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Advancing Women
Across a Changing
Supply Chain Landscape
BIG INTERVIE
Sapna Alva Tariyal
P, Head of Sourcing

EXCLUSIVE
NEWS
Breaching Yet Another Male Bastion: Challenges and Opportunities for Women Leaders in SCM
 CONTENTS
NEWS UPDATES
10 Tesla Co-founder and CTO JB Straubel
stepping down after 16 yrs
COVER STORY - Flex Expands Operations in India with
New Manufacturing Facility in Tamil Nadu

04 - Lockheed Martin signs MoUs with three

Indian startups
- Swiggy to launch its own logistics service
Swiggy Go
- Mumbai robotics startup Emotix raises
19 Crore led by Chiratae Ventures
- Samsung may develop foldable AR
Advancing Women Across a Changing glasses
Supply Chain Landscape
Ruchita Mishra
Head of Procurement & Contracts
Inorbit Malls (India) Pvt Ltd

BIG INTERVIEW

14 19
Women In Procurement - Advent of Industry 4.0 &
Redefining Procurement & the Digital Transformation
Negotiations in Supply Chain
Sapna Alva Tariyal, VP, Head Naveen Kumar CS
of Sourcing Head Supply Chain & Logistics

FEATURE
21 Supply Chain and Logistics Industry : Gender Gap
Dr. Aneeta Madhok
Managing Director, Open Spaces Consulting (P) Limited

26 Women leaders in Supply Chain: A Competitive Differentiator

Kumar Singh, Senior Data Science Consultant-Supply Chain & Operations
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

30 Empowerment of Women in SCM

Shyamaprasad De
Head Of Supply Chain Management, Sheenlac Paints Limited
EXECUTIVE FOCUS
36 Why We Need More Women in Tech and MERGER & ACQUISITION
Blockchain?
Kunal Karani
CEO, Turing Labs

38 Women in Supply Chain: How Far Have We

Come?
Manpreet Kaur
Founder & CEO
Vivantaa Capital
48 Colgate Makes Its Largest Acquisition in
PARADIGM SHIFT Over 20 Years
40 Breaching Yet Another Male Bastion:
Challenges and Opportunities for Women - DoT to Challenge Merger of Tata Teleservices -
Leaders in SCM Bharti Airtel in the SC
- Govt Approves Merger of NIMH with
ICMR-NIOH
- L&T Infotech to Buy AI Firm Lymbyc in 5th
Acquisition since IPO
- Ultratech to Complete Century Cement Merger
by September: Kumar Mangalam Birla
- Reliance Brands Completes Acquisition of
Hamleys

TOP 10
51 Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2019
Dr. Jones Mathew
Professor CASE STUDY
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

42 Women Leaders in Supply Chain

Management: Recruitment, Retention and
Advancement

56 Chipotle's Supply Chain Difficulties

Sunil Bharadwaj
Deputy General Manager - Strategy & SC
Raymond Limited
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Razum Rajan
ADVISOR
Sandeep V Dandekar
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Simran Verma
EDITORIAL BOARD
Manya Singhania
Priyanka Ghosh
Tanushri Debnath
MANAGER – CONTENT
Sejal Gupta
EVENTS &
ADVERTISEMENTS
Abhishek Saini
MANAGER SALES
Shriya Fathwani
DIGITAL LAYOUT &
FORMAT
Puneet Dochania
Rasum Rajan
PUBLISHED AT
CPO Innovation
A-26, Block A, Sector 03,
Noida- 201301
U P, India
NOTE TO READERS
The views expressed in
articles are those of the
authors and do not reflect
the views of CPO
Innovation.
Although all efforts have
been made to ensure the
accuracy of the content,
neither the editors nor the
publisher can take
responsibility for the
consequences arising from
errors or omissions in the
information provided.
Reproduction in any
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permission from the
publisher is prohibited.
’
E
mpathy is the currency of change. And empathy as a two-way street is
beautiful!
In this issue of CPO Innovation Magazine, let us all look 30 years back, when
we were students studying in our respective schools, back then female
leaders for our respective classes was not an abnormal story and all of us
would agree for the class to have had better overall discipline and impression
when under a girl's leadership than when managed by their male
counterparts. A girl was chosen as the class representative 7 in 10 times out
of beliefs that girls assume their duties more responsibly and are more
disciplined and hardworking than their male counterparts. A clear case of
empathy and trust in the ability of a girl (child).
A clear downward shift in trust is evident as we look at women's ability to
participate equally in existing markets; their access to and control over
productive resources and access to leadership roles at global corporations.
It concerns me in that we can actually count how many Fortune 500
companies have women leadership.
According to multiple analyses by Deloitte, as complexity throughout the
supply chain grows, technology and data drive greater value, and as the skills
gap widens, companies need new, more diverse talent. As the function has
changed and evolved, so have the requirements of those working in the
space. It's important now more than ever that procurement executives have a
broad business acumen, both from an empathy and skill perspective.
For the Big Interview this time, we have Sapna Alva Tariyal,
VP, Head of Sourcing at Societe Generale Global Solution
Centre, who shares her experiences and an inspirational
journey from starting into the hospitality industry, to
joining the Indian Armed forces and finally nurturing a
career in Procurement.
CPO Innovation Magazine - August issue aims to give a
voice to women in procurement and offers inspirational
and innovative content, while enabling women
executives to come forward energized, inspired and
motivated in their roles. Learn how your
organization can diversify talent and support
women in procurement to drive performance
and profitability.
Happy Reading!
Razum Rajan
EDITOR-IN- CHIEF
COVER STORY

ADVANCING WOMEN
ACROSS A CHANGING
SUPPLY CHAIN LANDSCAPE

I
n today's competitive world, it completely makes sense
for women to advance into senior leadership roles to
fuel male-dominated professions like that of supply
chain. This helps to reduce existing talent gap with
improved business performance. And while we all
continue to debate about women in SCM, last decade
remarkable progress has been made on this. But the equal
truth is, yet more is yet to be done.

04
While Supply Chain continues to become one of the critical aspects of organization's strategy & business
transformation, a key to closing the gap is recognizing and unleashing the untapped potential of women in
today's supply chain. But, it's not just women as management trainees, in the trenches at the line or
supervisory level, but also the untapped potential of women in senior leadership roles.

