Episode highlights:

• What’s different about today’s volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) environment? (1:16)
• Geopolitical and climate change concerns for CSCOs. (3:04)
• The intersection of genAI and supply chains. (6:30)
• Sustainability, energy, and the impact on supply chains. (10:45)

In this episode of the Supply Chain Podcast, host Thomas O’Connor sits down with new co-host Tess Frenzel and guest Stan Aronow, a Gartner Vice President Distinguished Advisor. The three of them dive into the volatile and uncertain factors affecting CSCOs, such as generative AI and sustainability concerns, with Stan providing direct insights on these topics from topics from across the Gartner Global Chief Supply Chain Officer community.

Read Stan Aronow’s latest Beyond Supply Chain Blog post: Uncertainty-Proofing Your Supply Chain

Stan Aronow is a Gartner Vice President Distinguished Advisor supporting the global COO/CSCO community through events and curated research insights. He also chairs Gartner’s Supply Chain Executive Advisory Board. Before this role, Stan managed Gartner’s global Supply Chain Top 25 leadership research portfolio for several years.

• Visit Gartner.com to learn more about Gartner for Supply Chain.

This episode explores:

• Results and methodology of the 2024 Gartner CEO Survey. (1:03)
• Surprises from this year’s study, including changing trends. (3:47)
• How CSCOs should adjust their strategies to align with changing CEO priorities. (6:42)
• A deep dive into technology adoption rates, including real-world examples. (10:04)
• Three recommendations CSCOs can implement to work alongside their CEOs better. (16:44)

In this episode of the Gartner Supply Chain Podcast, new host Lindsay Azim and guest Ken Chadwick, Gartner Distinguished Vice President Analyst, discuss results for the 2024 Gartner CEO Survey and how they impact CSCOs building out their strategic roadmaps. Ken dives into how these impacts manifest in tensions between current and future strategic priorities, economic conditions, energy supply, artificial intelligence, talent and much more. Lindsay and Ken close the show with several recommendations for how CSCOs can better work with CEOs and align to their top priorities.

Ken Chadwick is a Gartner research distinguished vice president covering global supply chain organization design, governance, talent development, change management and organization behavior. Using in-depth cross-industry research and insight into trends, Ken provides advice to supply chain leaders on how best to engage people and organizations to address the growing complexity of 21st century supply chains.

• Visit Gartner.com to learn more about Gartner for Supply Chain.

This episode explores:

• The fundamentals of strategic decision making for AstraZeneca. (1:16)
• How AstraZeneca adapts its supply chain to drive both cost optimization and business growth. (4:20)
• Timing investments in new assets and their associated capabilities. (11:09)
• Methods to encourage talent to join change management journeys. (13:50)
• Recommendations for supply chain leaders working to understand their organization’s unique underpinnings for decision making. (16:30)

Host Thomas O’Connor and guest Matt Winterman, AstraZeneca’s senior vice president of global supply chain and strategy, discuss AstraZeneca’s approach to strategic decision making in regards to resilience. They explore AstraZeneca’s focus on supply chain design as a vehicle for growth and cost optimization, as well as the trigger points that underpin their decision-making processes. They close the show with three recommendations for supply chain leaders to apply similar principles to their own organizations.

Matthew Winterman joined AstraZeneca in 2023 and is the senior vice president of global supply chain and strategy, with overall responsibility for the development and execution of the end-to-end supply chain platform and product supply strategies. In addition, he is responsible for ensuring the strategic development of network designs and supply chain capabilities supporting AstraZeneca’s global operational network. He reports into the EVP of operations and IT and chief sustainability officer and serves as a member of the global operations senior leadership team.

