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Business Strategy Alignment: Page 737

Responsibility as Strategic Advantage: The Maturing of Green

For those who maintain that companies have no business getting involved with responsibility-driven endeavors because, after all, "the business of business is business" there is often a lack of awareness of the business benefits-and practical imperatives-associated with responsibility-driven endeavors. Likewise, critics who point out that it is only for shameless cost or reputation-related motives that companies adopt responsibility-driven platforms often fail to acknowledge the many positive social and environmental outcomes even of initiatives with top or bottom line-driven goals. Case study interviews with firms of all sizes indicate that these critiques illuminate an outmoded way of understanding the social, economic, and environmental imperatives of this historic moment.

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It's Time for More Innovation in Green Supply Chain Management

To be honest, I'm a bit "greened out" at the moment. I feel like I did a few years ago, when RFID was all the rage. The first few months of RFID were exciting, learning about the technology and listening to executives at Walmart, Gillette (now P&G), and other early adopters talk about their ambitious plans. But as the months went by, there were fewer and fewer new developments to discuss or analyze. Every conference had the same set of speakers, and all the case studies (what few there were) started to sound the same. I think we've reached a similar plateau with green supply chain management.

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Responsive Trade Promotion Management: Creating a Single Version of the Truth

Aberdeen's research shows point-of-sale transaction data from retail locations is still a hurdle for 66 percent of manufacturers. The low levels of transaction data sharing cause increased complexities in tracking promotion effectiveness at the store or field level.

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Supply Chain Planning Trends for Consumer Goods Companies

Consumer products companies were early adopters of supply chain planning and supply chain execution. Most implementations are mature; yet in 2009, 24 percent of companies are considering switching supply chain planning vendors.

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Culture is Key: Sustaining the Business Eco-system

Corporate responsibility agendas revolve around a triple bottom line (TBL) framework geared to benefit: people, planet and profit. A great deal of business-focused, sustainability research emphasizes a transformation of business processes that support the goals of planet and profit and neglects the centrality of people in making it happen.

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Isolate, Prioritize, Automate

There is a tendency to begin discussions of supply chain optimization from the perspective of available business process management software. But to attain real success, companies should base their technology choices on the ability to manage those issues that really matter. In other words, the real starting point requires isolation and prioritization of the most important needs and variables. [The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ernst & Young LLP]

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BPM, A Great Lean Solution for Tough Economic Times

Business process management will continue to be a topic of interest to supply chain companies in 2009. Because process change can be implemented without significant cash investments, BPM will stay fashionable in lean economic times. Adoption will be compartmental for a number of reasons: the economy, organizational politics and the lack of any vendor solution that completely meets business requirements.

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Delivering Value While Managing Risk in the A&D Supply Chain

Aerospace and defense companies face an uncertain world in 2009 with a new presidential administration and a looming financial crisis. Supply chain professionals have a unique opportunity to deliver value to the business by bringing scale through an innovative and reliable partner network. Leaders will put the talent in place that can move beyond the traditional reactionary supply chain organization to one that helps achieve the goals of the business.

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Customers Increase Focus on Cost Reduction in Face of Soft Economy

In these tough economic times with revenues likely coming up short of expectations, logistics service providers will increasingly be pressured to help lower costs for customers, but not just by squeezing existing rates. Customers need help with lowering network inventories and reducing the total cost to serve by executing demand-driven strategies, enhancing trading partner collaboration, and revisiting the network flows for optimal configuration.

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How Well Can Providers Weather The Economic Storm?

There are a lot of parallels between the logistics software industry and the logistics service provider industry. For example, both have undergone a lot of mergers and acquisitions over the past five years, and companies in both industries are looking to further penetrate the small and mid-sized market. And it's also true that the business models of software vendors and LSPs are converging. But an important distinction still remains between these two industries: one primarily sells "products" and the other primarily sells "services." When times get tough, companies tend to outsource more and spend less, which is why LSPs have historically performed better than software vendors during economic slowdowns. Does this mean that LSPs can breathe easy in 2009? Not exactly.

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Web 2.0 Tools Aids Manufacturers' Internal Collaboration Needs

Rude Is Out These Days in Business

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