Over the past decade in India, the focus on women's leadership has shifted dramatically. Discussions are
no longer about fairness, diversity ratio and equity, but are rather about contribution women leaders can
and do make to the operating and financial performance of a company. By bringing new perspectives
about customer preferences, enhancing innovation and building an inclusive environment to attract and
retain talent, women leaders make a significant contribution to the competitiveness and success of a
company.

The impact on business results comes from several key factors. First, women leaders must play an
important role in understanding and addressing customer needs. Let's considers an example here – when
it comes to consumer markets, while 50% of population as overall are women and in our day to day life,
around 70% to 80% of decisions of consumer products are taken by women. Isn't it quite logical having
women in leadership who reflect us of these markets served much better in creating customer value &
stimulate overall business growth? Similar trends apply to other industries like retail, hospitality, travel,
etc. Whether a company operates in B2C or B2B environment or handles complex negotiations, women
leaders in supply chain can play an important role in understanding customer perspectives and
strengthening customer relationships & getting right cost resulting in overall marginal increase.

05
Few things that completely stand out & make more women apt for an evolving role in procurement
& supply chain are like multitasking, collaborations, leveraging stakeholders management, etc. As
per research on brain science, for men, it seems processing information front to back, while
women's neutral flows cross back and forth from one hemisphere to the other. The cognitive
implications of this are that men are generally better equipped to learn and execute single tasks
while women tend to excel at multitasking. Now that's about science. We all know supply chain, as
a fundamentally cross-functional role is all about multi-tasking. The balancing of customer needs,
dealing with multiple vendors with cost pressures necessarily means doing many things at once,
all equally important.

When it comes to collaborative approach, it is hard to argue with the premise that women are more
comfortable and effective working collaboratively. Another competency that makes more women
capable of taking evolving & challenging roles in SCM - “Leadership” as the most important skill for
supply chain executives five years from now. The second most important is “communication and
influence.” Women may have an undoubted edge here.

Earlier the gap was also while choosing technical field as part of education, but with evolving times
one can see lots of young women choosing technical field like Mechanical Engineering to be part of
core industries. Being from technical field doesn't hold them back at entry-level anymore.

Women tend to bring right mix of communication and collaboration skills required for cross-
functional and inter-firm integration. Then why industry's track record of recruiting, developing,
retaining and advancing women is still not great?

Shortage of women in senior leadership positions means there are few role models for young
women to look up to when considering a career in supply chain. There is also a clear link between
an organization's demonstrated value for diversity and the ability to recruit and retain diverse
candidates. Evidences are clear, diversity at only entry or mid-level will not help any more, it has to
be across all the levels in an organization including senior leadership roles.

While much progress has been made to eliminate overtly discriminatory work practices, it is clear
that institutional barriers still exist in most companies today. Long-held policies, practices,
cultures, societies and behaviors continue to give the advantages to men that enable them to
advance at a rate greater than women. Many of these impediments are unconscious biases - but
biases nonetheless.

A culture that values diversity and inclusion, where leaders are willing to confront and eliminate
unconscious biases and insist that others do the same, is essential in order to achieve gender
equity. As per a survey, what's holding women back from top jobs is not as much about a lack of
capability or the desire to advance, but that, there is still often a double standard: a requirement
that women have to do more to prove themselves than men. Female managers also miss out on
development opportunities because they are not recognized for their accomplishments or not
offered a development opportunity as a result of unconscious bias on the part of decision-makers.

For example, decisions about career opportunities may still be influenced by the perception that a
female leader with a family will not be willing to relocate, let alone take on a global assignment.
Women also still have difficulty making their voices heard in meetings and find themselves being
interrupted or their ideas usurped or ignored, thus their capabilities or potential as a leader may not
be recognized. We also know that while men may be applauded for being strong leaders, strong
women leaders still carry the stereotypes of being bossy or not very likable when they exhibit the
same behaviors. While exclusion from informal network & maintaining work-life balance with dual
responsibility continues to be a struggle but with evolving mindset, a lot can be achieved.

06
 Nobody ever reduced inventory without
having a goal and a plan - why would
people-related initiatives be any different?
The only way ambitious future scenarios
come to pass is with formal goals in
recruiting approaches and targets on
management scorecards, planned pipelines
& leadership program that support those
goals.

Second, institutional changes that create a culture of diversity and inclusion and also eliminate
unconscious biases, must be embraced. Third, policies and practices that are obstacles to the
development and advancement of diverse talent must be eliminated or changed.

If we grow the representation of female VPs within supply chain by double digits, it would represent
meaningful progress and likely result in acceleration toward diversity goals. As more women rise to senior
leadership positions, they can be important role models and leaders of change.

However, real change and real progress will only occur if senior leaders, both men and women address the
problem as they would address any other critical business issue - by making it a priority, setting targets
and holding leaders accountable for results.

Ruchita Mishra
Head of Procurement & Contracts
Inorbit Malls (India) Pvt Ltd

07
The CGNE™ Certification
September 19-20, 2019
Novotel Juhu Beach, Mumbai

N
egotiation research shows that the biggest factor is your ability to influence – your ability to
negotiate. Have you mastered the art and science of influencing? Are you a Master Negotiator?

To enhance your negotiation ability to the next level, Competitors View comes up with a unique
certification course named, CGNE™ - Certified Global Negotiation Executive™ which is designed to help
senior executives become successful negotiators, deal with difficult people and hard bargainers,
structure deals, and manage conflict productively. Certified Global Negotiation Executive™ distils
cutting-edge research and real-world (Indian) examples into two days of targeted executive education
negotiation training.

At CGNE™, attendees will test their beliefs and assumptions, overcome

emotional and rational biases, examine complex negotiation scenarios, and
discover a range of competitive and cooperative, integrative negotiation
strategies. They will build on their accumulated knowledge to generate
descriptive insights for negotiating across a variety of competitive contexts.
They will learn what tools work best for managers who need to shape
agreements and informal understandings within a complex web of
relationships. CGNE™ attendees will discover strategies for anticipating and
responding to an array of complicating factors — from multiple parties and
value differences. The relevant case studies will help them in applying
negotiation theory to real-world situations.

