Why Have Supply Chain Management Issues Often Been Ignored by Senior Management?
TRIDENT UNIVERSITY
LOG490
Capstone in Logistics
Mod 1 - Casefile
Why have supply chain management issues often been ignored by senior management? Everyone has heard of the term, “File and forget it”. I’m sure most of us, at any level, have done this before and have totally been alright with it. Once you file anything away, you don’t see it any more, therefore, you don’t worry about it as much. Why would a senior leader care, as long as it seems his people are doing what they are supposed to do. I also believe that if a company is doing pretty good, sales wise, then they don’t seem to worry about the supply chain, as much. They automatically assume that the supply chain is working great the way it is and leave it alone. Basically, the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality is what some senior leaders have come to embrace.
There is nothing wrong with that mentality. Most people understand that concept, but if they want their company to grow even bigger, the senior management need to take a look at their supply chain management and see if there are areas they may be able to improve on. By listening to their lower-level management and hearing out what even some of the factory workers may have to say, could help senior management really understand the ins and outs of supply chain management and how it could be holding their company back.
If there is no reason to “interfere” with the day to day operations of their supply chain, then I can see why they wouldn’t. I think what it really comes down to is that they may not fully understand the inner workings of their supply chain. It would be a good idea to actually sit down with their management team that runs the supply chain and have them explain the process, to better fully understand the “how’s” and “why’s” of what happens at the supply chain worker level. Describe the strategy you would employ to sell senior management on the
LOG490
Capstone in Logistics
Mod 1 - Casefile
Why have supply chain management issues often been ignored by senior management? Everyone has heard of the term, “File and forget it”. I’m sure most of us, at any level, have done this before and have totally been alright with it. Once you file anything away, you don’t see it any more, therefore, you don’t worry about it as much. Why would a senior leader care, as long as it seems his people are doing what they are supposed to do. I also believe that if a company is doing pretty good, sales wise, then they don’t seem to worry about the supply chain, as much. They automatically assume that the supply chain is working great the way it is and leave it alone. Basically, the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality is what some senior leaders have come to embrace.
There is nothing wrong with that mentality. Most people understand that concept, but if they want their company to grow even bigger, the senior management need to take a look at their supply chain management and see if there are areas they may be able to improve on. By listening to their lower-level management and hearing out what even some of the factory workers may have to say, could help senior management really understand the ins and outs of supply chain management and how it could be holding their company back.
If there is no reason to “interfere” with the day to day operations of their supply chain, then I can see why they wouldn’t. I think what it really comes down to is that they may not fully understand the inner workings of their supply chain. It would be a good idea to actually sit down with their management team that runs the supply chain and have them explain the process, to better fully understand the “how’s” and “why’s” of what happens at the supply chain worker level. Describe the strategy you would employ to sell senior management on the
References: Selling the Supply Chain Upwards Gail Dutton. World Trade. Troy: Sep 2009. Vol. 22, Iss. 9; pg. 34, Website: http://logistics.about.com/od/trendsandissues/Trends_and_Issues_in_Supply_Chain_Management.htm