Are We There Yet?
I just had the pleasure of participating on a conference call with Tim Cummins of the IACCM (International Association for Contract & Commercial Management ). Tim is one of the most knowledgeable, thoughtful and articulate guys out there when it comes to the myriad of issues facing 21st century supply management and contracting professionals. Tim and I spoke at length about the complex new world of supply chain management in the face of globalization, increased regulation, distributed supply chains, and the resulting new risk factors that must be managed by 21st century executives. In particular we focused in on the reputational risks companies face if they get it wrong – as well as the benefits if they get it right.
What stood out for me on the call was the quality of the questions coming in from the participants. The mere fact that people are talking about driving visibility and control throughout their global supply chain operations, and seeking to identify technologies, systems and best practices for program implementation and management, speaks to the very real sea change we are all moving through here on the eve of 2008.
Back in 2000 when we founded Aravo there was little talk of issues such as risk management, toxic substances compliance, carbon footprinting, factory audits, green sourcing, vendor code of conduct, etc. Outsourcing was relatively new back then, Sarbanes Oxley was still two years out, and none of the systemic “shocks” had yet occurred (global warming, Nike labor practices, Mattel toxics, Enron financial risk, etc). But the world has now officially changed, and hearing the questions coming in from the various purchasing, legal, contract management and supply chain professionals on the IACCM call was some of the best evidence of this change I’ve seen in a while.
The fact is that companies today are dealing with a whole host of new and complex pressures coming in from all sides. The combined force of government regulator demands, Wall Street, the media and the public is rather overwhelming and is driving this sea change towards sustainable supply chains and a new era of trading partner relationships. Whether voluntary or regulated, local or global, direct or indirect materials, in-house or outsourced, source-to-pay or sustainability, what is most important to me is that the companies I am engaging with really seem to “get it.” Not only do they get it, they are making the investments in people and infrastructure required to not only ensure that their reputational risks are managed, but to be good corporate citizens.
Much like route planning for a hike or road trip, it is always important to know where you are on the map relative to where you want to wind up (“Are we there yet?”). The IACCM call for me was a big validation of where we are on the timeline of the sustainable supply chain sea change – which I would peg “beyond acceptance of the new reality and squarely in the middle of the design/implementation of systems and processes to address that new reality.” It took nearly a decade to get past “acceptance” and it’s great to see that we’ve moved into “addressing.”
We’ll have more on this conversation and a link to the actual interview in upcoming postings. Stay tuned.