The CGNE™ certification course will be a 2 day program from September 19th to 20th of this year in
Mumbai.

The main highlight of this certification program is its instructor. This course will be facilitated by the one
who has been hailed as “The Godfather of Negotiation Planning”, Mr Omid Ghamami. Mr Ghamami is
CEO & Chairman of the Board at The Center For Purchasing & Supply Chain Management Excellence, the
world's most powerful and prestigious purchasing and supply chain management certification institute.

Since 1995, he has taught thousands of hours of courses, workshops, and seminars in 21 different
countries on topics related to the entire spectrum of purchasing, supply chain management, purchasing
contract law, negotiations, and supplier management. He has trained all 50 Chief Purchasing Officers of
the United States, been published in global journals including Fortune Magazine, published bestselling
purchasing and negotiation books, has presented by request to Harvard University's Supply Chain
Management program many times, and has worked with over 50% of the Fortune 100.

With the CGNE™ certification, attendees will achieve better outcomes by gaining the negotiation
strategies they need to negotiate in uncertain environments, deal with difficult people, and manage
conflict. They will explore a specific aspect of negotiation such as leveraging the power of emotion. This
course will help them to recognize the most common manipulative negotiation tactics used by difficult
people —and ways to neutralize their effects.
08
 ™

Book your seat in order to pursue the

world's most advanced, flexible and
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senior executives – the Harvard University
Approach and become a CGNE™ and take
your organization to the pinnacle through
world class negotiation excellence.

For more information contact

Shriya Fathwani
Manager - Corporate Sales
shriya.fathwani@competitorsview.com
+91 0120 429 4378

www.competitorsview.com
09
 NEWS UPDATES

News
Updates

Tesla Co-founder and CTO JB Straubel stepping down

after 16 years

Tesla has announced its Co-founder and Chief Technology

Officer (CTO) JB Straubel is stepping down from his role after
nearly 16 years. The automaker's Technology VP, Drew Baglino,
will take over the role of CTO. "I want to thank JB for his
fundamental role...If we hadn't had lunch in 2003, Tesla wouldn't
exist," said Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk.

More than a decade ago, when the company had only produced
27 vehicles, JB Straubel was talking about building a $20 - $30,000 electric car, and Tesla has come
considerably closer to doing just that. He wanted to make sure people knew this wasn't some lack of
confidence in the company or the team or anything like that. Elon Musk announced that former VP of
technology Drew Baglino will take over JB Straubel's duties.

Flex Expands Operations in India with New Manufacturing Facility in Tamil Nadu

Flex announced the opening of its new

manufacturing facility, Flex Chennai Industrial
Park 3, located in Walajabad, Tamil Nadu,
India. This facility was officially inaugurated
by Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, IT Secretary,
Government of India. Spanning 159,000
square feet, this facility will further expand
Flex's manufacturing operations in India.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the inauguration of

our latest manufacturing facility in India that
offers one-stop solutions ranging from engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics services
to increase our customer's competitiveness and decrease time to market. This further reiterates our
continued commitment towards the Government of India's 'Make in India' vision and entrenches India's
position as an important manufacturing base for Flex,” said Richard Hopkins, senior vice president of
operations at Flex.

Apart from Flex Chennai Industrial Park 3, Flex has 10 other facilities in India totaling more than 1 million
square feet providing world-class manufacturing, after-market services and global business services.

10
Lockheed Martin signs MoUs with three Indian startups

US-based Lockheed Martin signed MoUs

with Terero Mobility, Sastra Robotics, and
NoPo Nanotechnologies to integrate with its
supply chain and boost India's aerospace and
defense industry. They will integrate with
Lockheed Martin's supply chain, and
contribute to the evolution of both the Indian
and global aerospace and defense industry.
The startups were identified through the
India Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP).

“The agreements attest to the commitment of Lockheed Martin to cultivate and integrate indigenous
content into global systems and platforms. Through these agreements, we look to provide engineering
support, mentoring, and assistance in the qualification of some of the technologies proposed, all of
which contribute to our mission of making in India,” said Vivek Lall, VP – Strategy & Business
Development, Lockheed Martin.

Founded by IIT Madras alumni, Terero Mobility is a spin-off from a Lockheed Martin-sponsored R&D
project. NoPo Nanotechnologies is a Bengaluru-based startup working with a vision to enable humanity
to be a spacefaring species. The company provides custom engineering solutions to improve safety,
reliability and performance of materials using carbon nanotubes. Kochi-based Sastra Robotics
focusses on manufacturing intelligent robotic platforms for industrial product testing automation.

“We are delighted to have identified, through the IIGP, three inspiring startups that we perceive potential
to collaborate with on a global scale. We envision our intended partnership with them to enhance the
platforms and programs we're developing, especially the solutions we wish to offer India,” said Phil
Shaw, CEO of Lockheed Martin.

Swiggy to launch its own logistics service Swiggy Go

Bengaluru-based Swiggy is launching its own

logistics service Swiggy Go, focussed on
moving parcels like documents and
performing several other errands. Swiggy
already has Swiggy Store to deliver groceries
and other daily or momentary essentials.
Swiggy Go will be launched in Bengaluru after
completing the pilot in Gurugram.

While Swiggy Go would initially focus on

moving C2C (consumer to consumer) parcels,
it would also foray into ferrying B2B
consignments inside a particular city. Swiggy
Go will be taking Dunzo head-on with this new
vertical. The multi-billion USD valued firm
already impacting Dunzo volume through Stores in Gurugram. As of now, Swiggy Store is only
operational in Gurugram.

11
Mumbai robotics startup Emotix raises 19 Crore led by Chiratae Ventures

Mumbai-based robotics startup Emotix has

raised 19 crore in a seed round of funding led by
Chiratae Ventures, as per regulatory filings. The
funding saw participation from YourNest
Venture Capital and Technology Venture Fund.
Founded in 2015 by IIT-Bombay alumni Chintan
Raikar, Prashant Iyengar and Sneh Vaswani,
Emotix had raised 13.7 crore in a pre-Series A
round.

