20 years ago "plus" when I started in this industry I would not have even been able to tell you where to get a "supply chain MBA". Usually it was finance or operations research degrees who somehow meandered into this field.
This is not true anymore and this blog post from "The Strategic Sourceror" explains why.
A 25 year veteran of the supply chain and logistics industry blogs on all things logistics. Experience in 3PL, automotive and consumer goods logistics help bring a unique insight to this topic
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Monday, November 12, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
What Makes Tomorrow's Leaders
I am reading a lot about this subject and I suppose the driving force is I now have a son in college. I wonder what he will want to do ultimately with his life. As I read I see some common threads in tomorrow's leaders no matter what discipline they are in (so, these apply to supply chain people).
First, learn languages! This is an absolute must and one which is tough for Americans to get their arms around. If you cannot speak at least one other language other than English you are essentially toast. Two or three are even better. The best people I see in business today are very comfortable moving between languages.
Second, be prepared, willing and excited about moving globally. I met a person the other day who had run an operation in Russia, is now in China, travels frequently to the US and is a German national. OK, you may not be able to do all that but understand that is who you are competing with. Unfortunately, most people elsewhere in the world are far more comfortable doing this than Americans are.
Third, be a leader. It just does not matter what you do (unless you are going to be a highly skilled technocrat / individual contributor your entire life. No matter what you do in life, you will need to be a leader.
Fourth, never stop learning! When I interview people I ask what book they most recently read and you would be amazed how many really cannot remember one or if they did read it, it is clear they just skimmed it. Reading things such as the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The NY Times and The Wall Street Journal are a must. Put down the remote, turn off the T.V. and read!
These are just a few of my thoughts on this topic. There are a lot more I know. I wanted to get these out fast.
First, learn languages! This is an absolute must and one which is tough for Americans to get their arms around. If you cannot speak at least one other language other than English you are essentially toast. Two or three are even better. The best people I see in business today are very comfortable moving between languages.
Second, be prepared, willing and excited about moving globally. I met a person the other day who had run an operation in Russia, is now in China, travels frequently to the US and is a German national. OK, you may not be able to do all that but understand that is who you are competing with. Unfortunately, most people elsewhere in the world are far more comfortable doing this than Americans are.
Third, be a leader. It just does not matter what you do (unless you are going to be a highly skilled technocrat / individual contributor your entire life. No matter what you do in life, you will need to be a leader.
Fourth, never stop learning! When I interview people I ask what book they most recently read and you would be amazed how many really cannot remember one or if they did read it, it is clear they just skimmed it. Reading things such as the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The NY Times and The Wall Street Journal are a must. Put down the remote, turn off the T.V. and read!
These are just a few of my thoughts on this topic. There are a lot more I know. I wanted to get these out fast.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Very Interesting Article in NYT: Does Technology REDUCE The Need for Education?
This is really interesting and it may apply in the logistics' field. Paul Krugman asks the question if technology reduces the need for an eduction ? He also cites an article in today's NY Times about software which is making a lot of junior lawyers and paralegals' jobs obsolete (combing through documents during the discovery phase). This article is titled: Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software.
So, the question this poses for all of us is as supply chain software gets ever so sophisticated will it reduce the need for much of the higher education currently being used in supply chain management (i.e., Masters in Supply Chain Management, Ops research, etc.). This is also being debated right now over at Linkedin. Logistics and supply chain will continue to be extremely important in the firm and the overall structure of a corporation, the question is will the people managing it be that important?
So, the question this poses for all of us is as supply chain software gets ever so sophisticated will it reduce the need for much of the higher education currently being used in supply chain management (i.e., Masters in Supply Chain Management, Ops research, etc.). This is also being debated right now over at Linkedin. Logistics and supply chain will continue to be extremely important in the firm and the overall structure of a corporation, the question is will the people managing it be that important?
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