Gartner study highlights disparity between supply chain leaders and staff

Over a third of supply chain executive think they are leading change, says Gartner.

A recent Gartner study found that executives and employees have very different perceptions of their company’s capability in adapting to change. The survey stated that 36 percent of supply chain executives believe they are ready for the challenge, but only 13 percent of employees agree.

Gartner says that supply chain leaders must mobilise workforces to change business models, technologies, processes, and capabilities, and fully understand how their employees engage and support change in order to implement that change. Employees allegedly wish to be more closely connected with the purposes of change and to understand how it affects them.

Ken Chadwick, Research Director at Gartner, said: “To adapt and response on the fly to challenges their organisation faces, supply chain leaders must develop the organisation’s change capabilities. Being ‘change agile’, having the ability to design and adopt new ideas and changes quickly and completely should be the goal of supply chain leaders in the digital era.

“For the most effective change management strategy, communication is of paramount importance. Supply chain leaders need to create a communications plan that articulates the importance of working together towards a well-defined vision, and tailors messages and engagement methods to different audiences in order to successfully embrace new ways of working.”

“Supply chain leaders need to engage a team in a post-day-one folly up on system issues and training in order to keep employees moving to new business practices.”

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