Currently, Emotix deals in two products – Miko

1.0 and Miko 2.0. priced at Rs 19,000, Miko 1.0
can be paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth
and provide three hours' worth of conversations or about 1.2 hours of movements on one charge. While
Miko 2.0 is slightly costlier at Rs 25,000 with a slew of new features like face recognition, mood
identification and has the ability to start a conversation with children in addition to the improved battery
life, better display, and sound quality as well.

Samsung may develop foldable AR glasses

Samsung is exploring the possibility of developing augmented reality glasses. The South Korean
technology giant has filed a patent for foldable
Augmented Reality (AR) glasses with thick frames to
accommodate its electronic components. The current
design, as explained by Samsung, is an eyepiece that
automatically switches on whenever it's unfolded.
Samsung is planning to use magnetic sensors to restrict
the glasses from being folded unintentionally.

Since it's just a patent application that may never come to

fruition, Samsung didn't discuss what specific
components it intends to use. It gave ARM-based
processors as an example of the kind it might use,
however, if the company ever decides to push through
with the device's development.

12
13
Sapna Alva Tariyal
VP, Head of Sourcing

Women In Procurement-
Redefining Procurement
& Negotiations
14
 BIG INTERVIEW

Featured
Interview
In this big interview with CPO Innovation, Sapna Alva Tariyal, VP, Head of Sourcing at Societe Generale
Global Solution Centre shares her experiences and an inspirational journey from starting into the
hospitality industry, to joining the Indian Armed forces and finally nurturing a career in Procurement.

Q: Tell us a bit about your career path. How did you get into sourcing & procurement? Was it purposeful or
by accident?

I was never one of those who knew or could answer anyone who asked me where I wanted to be in 5 years'
time. All I knew was that I would always choose a career that I am passionate about and enjoy doing.

I started my career in the hospitality industry and worked for the International Sales team at Taj Group in
Mumbai, post which I followed my dream to wear the most prestigious uniform and joined the Indian
Armed forces. This meant a huge cut in salary and leaving a comfortable life in a metro city. Never once
did I regret this decision to serve the nation and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I strongly believe in embracing every phase of one's life differently! When being with family was priority, I
chose to get back to the corporate world, with no clue about what Procurement or Sourcing meant and I
landed up in choosing this as my career. And Yes! Very much accidentally! An ex-army officer whom I
consider as my mentor today, introduced me to this field explaining how closely correlated it was to one of
the key functions during my life in the Army. I owe my career in Procurement to him and ever since I have
thoroughly enjoyed my journey!

Q: What has been the single most significant development to impact your profession during your career
and why?

I believe having the right attitude and constantly willing to learn is the most important trait that has helped
me in my career development.

It is absolutely alright to accept the fact that one does not need to have all the answers and the attitude
and willingness to learn from anyone is key (irrespective of their level in the organization).

I have always believed in Teamwork and in the spirit of the quote “Alone we can do so little and together we
can do so much”. Developing a dependable team at every phase of my career has been extremely
significant in my success.

Q: Why are there so few women in senior procurement positions?

I guess they did not encounter the same accidents. Jokes apart, I feel, this is a career that not many are
aware of and we do not really have professional courses specifically for a career in Procurement. I hope
the CPO platform will play a role in reaching more discerning professionals who would like to consider this
career.
15
Q: Share your views on diversity in the procurement and supply chain space?

Honestly speaking, while our profession may have diversity with respect to people from different cultural,
ethnic backgrounds with varied levels of experience, I think diversity in terms of disability, orientation and
gender for sure requires some focus. Though I have seen some women in the space, the ratio is very
lopsided.

Q: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement career-wise?

Post my Army career, shifting back to the corporate world, threw up several challenges.

Personally, for me having the opportunity to work with different cultures and building partnerships
globally has also been a significant part of my career. I was fortunate to work with some of the most
prestigious organizations.

I was extremely fortunate to have set up the Sourcing/Procurement teams in India and been instrumental
in implementing Vendor Management and Governance into the domain. I also had the opportunity to bring
innovation in the form of digitalizing various processes within the function.

Q: Can you tell us how you feel Societe Generale Global Solution Centre work culture has helped you
through your career as a women leader in procurement, where women representation generally is so
limited? Any tips for other companies to promote diversity?

At Society Generale, we believe that Diversity and Inclusion is not only a set of best practices, but a trained
and inclusive mindset of viewing every person as a unique individual and celebrating the differences
irrespective of culture, race, disability, orientation, nationality, gender, religion and so on. A 150+ years old
organization, for us diversity and inclusion is about empowerment, enablement and focus on merit-based
on an individual's ability and the differences. These differences are what make us a thriving fraternity that
focuses on functioning differently together. With over 44% women employees worldwide and a high
representation of women on the group's board, the organization is culturally inclusive. Several women
leaders spearhead additional responsibilities, such as PWD, Pride & Allies, while I head the Gender
Diversity initiative.

I think it is important that organizations realize the importance of an inclusive and diverse work culture
and this is something I strongly believe needs to be driven from the top so that it truly becomes a part of
the organizations' DNA.

Q: What's your biggest (as yet) unfulfilled ambition and what are you doing in order to achieve it?

I have always believed in being passionate about what I do and have followed this rule right from the
beginning of my career. This is exactly what keeps me motivated and helps me enjoy what I do.

Besides procurement which always has something new and challenging, I am genuinely interested in the
topic of Diversity & Inclusion. While I have started contributing to this agenda, I hope that at some point in
time this topic does not remain a concern for any organization. Though this may sound ambitious, at this
point, I do hope this becomes a reality.

16
Q: Apart from heading the sourcing department at Societe Generale Global Solution Centre, you have
also served the Indian Army for 6 long years. Please share your experience as a Captain in Indian Army
and what's the one thing Indian Army has taught you in order to make your life meaningful both personally
and professionally. How has it helped you professionally in this profession?

It will be extremely difficult to point out any one thing! The Army is an organization that I believe teaches
one so many life lessons that help you both professionally and personally. Some of the crucial ones
include resiliency, crisis management, accepting and learning to enjoy change, believing that one can
face any challenge and most importantly building relationships. All these have definitely helped me in
different stages of my career both professionally and personally.

The training that one goes through is a test of both physical and mental endurance. This is the beginning
of a journey that taught me that mental strength is the most important aspect of winning any of life's
battle.

