Anne Kohler, Founding Partner, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mpower Group
As supply chain organizations are trying to do more with less, we are helping our clients to identify areas where they can add more “value” for their organizations. The challenge for our clients is that many supply chain organizations have measured their value by creating efficiency and cutting costs. But to continue to be relevant, “value” needs to be defined by their customers-and frankly, most of their customers have value drivers that have gone beyond cost savings.
A key challenge that supply chain organizations need to focus on is the ability to get any of their innovation-new process, tool or technology-adopted within the organization. Supply chain groups spend millions of dollars a year investing in innovation only to find that a fraction of the intended value is realized. I have seen numerous client organizations that invest in supply chain technology and each one has realized different value. The reason is that a great deal of attention is paid to deploying the technology and not enough attention is paid to ensuring that the technology is adopted within the organization to realize the intended value/business benefits.
Without adoption, there is no return on investment. Adoption of new processes, tools or technology needs to have more focus and can be a way to provide more value to the organization. I believe it is up to those women that are currently playing leadership roles in the supply chain profession to encourage, coach and mentor other women to attain leadership positions. I personally do this by mentoring my female clients and helping to recruit capable young women on behalf of clients.
About Supply & Demand Chain Executive Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the executive’s user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage. Visit them at www.SDCExec.com. About The Mpower GroupThe Mpower Group is in the business of Mpowering our clients to accelerate superior business outcomes by unleashing the full potential of their Strategic Sourcing / Supply Chain organizations. We are a global consulting firm dedicated to serving the needs of Fortune 500 Strategic Sourcing & Supply Chain organizations. We help our clients by:
- Accelerating Strategic Transformation: Rapidly move client organizations along The Mpower Group’s Strategic Sourcing & Supply Chain Maturity Model to peak performance levels.
- Building Exceptional Talent: Advance the competencies of our clients’ Sourcing and Supply Chain professionals to World-Class performance levels.
- Maximizing Deal Value: Help clients realize full value from large and/or complex deals by focusing on A) Total Cost of Ownership before and during negotiations, and B) a sustainable implementation once the deal has been reached.
The Mpower Group is a World-Class Strategic Sourcing & Supply Chain consultancy that delivers big results with a boutique feel. We are Woman and Minority owned.
For additional information about The Mpower Group please visit www.thempowergroup.com.