The Importance of Influencing Change in Supply Chain Management.

We spend a tremendous amount of our time trying to influence the behavior of others – whether it’s up the organization with leadership, down the organization with our direct reports, across the organization with peers or internal stakeholders or outside the organization with customers or suppliers, or in the community, with friends and family.  When you think about it, leadership is really intentional influence.

The problem is we – individuals and organizations – are not very good at it.  An Arthur D. Little study reports that 8 percent of organization change efforts fail to meet quality, cost or timing goals.  Deloitte’s Global CPO Survey for 2014 found that “Some 68 percent of respondents still describe their internal influence as ‘mixed’” meaning that there are significant missed opportunities.  The Conference Executive Board reports that being an Influencer is one of only six behavioral competencies that set strategic procurement staff apart.  Similarly, University of Tennessee’s 2012 white paper titled “Skills and Competencies That Supply Chain Professionals Will Need” reports that “Inspiring and Influential Leadership” is one of five critical skills.  We must get good at influence!

Traditional change management has failed to deliver the degree, speed or sustainability of desired changes.  Why is that?  There are several reasons.  Traditional change management is very project management oriented focusing on only the tip of the iceberg – things like strategy, systems, process and structure.  While all of these considerations are important, they are insufficient to drive the desired change.  They fail to focus on what’s below the waterline which includes culture, norms and status quo behaviors – all of that organization resistance that undermines and impedes our change effort.  Organization change is really just the sum of behavior changes in individuals, and that is the neglected area of opportunity.

For most failed change efforts, there is a conspiracy of causes and few of us have a systematic way of even thinking about this fundamental challenge.  We identify one or two causes of resistance and look for a “silver bullet” to tackle them.  Change agents have their favorite strategies to combat resistance such as more communication or training.   The reality is that we typically underwhelm and overwhelm challenge.

For any change to take place, individuals ask themselves two questions:

1. Is it worth it (motivation)?
2. Can I do it (ability)?

Influencing Change training, based on the New York Times bestseller, Influencer, focuses on changing individuals’ behavior utilizing a systematic framework for first diagnosing causes of resistance, and then strategizing how to both motivate and enable change.  It also equips the learner with skills and strategies to be successful.  For example, we tend to rely heavily on verbal persuasion to spur personal motivation.  Unfortunately, this is notoriously ineffective.  When we encounter resistance, we often share more information, putting people into a PowerPoint coma where all they hear is “wha, wha, wha, wha, wha.”  It is the equivalent of talking louder when a person who speaks a different language doesn’t understand.  Instead, we should be seeking Direct or Vicarious Experiences which help people to connect to values they already hold to make change more appealing and sustainable.

Influencing Change employs all Six Sources of Influence™, which address motivation and ability as affected by personal, social and structural forces.  Research proves that by employing four or more sources of influence against the desired vital behavior you increase your success tenfold.

How’s your change management working for you?  If it leaves you wanting and you want to increase your success tenfold, consider Influencing Change. Bama At Work is proud to offer the Influencing Change for Supply Chain course as part of our portfolio. Visit our website to learn more about how this course can help you improve the supply chain processes in your organization. Our next class will take place on June 16 – 17, 2015 and our early bird special ends May 1st.

Article by Barbara Ardell, Vice President and Influencing Change Practice Leader at Paladin Associates. Barbara is the speaker at the Influencing Change in Supply Chain course for Bama At Work.

 

Training, the key to your organization’s success.

Organizations building excellence in the workplace succeed when they understand and address their key areas of concern. Here are some things we’ve learned from organizations. They see three broad areas as the linchpins to their success:

1.  Succession. An effective leadership pipeline to build a deep bench and mitigate the impact of losing the baby boomers.
2. Execution. Management systems (operations management, supply chain management, project management, risk management, etc.) so they can turn plans into action.
3. Culture. The values and practices that bring their brand to life.

Rather than treating learning as a silo, organizations have succeeded by developing an approach to integrate the learning function into operational and strategic planning. I hope you find this approach useful in your own workplace:

•  Determine where the organization wants to go and the team competencies needed to get there.
• Understand where the organization is today and the team competencies currently demonstrated.
• Define the difference between the current and desired states and recommend an approach to build the needed team competencies.
• Identify ways to measure progress.

The above approach sounds pretty generic, but the idea of team competencies is what repositions the learning function as a strategic approach. Competencies are demonstrable, so organizations can align those team competencies to business objectives and measure progress toward the objectives. We’re also finding that organizations like the idea of coaching as a way to institutionalize the new competencies. In addition to sending employees to a coaching academy, equipping employees to coach each other has been appealing to organizations. Coaching has been a way to help employees learn how to hold each other accountable.

Between team competencies and coaching, we’re seeing interest in ways to make employees more T-shaped, building deep skills to succeed in their jobs and also to thrive in their organizations.

Bama At Work brings the expertise of our University to your workplace and organization. More than a sample of courses dispensed in a classroom, the Corporate Training of Bama At Work is a training consultant working for you. Customize your training to bring the best skills and knowledge to your employees and colleagues. Because an educated workforce is a more efficient one, Bama At Work will help you and your organization achieve the capstone of Workplace Excellence.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + , LinkedIn or visit our website for more info and news about custom training, professional development for the workplace and how to improve the efficiency of your organization.