Q: What can women who are into sourcing and procurement do to support each other and how can these
industries attract more women to the field?

Women in sourcing and procurement need to create more awareness about our field. Women should
showcase their talent, generously share experiences and learnings and be brand ambassadors so that
younger women are made aware of our lesser-known field. It is important that women in procurement
network help in grooming the younger generation.

Women help bring diversity in the field and a good balance would always help any organization in meeting
the sourcing and procurement objectives.

Q: How can companies provide sufficient inspiration for leaders to start-up initiatives aimed at getting
the principle of equal opportunities for women in the procurement sector?

There are a couple of initiatives that organizations can take, not only for women in procurement but
generally to improve the gender diversity ratio. Some of them could be:

Ÿ Ensuring that at least one women candidate is interviewed as part of the hiring process.
Ÿ Having women as part of the hiring team.
Ÿ Promoting and encouraging women who want to return to the workforce after a career break.
Ÿ Having specific programs for women on maternity leave.
Ÿ Sensitizing men and making them aware of the importance of gender diversity so that they can be
promoters of this agenda within the organization.

Q: What piece of advice you want to give to young women, especially to women in India, starting their
careers in the field of sourcing and procurement?

If one is looking for a career that is challenging, exciting and has an opportunity for continuous learning, I
would encourage women to seriously consider a career in Sourcing and Procurement.

It is a career which gives you great exposure in terms of understanding different business lines within the
organization, enhances your negotiation skills, gives you a good understanding of legal and commercial
terms of third party engagements and provides an opportunity to interact with various stakeholders
within and outside the organization.

And as they say, women are born negotiators, so definitely a career to consider.

17
Q: Finally, what according to you should be an ideal approach by current women leaders in the country to
enhance and expand opportunities to make way for aspiring future women leaders?

I believe in the “Power of a pack” and women who support other women are always more successful. I
think sharing one's experiences, mentoring younger women and being approachable is extremely
important.

Women alone may have the power but collectively they can create impact. Raising each other up and
channelizing the power of collaboration would expand opportunities for future women leaders.

Women leaders who are looking for significant opportunities should see the world through a lens of
opportunity. They need to question the status quo and motivate themselves to express more freely.

Last but not the least, women most often have multiple commitments with the various roles they play and
hence it is important to make time to network.

18
 BIG INTERVIEW

Featured Interview
Advent of Industry 4.0 & the Digital
Transformation in Supply Chain

Naveen Kumar CS
Head Supply Chain & Logistics

I
n a conversation with Naveen Kumar CS, Head Supply Chain and Logistics with Alstom Transport
India Limited, at the 4th annual of CPSCM™ Certification - Batch 2019 at the Marriott, Hebbal,
Bengaluru, India (July 01 - July 04, 2019), he talks about role of emerging technologies in supply
chain and procurement and how these technologies are bringing transformation in entire SCM domain.

Q: I want to dive-in directly towards the changes happening in supply chain, can you advise with the
advent of technology, what have you changed in your approach being a supply chain practitioner?

The advent of technology is keeping us on our toes in terms of being ready for the next big thing to
happen. We have moved from reactive planning and actions to proactive anticipation, forecasting,
consolidation of requirements, etc.

Q: What in real terms has changed due to advancing technology and shifting expectations?

In real terms, all those things we have done have changed. In olden days, we used to ship some materials
and keep waiting till its arrival. Now, we have a complete tracking system; customers are impatient, first,
they take days and weeks and even months to conclude a contract and the moment contract is frozen the
deliveries are expected immediately, which only the advancing technologies can support. All this pushes
into effective forecasting using new tools available with the help of technology.

Q: Giving procurement amazon like experience, like adding shopping carts and portal
transactions, how do you think this digitization has impacted cycle time and traditional negotiations?

One of the main reasons all e-tailers like Amazon are successful because of effective supply chain
mechanism they have. This also enables small-time business houses to establish themselves better and
distribute their products around the globe. The advancing technology also pushes to innovate
continuously and look at optimization along with improvising every action that we do.
19
Q: Procurement will never be viewed as a centre for profit until procurement leaders themselves drive
this shift and crown themselves as a value-added department. Can you comment on what is needed
from CPOs to bring this shift?

In my views, there is no reason to view procurement as a cost center. If you look at overall industry,
procurement and supply chain together can contribute hugely to profitability of the organization by
improvising planning, inventory turn arounds, reducing logistical cost, etc. Every single penny saved by
procurement and supply chain is a direct improvement in profitability. I know few industries wherein
overall supply chain cost goes up to 20% of the total production cost, which is huge, which means
supply chain can cut these costs and contribute directly to the bottom line of company.

Q: What according to you in near future will become the most decisive parameters of supply chain
performance?

Not in near future, we have to be future-ready, today. We must focus on complete supply chain cost
and efficiency which shall drive the overall profitability of the organization.

Q: Do you think procurement professionals in India are currently capable enough to manage more
than ever complex global procurement processes? Additionally, with the noted integration of
technologies?

Indian professionals are always ready for any challenges including managing the complex
procurement processes. With technology playing a major role in every activity that we are doing, world
around, India will be a major player not only in terms of managing procurement for India but also for
the world.

Q: Why digital transformation needs to be embraced across organizations? How procurement leaders
can adapt?

We have no option. To be more efficient, we must embrace the transformation, look at new avenues to
improvise our efficiency, adapt to new technologies, contribute to the development of newer
technologies, and procurement leaders must always look at new things to learn and adopt.

Q8. A clear shift in procurement focus towards innovation and value requires an acceleration in the
pace of change, especially in leadership? As a procurement leader, how do you see this evangelizing
role?

One major thing every leadership must look forward continuously is how to keep the knowledge level
of the procurement teams improvised year on year. Focus on developing professional training module
which could be generic to procurement practices or industry-specific modules.

Q9. Can you help us with an actionable prescription towards building a culture of innovation in supply
chain departments?

I would keep it crisp and short. 3 Regular actions supply chain department should take towards
innovative culture are:
Ÿ Training
Ÿ Interaction with Industry Peers
Ÿ Rewards

20
 FEATURE

SUPPLY CHAIN AND

LOGISTICS INDUSTRY:
GENDER GAP

Why look at gender gap?

