Our enterprises are under a lot of pressure to comply with Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) mandates. Political leaders & activists have demanded that firms pursue sustainability of resources, climate change mitigation, cultural & social diversity, and ethical & legal responsibilities in our workplaces & professional relationships. So-called pundits (people who call themselves experts orContinue reading “ESG is an Enemy of Productivity”
Tag Archives: enterprise
What is Your Supply Chain Doctrine?
In our modern world of the 21st century, supply chains are the lifeblood of enterprises. We rely on the procurement, manufacture, and logistics for the supply of essential products & execution of services. Supply chains, given their breadths & complexities, are not easy to manage. We who work in them know that supply chains spanContinue reading “What is Your Supply Chain Doctrine?”
How Realistic is a Supply Chain Vision?
Many entrepreneurs have invented all kinds of applications for a variety of uses. We have apps to help in our finances, make music, learn new languages, find places we’ve never visited, make reservations, book rides, and buy tickets. The one app we (still) don’t have is the one that makes & delivers products. I wouldn’tContinue reading “How Realistic is a Supply Chain Vision?”
Five Characteristics of Supply Chains
Supply chains had become popular in the 2020’s, thanks greatly to the era of the coronavirus pandemic when our world experienced major economic disruptions in transportation, production, and deliveries. Because of aggravations such as missed deliveries, shortages, and overstocked inventories, we pledged we’d do better in managing our supply chains. But we hadn’t done muchContinue reading “Five Characteristics of Supply Chains”
The Need to Conform Before We Can Sell
There used to be a time when we made things, and they’d sell. Artists would draw their paintings or sculpt their masterpieces, display them, and people would walk up to buy them. Artisans would produce their wares (e.g. potteries, garments, trinkets), place them in front of their houses, and customers would purchase them outright. Continue reading “The Need to Conform Before We Can Sell”
A Primer on the Process of Order Creation & Fulfilment
The process of customer order creation and fulfilment is a core task of many enterprises. An order creation & fulfilment process in a business-to-business (B2B) relationship typically consists of the following steps: Enterprises who sell directly to end-users, that is business-to-consumer (B2C, e.g., supermarkets, e-commerce, restaurants) typically have a simpler process: Enterprises who offer services,Continue reading “A Primer on the Process of Order Creation & Fulfilment”
What Problems Will AI Solve?
The debut of artificial intelligence (AI) applications like ChatGPT in late 2022 ignited viral media firestorms around the world. AI is no longer science fiction. It is here. It has arrived. It is on our fingertips, demonstrating its power and ready for our use. With AI apps like ChatGPT, we can use our devices (i.e.,Continue reading “What Problems Will AI Solve?”
The Science Behind Management & Why We Need Engineering
In March of 1911, Frederick Winslow Taylor’s The Principles of Scientific Management debuted to the public. It was the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States of America. Corporations were mass producing items and many Americans were employed in factories. Mr. Taylor’s Principles couldn’t have come at a better time as when itContinue reading “The Science Behind Management & Why We Need Engineering”
We Need Engineers to Solve Supply Chain Problems, Not Managers
We encounter lots of problems with supply chains. But how serious are these problems? How do we as managers prioritise which problems we will put most of our time and resources into? When the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020, governments immediately restricted the movements of people and merchandise. Continue reading “We Need Engineers to Solve Supply Chain Problems, Not Managers”
Value Chains, Supply Chains, & Our Wrong Mindsets
Michael Porter introduced the Value Chain model in his seminal book, Competitive Advantage,1 in 1985. The value chain broke down activities of the firm (the enterprise) and how they collectively contribute to the value of products & services. How well activities perform and interrelate would manifest in the margins, which are the difference between valueContinue reading “Value Chains, Supply Chains, & Our Wrong Mindsets”
Ellery's Essays 