In supply chain education, don't overlook the elementary

When it comes to education, I am a fan of what I like to call “have-to-knows.” These are the fundamental terms and concepts relevant to any subject. For example, when my kids were in elementary school, we used flash cards and other drills to make the words and definitions second nature. (Sorry if I invoked some PTSD with my use of the word flashcard!) When I teach subjects like operations management and marketing that have a language all of their own, I spend a lot of time drilling in these terms and linking them contextually to cases from the book or actual business scenarios. This process has worked for me over the years and I enjoy it when the proverbial light goes off…or when we nailed a hundred on the spelling test.So this was the thinking I had when I was meeting recently with a supply chain conference organizer who wanted my input on a series of tracks for an upcoming conference. He typically provides three sessions in individual tracks; introductory, intermediate, and advanced. One of these tracks concerned cost management and spend analysis. I mentioned that the introductory session be around the economics of the supply chain; microeconomic and macroeconomic issues that impact our businesses. I mentioned the relatively simple concepts of supply and demand and how that impacts almost every cost /price model we have.

The conference organizer felt that this subject might not cause the “buzz” he was looking for. I called it a “have-to-know.”

We agreed to keep chatting…but between you and me, I’m not encouraged.