T
here are many reasons why we need to work towards a cause of gender equality. There is a case for
better business bottom lines as studies have shown that companies with diverse management
teams are 21% more likely to outperform their peers on long-term value creation and profit
margins. There is a macroeconomic case for working towards gender equality, and that is exemplified in
the current 17% of India's GDP, which is contributed by women with a potential 770 Billion USD waiting to
be unlocked when the figure reaches 50%. There is the most important human rights case in a country
where Article 15 of the Constitution of India guarantees a fundamental right to equality. Most importantly,
there is the humane case for gender equality that says all people are created equal and deserve equal
respect, opportunity and social standing.

We take a look at issues within Supply Chain and Logistics to explore the unique challenges to gender
equality in this sector.

21
What are the contours of the Supply Chain and Logistics profession?
The profession is variously described and covers a vast canvas including all activities encompassing
the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement and all logistics
management activities. This involves many kind of professionals, which can be suppliers,
intermediaries, third party service providers and customers. While each of these sections of the
profession of supply chain pose their own challenges to employment and opportunities for women.
The ultimate aim is the integration of supply and demand for goods and services within an
organization.

Sectoral trends – Global and Domestic

Over the years, this is one sector that has been transformed through digital interventions and data
analytics. The past saw volumes of paper documentation in the management of supply chains and
huge amounts of manual interventions, all of which have now been reduced significantly. The
Economic Times survey sets a growth projection of USD 215 billions for the logistics industry in 2020
growing at a CAGR of 10.5%. The World Bank Logistics index saw India jump to 35th rank in 2016 as
compared to 54th rank in overall logistics performance.

A large chunk of the logistics sector remains unorganized and has seen only partial digitization.

An AT Kearney study on Supply Chain sector in India has projected that in 2025, the Supply Chain
sector will be transformed by the emergence of megacities, proliferation of segments, improved
supply chain infrastructure, better regulatory climate, stronger global connect and affordable and
accessible technologies.

Given the exponential forecasts, a growing number of women are making inroads in the supply chain
sector, which has traditionally been male-dominated and continues to see women in smaller numbers
compared to other business sectors.

Women in Supply Chain and Logistics

Data on women in the sector in India is rarely available for the reason that women are recent entrants
into the supply chain profession. Gartner's global survey on Women in supply chain reveals the global
trends for participation of women.

As can be seen, the proportion of women

in top-level positions was 7% in 2016,
15% in 2017 and 14% in 2018, but down
to 11% in 2019. The representation of
women at all other levels in the supply
chain workforce shows a significant
increasing trend, up to 39% in 2019,
compared to 35% in 2016. The above
figure shows the trend of proportionate
representation of women at different
levels in the workforce. The glass ceiling
is evident as the graph clearly shows the
decreasing representation of women as
we go higher. The heartwarming trend is
that the percentage of women is increasing each year since 2016 through to 2019.

22
Research shows that women don't get the same advancement opportunities and pay as their male
counterparts in the world of supply chain and logistics. The supply chain and logistics world has its
unique characteristics. A lack of women in leadership positions leads to less role models; ambitious
women are often characterized as overbearing and emotional, rather than passionate and assertive;
company cultures don't foster career development for women. In a survey by American Shipper, nearly all
women veterans involved in shipping and logistics had experienced some degree of harassment or
biasness, or career obstacle that men were not likely to have experienced. According to a study on pay in
the logistics industry conducted by Logistics Management, 82% of respondents were male and the
average male respondent made 46% more salary than his female counterpart.

The perception is that women are better at detail-oriented work, hence get assigned all roles which are
administrative or compliance-oriented. The strategic and operational control work essential to SCM and
Logistics tends to remain a male bastion. Women who are outspoken are often held back. People often
underestimate women's intelligence and capability and they are not taken seriously. The increased
application of technology will make a more level playing field for women and that is exciting. When it
comes to promotion time, often women get overlooked or marginalized.

Closing the Gap

Having more women in supply chain and logistics roles, however, can offer companies a great
competitive advantage. An Australian government report on workplace gender equality cited the
following benefits:
Ÿ Better organizational performance
Ÿ Boosted company reputation
Ÿ Ability to better attract talent and retain employees
Ÿ Improved productivity and economic growth on a national scale

In the long run, with increasing technology driving the supply chain and logistics management function,
there may come a stage when women will actually be better at managing the dynamics. This is because
of:

Ÿ Multi tasking: Supply chain is a cross-

functional role and requires multitasking. It is
proven that women are wired differently. While
men tend to think in a linear single task
fashion, women have neural networks that
process information back and forth and in a
circular fashion. This makes it easier for them
to multitask and perform more effectively in
the SCM function.

Ÿ Collaboration: The ability to integrate views of

many, taking people along and getting them to
work better with each other requires empathy,
belief and humility. This comes easier to
women than men.

Ÿ Team formation & Leadership: The ability to create teams that work better with each other requires an
insight into people and their behavior. This comes from soft skills requiring an ability to read between
words, be aware of the core behavior of people and understand intuitively. It is a common belief that
women will bring the quality of leadership that connects with the emotions of people and builds teams
that work greatly together.
23
Ÿ As complexity throughout the supply chain grows, technology and data drive greater value and the skill
gap widens; companies need new, more diverse talent. Organizations can diversify talent and support
women in supply chain management to drive performance and profitability.

I measure the success of a

community by the degree of
progress which women have achieved.

