Author: Sime Curkovic

FYI: 60% of the US workforce is employed by a family-owned business & small businesses have the happiest employees. There are surprisingly few “great” books on family business & succession.

FYI: 60% of the US workforce is employed by a family-owned business & small businesses have the happiest employees. There are surprisingly few "great" books on family business & succession. KALAMAZOO, Mich.—WMU's Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC) secured private funding to administer ongoing technical support for entrepreneurs and small business owners throughout Kzoo County.The grant provided by the Stryker Johnston Foundation will allow the Michigan SBDC...for rest of story:https://lnkd.in/gEK5iKkt__FYI: 60% of...

I recently had a GIS analyst reach out to me & ask: Is there a business geography specialty group that addresses supply chain issues? Where could people find GIS supply chain problem sets?

Are Supply Chain professionals using ArcGIS Pro technology? Do you think our SCM students should learn this? ArcGIS is a technology that can help companies manage risk. Nationally, almost zero SCM graduates will have this on their resume. https://www.gislounge.com/gis-supply-chain-inflation/ I recently had a GIS analyst reach out to me & ask: Is there a business geography specialty group that addresses supply chain issues? Where could people find GIS supply chain problem...

For students, the prospects are great, but do not be a victim of technology!

Do not be a victim of technology! Recessions tend to be very bad for college grads. However...The number of job openings fell for the 3rd straight month to 10.698M in June which is the lowest since 10.629M in August 2021 (off the record high of 11.855 million in March). That means there are only (sarcasm) around 11,000,000 unfilled jobs. That’s a recession?! College grads, worry not (for now, not even close). For...
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Biden Energy Secretary Granholm: Clean energy is ‘best peace plan the world has ever known’

OK, just keep in mind that the supply chain for solar & wind is mostly in China, & the U.S. does not have a great strategy for rare earth metals & critical minerals (stuff EV batteries need & mining is not clean). Visualizing China’s Dominance in the Solar Panel Supply Chain: https://lnkd.in/gKDZezmR &https://lnkd.in/gUgErGf9 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-energy-secretary-granholm-clean-energy-best-peace-plan-world-ever-known Notice, that Wind & Solar generate >10% of the world’s electricity. While Europe & N.A. make up > 1/3 of...

Notice, that Wind & Solar generate >10% of the world’s electricity. While Europe & N.A. make up > 1/3 of the global demand for solar panels, both make up an avg of <3% each across all stages of actually mfg solar panels.

Notice, that Wind & Solar generate >10% of the world’s electricity. While Europe & N.A. make up > 1/3 of the global demand for solar panels, both make up an avg of <3% each across all stages of actually mfg solar panels. China owns the vast majority of the world’s solar panel supply chain, controlling at least 75% of every single key stage of solar photovoltaic panel mfg & processing. When it comes to...

Every SCM major now has to take: Global Negotiation…The fastest growing class at WMU.

Every SCM major now has to take: Global Negotiation…The fastest growing class at WMU. https://lnkd.in/ekhu3YHA. Thank you Dr. James Eckert! Almost 1/2 of U.S. employees do not feel confident in their negotiation skills… > 40% don't feel confident in their negotiation skills, while a 1/4 admit to never having negotiated at all in the workplace, per a LinkedIn survey. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_this-is-now-a-reqd-course-for-all-supply-activity-6976219583695265792-Kuwp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop The results revealed that men feel more confident about negotiating than women,...

Every WMU SCM major now has to take this class (Excel on steroids). Our Business Analytics minor teaches Big Data w/ skill sets such as:

Predictive Data Analytics ranked #2! https://lnkd.in/gthyAWf3. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/supply-chains-automation-future/ Every WMU SCM major now has to take this class (Excel on steroids). Our Business Analytics minor teaches Big Data w/ skill sets such as: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros;2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib);3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science;4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas,...

SCM Salaries: The avg has flat lined the last three years. The $ in “2022” & “2021” are down/flat?…See 2018 (well before covid):

The avg has flat lined the last three years. The $ in "2022" & "2021" are down/flat?…See 2018 (well before covid): https://lnkd.in/gV53aggX. 2020 (right before covid): https://lnkd.in/gz8WQEhr - 2021 (deep into covid): https://lnkd.in/g-SfG93A and https://lnkd.in/gn5jM9xt (18 pages). 2022 (post covid, kind of): https://lnkd.in/gxKWMeHd. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_ism-salary-summary-from-last-few-years-flat-activity-6976897614889857024-d4K4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop People want more money & rewarding work (not paperwork). https://lnkd.in/g7BwX84c. "The demand for logistics talent has never been greater. The low unemployment rate has created a supply/demand imbalance, spurring employers to raise salaries in a...

California joins NYC & Colorado in adopting pay transparency…to close wage gaps? Here are the states/cities where employers are required to disclose salary ranges during the hiring process & More pay transparency laws could be coming…

California joins NYC & Colorado in adopting pay transparency...to close wage gaps? Here are the states/cities where employers are required to disclose salary ranges during the hiring process & More pay transparency laws could be coming…https://lnkd.in/gdJr3pMG. Here's what happens when salary is actually included in job listings- https://lnkd.in/gRQ9gaym. Microsoft Revealing Pay Ranges for Its Employees https://lnkd.in/gUZAE5WW. 7 Major Companies That Disclose Salaries in Job Postings https://lnkd.in/g9hZvxf4 There appears to be an appetite for posted...

It seems like Strategic Cost Management (i.e., Price Analysis) has become a lost art.

Supply chains top CFO business risk concerns: "#1 - raw material costs" https://lnkd.in/gK2nRVUs It seems like Strategic Cost Management (i.e., Price Analysis) has become a lost art. Pre-covid: According to a Deloitte 2019 Global Survey of over 1,200 execs directly involved in cost mgmt, cost reduction remained an essential business practice all around the world, with the vast majority of surveyed companies (71%) planning to cut costs over the next 24 months (2020-22). Hmmm,...