Survey highlights impact of Covid on supply chain staff culture

A new Korn Ferry survey of supply chain leaders identifies key changes in the function and the skills and experiences needed to succeed in this new environment.

Disruptions that coincided with the surging Covid pandemic resulted in a significant impact on culture within the supply chain function. Nearly half (41%) of survey respondents say there now is an increased focus on agility, 34% say the focus on resilience has increased and 32% say there is an increased focus on collaboration.

“Traditional sales and operations planning is moving from a monthly, rigid cycle to a ‘plan, adjust and re-plan’ business process,” said Neil Collins, Korn Ferry Global Industrial Markets Practice Leader, North America. “Data intensity and decision-making ambiguity is driving the need for vastly different executives and operating models in supply chain, and expectations from senior executives are demanding more innovation and creativity.”

More than 230 supply chain leaders responded to the late 2022 survey, which touched upon several supply chain topics as well as general supply chain leadership needs. This survey data was then enhanced with interviews, research, and Korn Ferry data to produce the study.

The majority of respondents (57%) say they are having difficulty finding candidates with end-to-end supply chain knowledge, which they say is a top experience needed.

Fewer than half of respondents (41%) say they look for future supply chain leaders internally within supply chain functions. However, nearly two-thirds (62%) say they look for future supply chain leaders internally across the organization, pulling more enterprise-wide knowledge into the supply chain space.

“The pandemic put challenges that were already in the function into a pressure cooker, accelerating the need for change,” said Korn Ferry Senior Client Partner Melissa Hadhazy. “Now there’s a requirement for a network, enterprise-wide model instead of a siloed approach. Boards and executives need to decide where they should focus their budget and efforts to create an effective, sustainable supply chain culture.”

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