B.R. Ambedkar

Dr. Aneeta Madhok

Managing Director
Open Spaces Consulting (P) Limited

24
 November 06-07, 2019

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THE SHIFT FROM THE PRESENT TO THE FUTURE

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Women
leaders in
Supply Chain:
A Competitive
Differentiator
26
 FEATURE
The current state
A study by Gartner and Achieving Women's
Excellence in Supply Chain Operations,
Management & Education (AWSOME) in
2016 indicated that while women constitute 35% of
any organization's Supply Chain resources
hierarchy, most of them are in trenches or junior
supervisory roles. Only 5% of senior leadership
(Director level and above) roles are being held by
women.
Missing on the Big Opportunity - The Era of Legacy
Supply Chains
Drivers behind the low gender diversity
Few decades ago, the world of Supply Chain and
Manufacturing was starkly different, in terms of
skill set requirements. That was driven by the
supply chain ecosystem back then.
Imagine a time when the world economy was not
extremely globalized like it is today. It was an era of higher on tests of social sensitivity than men do
"Make it and it will sell". Globalization did not exist;and that makes it essential to have women in
competition was not that fierce and customers
were not extremely demanding. It was an era where
people were often willing to wait for months for a
car, they wanted in a color "different" from the usual
stock.
That environment meant planning, continuous
improvement and technology in Supply Chain that
were not the key trends like they are currently.
Supply Chain skill set was, therefore, primarily shop
floor process worker or supervisor based. Bias was
in favor of men who were considered to have more
stamina in these physically intense roles.
The Supply Chains of Today Provide Ample
Opportunities for Women
Supply Chains have evolved to become a more
strategic function
Then the world economy started to change! "Make
it and it will sell" became defunct. The rising
competition led to not only flexible but
efficient and lean supply chains as well.
Fast forward to today, supply chains
today are driven by Science - planning,
technology and automation, assisted by
humans.
We are making inroads into an era of human-
machine collaboration and with that trend
comes the need for a new kind of talent as well.
The Age of Human-Machine Collaboration
Translates to Need for More Women Power
Engaging women talent in your supply chains is
not "nice to have" anymore. Gender diversity of
your supply chain teams, at all levels, will soon
become a competitive differentiator. Examples
of some aspects where gender diversity makes
a significant impact in supply chains are:
Strategy & Planning
Any supply chain strategy is formulated around
customer satisfaction and value delivery. In this
era of extremely demanding customers, one
needs to have high degree of social sensitivity
and empathy in order to be able to answer the
quintessential question - What customers want?
Studies have shown that women tend to score
supply chain leadership roles in order to design
and run supply chains that align with customers.
(1)
Propagating Innovation
Supply Chains will need to compete on
innovation a decade from now as the
fundamental processes across end to end
supply chain industry is getting automated.
Studies have proven that gender diversity
leads to more innovative thinking. (2)
When you encourage diversity, you also
encourage diverse idea exchange which
generally, is a key driver of innovation.
(3)
27
Building Productive and World-class Supply Chain Teams

Gender diversity in teams, in cultures where gender diversity is "normatively" accepted, leads to more
productive teams and also helps attract more world-class talent since more gender diversity in these
cultures is associated with an attractive work environment in the new age. (4)

How to Develop More Women Supply Chain Leaders?

To attract more women in your supply chain and help them progress within a supply chain
organization, there are some steps you need to take, as detailed below:

Eliminate the bias in hiring

Ÿ Make sure you review the full talent acquisition and career advancement life cycle for any gender
bias, including job posts, interview guides, job requirements, promotion opportunities and criteria
weighing evaluations.
Ÿ Ensure a diverse mix of interviewers, including gender, diversity, generational, cross-
department/specialty and underrepresented groups.
Ÿ Conduct anonymous surveys. Leverage recent hires and those who declined offers to help identify
hidden biases and recruitment shortfalls.
Ÿ Engage managers at all levels in recruitment and hiring, as well as identifying and developing high-
potential employees, and recognize and reward them for their efforts.

Develop fair appraisal systems

Ÿ What factors do race, gender and age of rater and ratee play?
Ÿ Is there proof behind each rating? For each assessment category, is it equitable?

Carefully audit dismissals

Ÿ Are dismissal rates equal?

Ÿ Is there a difference based on race and/or gender of manager?
Ÿ What support has been provided and is it the right support? (e.g. providing a stretch assignment
without ongoing support while an assignment can be a big disadvantage to POC, women who often
don't have natural networks of support)

Include women in succession planning

Ÿ C-Suite executives need to demonstrate their support by sponsoring and mentoring high potential
women and employees from other under-represented groups.
Ÿ Set goals. To achieve diversity, even at the highest levels, there must be
reasonable but aggressive goals on changing the demographics, e.g. at
least 30 percent of succession slates are diverse.
Ÿ Dedicate roles and responsibilities. Hold someone responsible for
achieving succession planning goals.

28
Establish clear criteria for advancement. Define and communicate the criteria, process and
expectations for upward mobility. Review them with candidates.
Ÿ Continually review and challenge assumptions of what a leader should look like and what skills and
competencies are needed.
Ÿ Create diverse talent development plans. Monitor and measure progress, outcomes, and the time it
takes to execute plans to ensure parity.
Ÿ Create roles that will provide necessary on-the-job experience to candidates ready for the next
move.
Ÿ Ensure stretch assignments are properly supported, for example, access to informal and formal
mentorship and coaching.

Develop exclusive training, sponsorship and mentorship programs

Ÿ Sponsorship is focused on advancement and predicated on power.

Ÿ A recent Harvard Business Review article describes sponsorship as active support by someone
appropriately placed in the organization who has significant influence on decision-making
processes or structures and who is advocating, protecting, and fighting for the career advancement
of an individual. (5)
Ÿ At its core, sponsorship is about trust. The sponsor must trust that the protégé will do a good job
and make the most of the opportunities opened up to them. Likewise, a protégé must trust that
sponsors have his or her best interests and career goals in mind when suggesting particular
opportunities.
Ÿ Sponsors are able to identify weak spots in job performance and help find remedies, expand career
vision, elevate ambition and advocate vigorously for specific promotions.
Ÿ Successful sponsorship creates and builds reputational capital for the protégé and the sponsor. By
selecting a protégé who goes on to make a greater impact in and for the organization, the sponsor
enhances his or her own reputational capital as a discerning leader invested in talent sustainability
and a powerful contributor to organizations' success and bottom line.

Kumar Singh
Senior Data Science Consultant-Supply Chain & Operations
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

29
 FEATURE

EMPOWERMENT OF
WOMEN IN SCM

H
istorically, men were hired for hands-on work, while women were put in administrative office roles.
Men would gain more and more responsibility over time, and move up within a company whereas,
women would typically continue to work behind the scenes. Even today, women are more likely to
be in compliance roles.

