Outlook Journal, July 2002
Like any creative effort, the process of developing market-leading ideas is rarely predictable or tidy. This is why I was initially surprised by the elegant symmetry of a group of three articles that were delivered for editing for this issue of Outlook.
Each article had been assigned, researched and written independently, and each addressed a different subject; one looked at the customer, another at the supply chain, the third at enterprise solutions. But they all dovetailed to make a single powerful statement: There is both a need and an opportunity today for large-scale transformation in all of these functional areas—and in most industries this transformation can generate significant value. In each instance, technology is the enabler, and outsourcing often can play a key strategic role in driving the change (rather than act as a cost-saving tactic).
The demand chain, the supply chain and the systems that are the backbone of any organization are, of course, fundamental to the success of every enterprise. Moreover, the transformation of these functions will have a profound effect across the organization.
“Toward a Customer Meritocracy” makes a strong case that too many companies, caught up in the myth of delighting their customers, fail to align the costs of CRM programs with customer profitability. The authors recommend an aggressive, comprehensive new approach to the way companies design, fund and manage their customer interactions; incremental, tactical fixes, they caution, won’t get the job done.
Similarly bold new thinking is needed in supply chain management, according to the authors of “Why Less Is More.” Almost any company, they argue, will benefit from the fearless mental exercise of ripping apart its supply chain, link by link, and reconstructing it from scratch. Winning companies, they conclude, will be the ones that can visualize their supply chains as complex and evolving networks of specialized partners.
The thesis at the heart of “Get With the Program” is that companies need to change the way they see their enterprise solutions: To capture their full value, executives must treat these systems as an ongoing strategic initiative rather than as a single project with a finite end.
Taken together, these articles present a highly focused look at how several forces—including globalization, deregulation, technological advances, new product introductions and changing customer attitudes—have changed the environment in which three key business functions operate. To be successful and to create value, these functions must change as well; this issue of Outlook offers a detailed blueprint for doing just that.
David Cudaback
Editor-in-Chief
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