Author: Sime Curkovic

Reading List: A great book read for CFO types that want to understand SCM types (or the other way around?): "Supply Chain Metrics that Matter" by Cecere - The book links corporate financials to supply chain maturity, & what metrics matter most. https://supplychainmanagement.utk.edu/blog/careers-cfo-in-supply-chain-management/ “Over time, more companies are choosing to draw from their SCM team when they are looking to fill the CFO role. Therefore, a background in SCM is the perfect...

I was glad to see Cost Mgmt on this list (but I thought it would rank higher). Has Price Analysis become a lost art? Aside from the precious metals, every other commodity managed double-digit increases. https://lnkd.in/g-Np6BnA. U.S. suppliers’ price increases picked up (11.3%!) in June & remained near historic highs. Producer-level inflation showed an 11.3% annual rate, 7th straight month of double-digit gains. https://lnkd.in/g_pFJ_QH What happened to Strategic Cost Management? (I need...

I have been talking to high schoolers & the parents appear to be too focused on rankings. Pay attention to what matters most- not rankings!...especially at the undergraduate level. "Students who are able to build strong relationships with professors are far more likely to find engaging work after graduation." https://lnkd.in/gSuzhcjP -those who believe a professor cared about them as a person, made them excited about learning, & encouraged them to pursue their...

The digital transformation journey begins by recognizing the importance of data. Supply chain expert Adrian Gonzalez asserts data is the supply chain’s most profitable 4-letter word. He adds, “The lynchpin for any technology is data.” Yossi Sheffi, Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, goes even further. He writes, “The well-worn adage that a company’s most valuable asset is its people needs an update. Today, it’s not people...

China tops the list for mine production & reserves of rare earth elements, w/ 44 million tons (>20x the U.S.) in reserves (38% of global total) & 140,000 tons of annual mine production (3x the U.S.). I was not expecting the U.S. to rank the 2nd highest in mine production w/ only 1.3% of total reserves (hmm). Further, while Vietnam & Brazil have the 2nd & 3rd most reserves, their...

For a great read on the 3PL/4PL industry: https://lnkd.in/grJG-AEq. My take: the industry is making more cash than ever, and/but margins are holding steady (their costs are also going up). See chart below: Did you know that 80% of the global goods trade is transported over sea? FYI: COSCO Shipping (#4 on list) is China’s state-owned shipping company. For context, Chinese state-owned enterprises have ownership stakes in terminals at five U.S....

Ugghh. The term “Friend-Shoring” is being used by some very important people. I barely understand what Bretton-Woods was. FYI, 2021 White House Report on “supply chain resilience” (Warning: this is 250 pages)...To develop resiliency, the U.S. must “deepen” its economic ties with friendly, “like-minded” countries...https://lnkd.in/gqsfBkK4. For more on International Economic "SCM" Law: https://lnkd.in/gB5zpBxd. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/us-treasury-secretary-on-supply-chain-resilience-use-friend-shoring.html Will this actually become a transformational trend in the public sector? Do I need to teach this? For now,...

AI will likely have one of the greater impacts on SCM through the 2020s. However, one thing often not mentioned is the attitude of the hiring managers. In talking w/ a colleague, we both agreed that many managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities...

America: Do not forget about those rare earth metals. China tops the list for mine production & reserves of rare earth elements, w/ 44M tons (>20x the U.S.) in reserves (38% of global total) & 140K tons of annual mine production (3x the U.S.). I was not expecting the U.S. to rank the 2nd highest in mine production w/ only 1.3% of total reserves (hmm). Further, while Vietnam & Brazil...

Well, this is one of the few times that I read something from Harvard & did not learn a lot. I really feel like most academics have been doing all this for decades. HBP misses a critical component…students have to take OWNERSHIP of their education (i.e., pretend it is the most important job of their career). Note, I largely agreed w/ everything on the list. It did miss other areas...