Strategic Supply Management

Finally someone has put it all together… the reasons, the principles and the roadmap for establishing supply management as a sustainable source of competitive advantage. Dr. Trent accomplishes this by delivering chapter after chapter of practical advice and examples. This book is a complete “how to” guide on developing a successful supply management organization and process. If you’re interested in a clear framework for moving beyond purchasing to effective supply management, this book is for you.”

—Elliot Grover, Vice President, Procurement, Mars Snack US 


About the Item:


This book presents a roadmap and understanding of what it really means to practice strategic supply management. No longer a transactional activity, supply management is about creating and sustaining new sources of competitive advantage. Dr. Trent articulates how to create a supply management organization that you can count on to deliver reliable sources of supply and, eventually, competitive advantage. He purposely presents a holistic approach that focuses on breadth rather than depth so that readers can see how the different elements that comprise strategic supply management come together to create a hard-to-duplicate source of competitive advantage. Strategic Supply Management presents, in a concise manner, the need for supply leadership, the organizational enablers that must be in place, and the strategies and approaches that leading organizations pursue to achieve advantages in price and cost, quality, cycle time, technology, flexibility, and end customer responsiveness. 






Key Features:



--Summarizes what a leading supply management organization looks like today, completely defines strategic supply management, and provides a clear understanding of the leadership required to achieve a set of demanding supply objectives
--Explains the four critical enablers underlying strategic supply management—organizational design, measurement, information technology, and human resources—which are prerequisites to the pursuit of more sophisticated supply management activities
--Discusses how to develop supply strategies and presents the leading-edge supply approaches and strategies that can lead to sustained competitive advantage
--Presents information about specific concepts, processes, best practices, tools, and real company examples in each chapter and includes end-of-chapter questions to help facilitate discussion and learning








About the Author:



Robert J. Trent, Ph.D., is the supply chain management program director and the Eugene Mercy associate professor of management at Lehigh University, where he teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Trent gained his practical experience in operations management, purchasing, distribution planning, production scheduling, and package engineering at the Chrysler Corporation. He holds a B.S. degree in materials logistics management from Michigan State University, an M.B.A. degree from Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in purchasing/operations management from Michigan State University. 


He has been published extensively in numerous magazines and journals such as Supply Chain Management Review, Inside Supply Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, Sloan Management Review, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Supply Chain Forum and Managing Information Strategies and his research is often published by the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS).