Analyst Insight: Top leadership involvement in governing IT risk strategies and identifying the right practices to manage those risks is a requirement for any organization looking to have effective supply chain security. Today's IT landscape requires an accelerated level of knowledge sharing of IT risk practices and solutions, both with suppliers and within the enterprise. Leaders have to change how information is communicated and shared throughout the organization. - Andrea Stroud, research program manager, APQC

Developing leadership skills that transform the supply chain to new levels of excellence is becoming more of a priority for organizations. Supply chain organizations need to take a holistic, strategic and global approach to leadership development. APQC's research indicates that there is a significant gap between leadership competencies needed for an organization to be successful and the competencies that employees currently possess, suggesting that there is indeed a leadership skills gap.

A state-of-IT-risk survey being conducted by APQC seeks to examine supply chain organizations' experience with IT risks and the steps organizations are taking to identify, quantify and manage these challenges.

Supply chain visibility is a requirement for any organization competing in today's global marketplace. The top strategy for organizations looking to improve visibility into their supply chains is to implement technologies that enable effective monitoring of not just tier one suppliers but tier two and tier three suppliers. New technologies enable real-time collaboration between an organization and its suppliers by providing a mechanism for sharing information about inventory and processes throughout the supply chain. – Andrea Stroud, Research Program Manager, APQC

Analyst Insight: Tracking supply chain metrics can help organizations identify opportunities for quality and performance improvement. However, identification is half the battle; organizations must adopt practices that can lead to improvement. One of these practices is the development of close relationships with key suppliers and service providers. Through these relationships, organizations can realize improvements in both performance and quality. - Becky Partida, Research Specialist, APQC

Analyst Insight: APQC's research indicates that organizations need to prepare for the future in terms of supply chain talent. New supply chain hires are often only somewhat prepared for the jobs they will be doing, and although most organizations recognize the need for talent management programs directed at supply chain staff, many have not created such programs. What does this mean for organizations that have large numbers of employees on the brink of retirement? - Andrea Stroud, Research Program Manager, APQC

Many large, global organizations are concerned about the risk of serious physical disruption of their supply chains due to high-impact natural disasters, extreme weather or political turmoil. Over the past two years supplier risk has been receiving more attention from organizations as natural disasters, and their effects on global supply chains, have had wide media exposure.

Analyst Insight: The decision to initiate or continue global sourcing is not a simple one to make. Organizations have many factors to consider, both external and internal, and those factors can change. Organizations must revisit their sourcing strategy often to ensure that they are maintaining the best value. - Becky Partida, knowledge specialist, APQC