Article by Leroy Hurt, Associate Dean, Professional Development and Community Engagement, The University of Alabama

Leroy Hurt, Associate Dean, Bama At Work

The Significance of the Panama Canal to Supply Management

As the Global Best Practices (GBP) Chair for ISM-Dallas, it has been “many moons” since that I wrote my last article – do you remember? It was on Dili, East Timor-Leste.  Now I report to you from the Panama Canal –

That’s the one in Panama City – not the city in the Florida that is currently “ground zero” for those wild spring breakers, but the largest city in the country of Panama, which separates Costa Rica from Colombia.   Most Americans only associate Panama with the drug lord – Manuel Noriega, who was its Dictator in the mid-1980’s, but since, was ousted by our U.S. Military and subsequently arrested, tried and imprisoned in Florida,

Panama is now a very peaceful and lovely country.  BTW – after spending years in prison in Florida, Noriega was extradited to France and then subsequently extradited back to Panama, where he is currently serving a 20-year sentence for murder.   Recently, however, he has expressed an interest in Supply Management, and is participating in the ISM-Dallas’ CPSM Online Review Program from his prison cell (FACT OR FICTION?).

That brings us back to the Panama Canal and more importantly, its significance to Supply Management.

First, what is it?  The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 48-mile ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end (similar to a dam) to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 85 ft. above sea level. The current locks are 110 ft. wide.

What is its history? France began work on the canal in 1881, but had to stop because of engineering problems and high mortality due to disease (primarily, “Yellow Fever”). The United States took over the project in 1904, and took a decade to complete the Canal, which was officially opened on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan. The shorter, faster, and safer route to the U.S. West Coast and to nations in and around the Pacific Ocean allowed those places to become more integrated with the world economy.

Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the Canal opened, to approximately 15,000 vessels in 2013, the latter measuring a total of 310 million  tons. Since 1914, more than one million ships from all over the world have transited the Canal.  The historic millionth mark was reached on September 4, 2010 with the transit of the bulk carrier “Fortune Plum.” The American Society of Civil Engineers has named the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

What is its significance to Supply Management?  If you are currently, or in the past have, or your overall company has been involved with – global sourcing (products that are imported or exported on any continent), most likely the ships carrying these goods have crossed through the Panama Canal.   Not only is the Panama Canal important to Panama for income and jobs, but it is also considered to be vitally important to the United States economy. Many U.S. exports and imports travel through the Canal daily (over 10% of all U.S. shipping goes through the Canal). Exports represent jobs for U.S. citizens because the products were made by U.S. workers. Imports enable U.S. consumers to receive needed products.

Since the United States is the only superpower in the world, the United States is interested in keeping the global economy running smoothly. If world trade is disrupted, it can lead to worldwide economic problems. Therefore, any disruption in the flow of goods through the Panama Canal could directly hurt the U.S. and global economies. For instance, if England were selling products to Peru, England’s economy would suffer if the Canal were not operating.

Without access to the Canal, the cost of exports from England to Peru would significantly increase because England would have to regain the added expenses involved in sailing around South America. Because of increased prices, Peru could not afford to purchase as many products from England, which in turn would decrease England’s revenues gained from exports. Decreased revenues mean that England would have less money available to purchase products from the United States and other countries. A “domino effect” would be set in motion as the United States and other countries experienced similar problems with their exports and imports. This example illustrates the economic importance the Panama Canal has to the U.S. and global economies.

What is the cost/benefit analysis?  The average cost for a ship to pass through the Canal is $200,000.  While this may seem like a huge sum of money, the time savings for the shipment can be over $1,000,000!   So as you become more astute to doing a TLC – Total Landed Cost Analysis – you will want to ensure that these efficiencies are passed on to your company, either through the lowest possible cost or through a rebate.

What does the future hold?  Based on the manufacture of the mega ships (both freighters and cruise liners), the Canal is currently being “expanded” (note: this is different from an “extension” as the current project is horizontal and to the Panamanians, an extension is vertical.  This expanded route will modify trade patterns in the region with the Canal as a driving force for global trade.  As a result, Panama will consolidate its role as the most important logistics and transportation center in the Americas.

This project will also help mitigate climate change, since bigger ships will transit through this route, reducing the global emissions of C02 that result when using alternate longer routes.  This is also important to us as Supply Managers as we focus on Green Procurement initiatives.  This project is set to be completed in 2015, but may be a bit delayed due to the labor disputes with the Spanish (who are managing the project).

In conclusion, to determine how significant the Panama Canal is to you, I would encourage you to find out from your Logistics department or from your international suppliers – how many shipments are passing through the Canal.   I think that you will be surprised of the magnitude!

Bama At Work, the professional development and conference services of the University of Alabama is proud to offer a Supply Chain and Logistics Certificate Program and CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) and CPSM (Certified Professional in Supply Management) online courses. Learn more information about our offers in Supply Chain courses on campus or online on our website.

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Article by Pat Woods, CPIM, CPSM, CPSD, C.P.M instructor. Pat is past president of ISM-Dallas, Global Best Practices Chair.

Note:  the author can be reached at:  patwoods@supplychaineducation.com  or 214-310-3038 or via:  LinkedIn.