if it rains on Summit Eve? What if someone is unhappy with their toys or their room? How do I keep the elves motivated to put in 80-hour weeks right now and then still smile and execute flawlessly? And is there enough time to make sure I can still fit in my red suit? Seriously though, this is a time of great anticipation at SIG. While occasionally you can see that someone is stressed, everyone pitches in to make sure that all the work gets done successfully. We have now worked extensively with every presentation, sent some of them back and forth with feedback four times. The Resource Guide is at the printer, the signage has all been designed and the app has launched. We have met with every general session speaker and know they are on track to be awesome. We have procured our 60 pounds of registration desk chocolate, and picked up the wine and beer for my team during the final days of prep. We are now having sticker parties (putting labels on luggage tags), pen parties (marrying pens to padfolios because the factory forgot to do so), tipping our UPS and FedEx men due to the cases and cases of items they have to carry up to the office (we are on the second story of a historic building, sans elevator).
A few months before every SIG Summit, I start to think about the presentations and wonder what this Summit's hot topics will be. Is talent management still top of mind? Have thoughts on governance changed? I look forward to getting a sneak peek at the shifts in the industry, but get even more jazzed to hear from new speakers. A great speaker can make even the most mundane topic interesting, and by contrast, a poor speaker can wreak havoc on a hot topic. Have you ever sat in a session and thought about how quickly you can make a graceful exodus without people noticing? A steady stream of people exiting stage left is a telltale sign that the speaker is not capturing the audience. So as you prepare for the SIG Summit, or any other presentation, keep this "top 10" list in mind:
Supply Chain Management...Risky Business?
I just finished viewing insights from Risk Expert Joe Yacura of ISG, in the video, Supply Chain: Understanding The Risk Factors. This was an excellent, less-than-30-minute overview of supply chain risk management that I enjoyed with my bagel and tea. Joe discussed the critical nature of supply chains and the sources of risk, and he made some recommendations on how to harden the supply chain, specifically addressing cyber-attacks. A company’s supply chain and it's criticality to the company’s reputation is more evident as the sources and frequency of risk increase. Joe defines supply chain risk simply as "the disruption of the flow of products or services that meet the requirements [of the company]." Consumers and regulators alike want greater transparency into supply chains, with a better understanding of vulnerabilities, and as a result we are seeing an increase in mandates for company supply chains. Major sources of risk include weather, natural disasters, product reliability and consistency, counterfeit information and misrepresentations. Let's consider some of those risks: weather...who among us thought Manhattan could be so vulnerable until Sandy hit? How many of us, our hearts aching for the victims, were also concerned about our financial institutions and information, servers and files drowning in rancid water? Were there back-ups? Was my credit card statement floating in Battery Park or the basement of the bank I use? Cyber-attacks: wow, even the New York Times went down recently. If they can lose their bread and butter who else can be hit?