In many businesses, supply chain management historically has fallen outside the core of the company's compliance function. But that was then. A renewed push this year by state, federal and international regulators – not to mention consumer advocacy groups, NGOs and foreign legislatures – to conscript the business community into the fight against human trafficking and the use of child, indentured, forced and other forms of coerced labor has brought supply chain management to the front and center of the corporate compliance world.

Will a robot run my organization in 10 years? Maybe, even though a chief executive's job, which requires a fair amount of problem-solving and creativity, is probably less susceptible to automation than middle-skill jobs such as machining and bookkeeping. At the same time, new research shows that most jobs have some proportion of tasks that can be substituted by workplace automation. Including a CEO's job.

While most of the world has fixated on the plunging Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and Beijing's missteps managing the currency, China's labor market has become increasingly fragile. As wage arrears and layoffs grow, unrest in factories and on construction sites is spreading.

Are supply-chain managers finally getting the respect they deserve?

It's safe to say that no child yearns for a career in supply chain. But schools and educators are working to change that.