This episode explores:

• The new reality of constant change and disruption for supply chain organizations, alongside its four main drivers. (1:44)
• Geopolitical disruption and its implications for supply chain organizations. (3:23)
• Climate change’s evolving influence on supply chain operations. (5:52)
• Technology’s rapid advancement, and how supply chain organizations can keep pace. (8:36)
• Generational shifts in employee attitudes towards their workplace and employers. (11:29)

Host Thomas O’Connor and guest Sami Naffakh, CSCO at Reckitt, explore the myriad forms supply chain disruption takes in today’s highly volatile landscape. They broadly discuss the four main drivers behind this volatility, as well as individualized responses supply chain leaders can employ. Thomas and Sami close the show with Sami’s personal recommendations for supply chain leaders who are combating disruption.

This episode explores:

• The wide array of constraints currently impacting supply chain organizations. (1:17)
• Securing a long-term mandate for investment by resolving short-term issues for the wider organization. (4:18)
• Next steps for CSCOs who have secured their mandate for investment. (7:38)
• Internal challenges to combating constraints, such as skepticism and gaps in capability or knowledge. (10:16)
• Recommendations for CSCOs to overcome constraints. (15:06)

Supply Chain Podcast host Thomas O’Connor and Gartner senior director analyst Laura Rainier discuss how supply chain leaders can combat increasing constraints to resources through the lens of Laura’s Supply Chain Executive Report: Thrive in a Resource-Constrained World. They explore how CSCOs can resolve short-term issues to secure investments and confidence in long-term initiatives for overcoming increasing constraints.

This episode explores:

• The digital elements driving General Mills’ supply chain transformation (2:39)
• General Mills’ technology solutions that link master, operational and transactional data (7:28)
• Human aspects of General Mills’ transformation: DEI, and initiatives to grow employee skill sets and community (13:47)
• Recommendations for supply chain leaders driving their own supply chain transformation (16:52)

Host Thomas O’Connor and General Mills Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) Paul Gallagher discuss the digital, functional and human elements of General Mills’ supply chain transformation. They explore the areas in which the complexity of General Mills’ supply chain breeds opportunity for growth in resilience, cost optimization and more. Thomas and Paul close the show with recommendations for supply chain leaders driving their own transformation initiatives.

This episode explores:

• The increasing scale of disruptions, and how an ecosystem approach is critical to ensuring continuity. (2:39)
• Intel’s top focus areas for ecosystem value. (6:58)
• Intel’s strategy for enabling and building relationships to drive ecosystem value. (12:26)
• Recommendations for supply chain leaders to drive value from their own ecosystems. (17:08)

In this episode of the Gartner Supply Chain Podcast, host Thomas O’Connor and guest Jackie Sturm, corporate vice president of global supply chain operations at Intel, discuss Intel’s approach driving resilience through supply chain ecosystems. Jackie provides insight into Intel’s ecosystem priorities, and how Intel partners with its ecosystem members to achieve them. Thomas and Jackie close the show with several recommendations for supply chain leaders seeking to drive value within their own ecosystem, regardless of their size or place in it.

Host Thomas O’Connor and guest Ryan Polk, a Gartner senior research director, explore the concept of demystifying supply chain transformations through “designed simplicity.” They outline the benefits of removing layers of complexity and ambiguity from transformation processes to help staff better cope with today’s unparalleled rate of change, and highlight successful examples from Cargill and Bayer. The pair close the show with actionable recommendations for supply chain leaders who want to implement this approach in their own organizations, and the benefits for doing so.

This episode explores:

• Definitions for “designed simplicity.” (1:08)
• How the increased rate of change pushes organizations toward this approach. (3:36)
• Where to begin implementing designed simplicity. (5:31)
• Tangible, real-world examples from Bayer and Cargill. (9:05)
• Actionable guidance for supply chain leaders pursuing designed simplicity in their own organizations. (14:01)

Host Thomas O’Connor and guest Ryan Polk, a Gartner senior research director, explore the concept of demystifying supply chain transformations through “designed simplicity.” They outline the benefits of removing layers of complexity and ambiguity from transformation processes to help staff better cope with today’s unparalleled rate of change, and highlight successful examples from Cargill and Bayer. The pair close the show with actionable recommendations for supply chain leaders who want to implement this approach in their own organizations, and the benefits for doing so.