Reflections on Digital Supply Chains & Platforms
Demands on supply chains are ever increasing as companies vie to deliver more personalized products, with faster lead time, at a lower cost. Further, unexpected execution conditions continually disrupt operational performance. For these reasons and more (see our recent MIT Sloan Management Review article), companies must do more than digitize supply chains. They must also develop operational ability… Continue reading Sense and Pivot Supply Chain @ MIT Media Lab
I held a podcast this week with Supply Chain Management Review on the topic of AI in Planning. We discussed the structural complexities facing demand and supply planning functions today and the imminent role of AI and machine learning. You can view the podcast below: Key takeaways Businesses across all sectors are pressuring supply chains to… Continue reading AI in Supply Chain Planning – Podcast
Last mile home delivery is a key driver shaping the growth of the US online sales. While efficient and innovative delivery models abound for parcel products, large format product categories such as white goods, furniture and large electronics remain stuck in an ineffective and inefficient supply chain model, preventing their full potential growth. Despite the need,… Continue reading The Future Model for Big Box Last Mile Delivery
With escalating pressures to continually provide innovative offerings and demonstrating sustainable, profitable growth, it’s no surprise that product outsourcing success is becoming a strategic topic in Consumer and Retail. For example, Coca-Cola is transforming their traditional fountain machines for consumer engagement. Peapod is taking the store front to where consumers are through mobile commerce technologies. And… Continue reading Product Outsourcing Success in CPG & Retail
As global markets become more complex, companies are increasingly pursuing collaboration to unlock value chain efficiency and agility. From joint demand planning to asset sharing, companies are seeking to unlock cross-firm economies of scale and scope. A key challenge preventing systematic collaboration is one of participating companies taking opportunistic, zero-sum actions during ambiguously defined scenarios… Continue reading Collaboration: Lessons from Medieval Trading
Business is often seen as war and statecraft. Take for example how we describe numerous management terms such as competitive positioning, stick vs. carrot, or war-gamming. If business is war then merger and acquisition, would be analogous to the capture and annexation of new principalities. In both scenarios, the acquirer must manage institutional complexity, cultural… Continue reading The Prince and Insights in M&A Success
Emergency room (ER) physicians constantly make critical decisions with limited information and under extreme time pressure. What separates best-in-class ER physicians from the pack is that they not only “do the right things,” but also “do things right.” Similar to ER physicians, senior executives often find themselves pressured to drive savings under a tight timeline.… Continue reading Sourcing success under time pressure
The term "strategic outsourcing" may sound like an oxymoron. Traditional dogma of outsourcing calls for companies to sequester strategic capabilities in-house and only source non-core or commoditized capabilities from 3rd parties. The situation becomes more complex in a dynamic market context since (i) what may be deemed a core competency today may become peripheral tomorrow… Continue reading Strategic outsourcing is not an oxymoron
In the past decade(s) the pharma industry has experienced an innovation gap crisis characterized by relatively flat growth rate in new drug approval rates and a steady growth of 2.5X in cost. Big pharma has tried to tackle the innovation gap with a series of strategic solutions: throwing money at internal R&D, horizontal consolidation, and… Continue reading Drivers of Pharma R&D Gap and New Models for Success
Michael Hu | BCG 