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Seek Problems, Generate Profits
Don´t we already have enough problems? Why should we seek out more? Very simple: Call it tasks, opportunities, or challenges, the way to profit requires to solve your problems. Faster, more effectively and at lower cost. Too many problems remain essentially unresolved. Often they are kicked down the road until it´s a big problem. Traditional…
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Market Entry in the USA – Overnight Sensation or Disaster?
Executives who invest in the USA hear of fantastic success stories. Consultants present brilliant tales of entering the US market. Unfortunately, in reality the opposite is the case. Instead of “overnight sensations”, too many German, Austrian or Swiss companies (D-A-CH) deliver weak returns, if at all. Research shows that over 70% of US market entries…
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Supply Chain Verwerfungen erreichen die CEOs
Seit Ende November greifen Huthi-Rebellen aus dem Jemen Handelsschiffe im Roten Meer an. CEOs gehen davon aus, dass diese Störungen noch eine Weile anhalten werden. Allerdings ist die Situation viel dramatischer, als sie auf den ersten Blick scheint. Die USA als „Polizist der Weltmeere“ zeigen hier Schwächen, die von Piraten (unterstützt von Schurkenstaaten) gnadenlos ausgenutzt…
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Supply Chain Disruptions Reach the CEOs – Again
The historically unique peace in global shipping that the USA maintained since WW II is giving way to an uncertain era in which companies themselves have to organize solutions for their supply chain and transport security. Houthi rebels from Yemen have attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea since late November. CEOs expect these disruptions…
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Strategies to Mitigate Risks from Supply Chain Disruptions
What to do when faced with delays and problems in the supply chain? The high volatility in purchase delivery forces decision-makers to adapt their supply chain strategies. Managers have fundamentally four options to respond. These four critical approaches are: 1) Increase inventory from just-in-time to just-in-case2) Find a second (or third) source of supply3) Reshore…
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Critical Competencies of the Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO)
The term Supply Chain was coined 40 years ago by Dr. Wolfgang Partsch. Having worked with him on a range of supply chain management projects, he explained that, while changing snow chains in the Swiss alps, he had the flash insight into a supply “chain”. Still today, though, there is no wide agreement on what…
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Dabbling in the Supply Chain
Getting serious with the Supply Chain? Nah! Let’s play shenanigans. “Big businesses are pushing hard to wring profits out of the smaller companies that supply them with goods and services,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Accounts receivables are prepaid by financial service providers against a fee, however, the customer (debtor) gets a cut on that fee,…
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Competive Advantage by Supplier
What is the role of SCM and Purchasing for innovation and competitive advantage? Today, many firms relegate SCM (incl. Purchasing) to a tactical level operating in a “silo.” Because their mission is limited to one thing: efficiency in the way of low piece prices and operational cost. The result: The “pricing game!” Suppliers start high,…
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Talk is Cheap
We live in the age of experts. There is an expert for every topic. We have a large number of experts at our disposal, especially in management. Who actually is an expert sometimes remains in doubt. A humorous definition is: “An expert is a specialist who has traveled from more than 200 miles afar.” As…
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From Strategy to Results
“Ideas are wonderful. Execution is everything.” Success is the consequence of implementing great ideas. Ideas are essential for creating new possibilities and plans that lead to success and improve the world. Ideas on its own, however, lack the power to change the world. That’s where execution comes into play. As Peter Drucker quipped, plans are…