Disconnect Between C-Suite & Supply Chain Resulting in Missed Digital Growth Opportunities for Companies, According to New Re...
May 15 2018 - 8:59AM
Business Wire
Biggest challenges facing supply chain
executives: leadership, labor, legacy technology
While most companies recognize the value of a digitally enabled
supply chain – empowered by new technologies like artificial
intelligence, blockchain, big data and analytics – many chief
supply chain officers (CSCOs) are not leveraging their C-suite
counterparts to help reinvent the supply chain function and
transform it into an engine of new growth models and customer
experiences, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:
ACN).
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By the end of 2020, what role will the
supply chain function play in your organization? (Graphic: Business
Wire)
The research report, Drive Your Own Disruption: Is your supply
chain in sleep mode?, reveals that the 900 supply chain
executives surveyed were more likely to say that they see their
function in two years as a cost efficiency driver (60 percent) or a
support function (68 percent) than as a competitive differentiator
(48 percent) or a growth enabler (53 percent) within their
organizations, which can leave significant value on the table.
“Supply chain executives should take no comfort in being
categorized as a support function,” said Mohammed (Mo) Hajibashi, a
managing director at Accenture and global Supply Chain lead in its
Products industry practice. “In this digital era where customers
demand speed to market and hyper-personalization, these executives
need to ensure that their supply chain function is not only a key
differentiator but also ensures the sustained growth of their
organizations. The fast and efficient adoption of the right new
technologies that enable a new way of working, along with increased
C-suite engagement with the supply chain function, are the keys to
achieving growth via new digital business models that create new
customer experiences, craved by the consumer.”
Accenture research found that 80 percent of the supply chain
executives surveyed identify the chief information officer or chief
technology officer – not the CEO, chief operating officer (COO) or
chief financial officer (CFO) – as key stakeholders, even despite
the major role the CFO has in making technology investment
decisions and the COO’s role in designing the operating model.
Furthermore, in many organizations, the supply chain isn’t seen
as a driver of differentiation and aggressive growth. Meanwhile,
the CSCOs blame the absence of a clear business strategy (cited by
43 percent of CSCOs surveyed), together with an inadequately
skilled workforce (48 percent) and incompatible legacy systems (44
percent), for their function’s inability to drive value for the
organization.
How To Overcome C-suite Challenges
According to the report, CSCOs have an opportunity to work with
the full C-suite to overcome three core challenges – leadership,
labor and legacy technology – and move their function toward better
and more strategic partnerships that will provide the organization
with increased value-driving potential.
- Leadership. The CSCO will
need to be better aligned with business strategy and build a new
and productive working relationship with the executives responsible
for long-term digital investment: the CFO and COO.
- Labor. CSCOs need to build a
workforce that focuses on core supply chain workers, “adaptive”
(part-time and on-demand) workers and artificial intelligence /
robotics — all working together to drive productivity at speed. The
CSCO will also need to leverage their C-suite connections to secure
support for a reskilling strategy founded on continuous
learning.
- Legacy Technology. Digitally
decoupling legacy systems provides a less-resource-intensive and
more impactful way to drive agility than spending on new, more
compatible systems. CSCOs can start by decoupling data from their
legacy IT systems, replicating it and moving it, in real time, to
cloud-based data “lakes” that are accessible to customers.
To find out more about the report, visit
Accenture.com/wakeupyoursupplychain. Join the conversation at
@Accenture #supplychain and #wakeupyoursupplychain.
About the research
Accenture polled 900 chief supply chain officers, chief
operating officers, chief procurement officers and other supply
chain leaders from 12 industries (aerospace & defense;
chemicals; consumer goods & services; electronics/high
tech/communications; financial services; healthcare; industrial
equipment; life sciences; government/public service; retail;
energy; and utilities) and seven countries (Austria, Canada,
Switzerland, Germany, the U.K., Ireland and the U.S.). The survey
was conducted during December 2017 and February 2018. All surveyed
companies had annual revenues of at least US$1 billion.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately
442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries,
Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and
lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180515005256/en/
Accenture Media RelationsTourang Nazari,
+1-202-322-4640tourang.nazari@accenture.com
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