How should we define the ideal supply chain management professional? What is the role of this professional? What responsibilities should he or she have? How might supply chain professionals be utilized within a corporation’s supply chain, and what skills and experiences should they have at their disposal?
First and foremost, a SCM professional should have experience in multiple supply chain functions and must be able to lead the design, implementation, and management of cross-functional supply chain solutions. While these solutions could be completely internal, they generally extend outside of the enterprise and involve multiple tiers of suppliers and customers. These solutions require the integration and coordination of multiple processes including:
•Product/service development launch.
•Supplier relationship collaboration.
•Manufacturing customization.
•Demand planning responsiveness.
•Order fulfillment/service delivery.
•Customer relationship collaboration.
•Life cycle support.
•Reverse logistics.
At a senior level, a SCM professional evaluates the trade-offs between supply chain functions and organizations. To effectively identify and evaluate these trade-offs, he or she must blend sufficient depth of functional knowledge with the understanding of cross-functional and cross-organizational collaboration. For example, a SCM professional must be able to balance customer service and quality with total supply chain costs. To perform this balancing act successfully, the professional must consider all of the supply chain planning, management, and measurement activities involved in purchasing, manufacturing, and logistics management. Importantly, this assessment includes products, services and solutions, and related information.
In addition to identifying the trade-offs, the supply chain manager must be capable of developing and implementing integrated and comprehensive supply chain solutions. Innovative, end-to-end supply chain solutions will need to be implemented on a broad business scale-across the enterprise on a global basis.
The professional also needs to disseminate knowledge that will help their supply chain partners more effectively design and manage their own supply chains. They also should be able to apply the principles and methodologies of SCM to other parts of the organization and define enterprise-level architecture for complex solutions. In essence, they need to be supply chain consultants. Finally, the professional must be able to analyze the business performance of their supply chains to facilitate sustainable competitive advantage.
The SCM professional needs to develop the skills and capabilities to operate effectively in this context. Developing the right skills and knowledge can enhance not only supply chain performance, but also enterprise performance. Supply chain managers can no longer rely solely on the focused functional skills of the past to ensure a bright future. Instead, they need to develop cross-functional management skills that must be integrated and aligned with the company’s overall business strategies. In many cases, this will require a redefinition of the skills, roles, and responsibilities of the supply chain professional. It is apparent that a variety of skills are needed to manage the complexity and uncertainty inherent in SCM. Furthermore, supply chain managers need to be open to continual learning as today’s supply chain skills may not maintain relevance for the future.
The importance of possessing the right supply chain skills is underscored by Myers et al. (2004).1 Their study demonstrates that a supply chain manager’s experience and education does not predict work performance; instead job skills predict success. Therefore, it is important to provide aspiring SCM professionals with the appropriate opportunities and guidance to develop the job skills that will enhance their potential for success.
While researchers and practitioners alike are calling for the development of the SCM profession, there is some disagreement over how this process will evolve. Most agree that context-independent skills are important for supply chain professionals. These include broader managerial capabilities such as people skills, social skills, coordination, change management, communication, decision-making skills, problem-solving skills, time management, and cultural skills.
There is some disagreement, however, regarding technical and technological skills. Some researchers have suggested that the SCM profession should not include technical or technological skills. Others consider such skills to be fundamental for developing cross-functional, cross-company managerial competencies. Some experts place special emphasis on IT skills and expertise. From the literature, however, it is clear that researchers are not advocating deep technical or technological skills. The consensus seems to be that supply chain professionals not only must be competent in their technical expertise but also must possess more general skills that are context-independent and can cut across boundaries of function and organization.
After reviewing the literature and conducting our own interviews and discussions, we believe that a true SCM professional must have skills and capabilities in the following five areas: functional, technical, leadership, global management, and experience and credibility.