Many still believe that all logistics in fact, supply chain jobs involve grueling manual labour in dirty,
dangerous conditions but as per CEO Magazine, “There has never been a better time for women to enter
the field. … New and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics have automated many
manual roles, transforming logistics into a cutting-edge and competitive sector.”

Plus, because supply chain and logistics are involved in a huge range of industries — from technology and
electronics to textiles, food and beverages — female problem-solvers have many opportunities to find the
right fit for their specific career goals.

In recent years, company after company has launched initiatives to close the much discussed supply
chain talent gap because nowadays supply chain has become an increasingly critical component of
business strategy and transformation; the capabilities required for the future are very different from
those required in the past. A key to closing the gap is recognizing and unleashing the untapped potential
of women in today’s supply chain. It’s not just women at the line or supervisory level, but also the untapped
potential of women in senior leadership roles.

One study indicates that while women make up 35% of the supply chain workforce, the representation of
women at progressive levels of leadership drops significantly and is only about 5% at the most senior
levels. Having more women in senior leadership positions can influence the culture and reputation or the
supply chain career brand of a company in ways that are critical to winning the war on talent.

30
One Australian journal truly pointed out following benefits to be gained by
recruiting more women employees in organization:

Ÿ Boost up organizational performance

Ÿ Increase company reputation
Ÿ Ability to better attract talent and retain employees
Ÿ Improved productivity and economic growth on a national scale

Moreover, following highlights have also been enhanced by employing more

women in success of organizations:

Women's leadership improves operational and financial performance:

Bringing new perspectives about customer preferences, enhancing
innovation and building an inclusive environment to attract and retain
talent, women leaders make a significant contribution to the
competitiveness and success of a company.

Numerous studies have shown that companies with greater

representation of women in senior roles experience better
business outcomes. In a study of Fortune 500 companies,
Catalyst found that companies with the highest
representation of women in leadership positions
experienced a 35% greater return on equity and 34%
higher return to shareholders than those with the lowest
representation.

Fortune 500 companies with at least three women board

directors experienced a 66% higher return on invested capital, a
42% higher return on sales and a 53% higher return on equity. The business case for the importance of
advancing women leaders is clear.

Creating customer value: The impact on business results comes from several key factors. First, women
leaders play an important role in understanding and addressing customer needs. Consider that roughly
50% of the population is women and 80 - 85% of all consumer decisions are made by women.

It is logical that having a leadership team that reflects the diversity of markets served can provide new
insights about consumer preferences and lead to greater opportunities to create customer value and
stimulate business growth. We are also seeing a growing number of women leaders in sourcing and
procurement roles at major companies.

Whether a company is consumer-facing or in a business-to-business environment, women leaders in

supply chain can play an important role in understanding customer perspectives and strengthening
customer relationships.

Powering innovation: Supply chain innovation is increasingly important as a differentiator. Customers

demand for new products, better services and faster deliveries are forcing companies to adopt new
technologies and develop new solutions at an accelerating rate.

In this environment, women bring valuable perspectives and diversity of thought to the creative process.
Women are inclusive leaders who value and encourage diversity to enhance innovation.

31
Winning the War on Talent

Women leaders contribute in multiple ways to a company’s ability to recruit and retain much-needed
talent. A study by SCM World found that 75% of women and 64% of men think women’s natural skills differ
from men and 96% of women and 74% of men think that those different skills give women an advantage in
supply chain management.

Women tend to bring communication and collaboration skills that facilitate cross-functional and inter-
firm integration, as well as the kind of big picture thinking, that is so important to supply chain
performance today. Then the question arises why is the industry's track record of recruiting, developing,
retaining and advancing women so poor?

The shortage of women in senior leadership positions means there are few role models for young women
to look up to when considering a career in supply chain. There is also a clear link between an
organization's demonstrated value for diversity and the ability to recruit and retain diverse candidates.

Clearly, having more women in senior leadership positions can influence the culture and reputation or the
supply chain career brand of a company in ways that are critical to winning the war on talent.

In summary, diversity matters at every level in an organization. Given the opportunities and challenges
faced by supply chain organizations today and the continued shortage of talent at every level, advancing
women's leadership is no longer about fairness and equity, but rather has become a business imperative.

So where are we today?

The representation of women in supply chain organizations follows a similar pattern to what we see in
other professional functions and in corporate leadership ladders.

Proportion of women leaders in supply chain declines

Average percentage of women in roles

On an average, total supply chain workforce consists of 35% women. As we look at leadership positions
and the relative progression into more senior roles, this percentage falls steadily, with the percentage of
female executive-level CSCOs - leaders who report directly to the CEO falling
into the mid-single digits.

32
Moving up the ladder, 30% of front-line supply chain managers are female, 26% of senior
managers/directors and 20% of VPs. Beyond the averages, other interesting data points emerged. For
example, 38% of respondents reported no female VPs in supply chain.

While we see similar patterns across industry sectors, each also has special characteristics. Over a
decade ago, leading CPG manufacturers started shifting toward more pull-based, consumer-centric
supply chains, recognizing that women control 80 - 85% or more of consumer spend.

Participation varies by industry

Hiring and progressing more people who reflect the customer base was simply a good business decision.
Today, consumer goods and retail sectors show a significantly higher incidence of female leaders at more
senior levels, where 25% of VPs are female.

Another industry where women account for most decision-making and spend at the consumer and
patient level is healthcare, and indeed there is similar representation of women leaders up to the director
level. For the next big jump, however, healthcare companies progress fewer women on average - only 18%
of VPs are female.

There are certain barriers which make hurdles for women to take leadership role, like

Unconscious biases: Sometimes it has been observed that men are more likely to apply for a job they want
even when they meet fewer of the qualifications, whereas women tend to apply only if they meet all of
them. Whether this is lack of confidence in them or the belief that if they just keep their heads down and do
their jobs well, they will get noticed and tapped for promotion - the result is, missed opportunity for career
development and advancement. Sometimes, female managers also miss out on development
opportunities because they are not recognized for their accomplishments. For example, decisions about
career opportunities may still be influenced by the perception that a female leader with a family will not be
willing to relocate, let alone take on a global assignment whereas the same logic is not applied to male
candidates.

Networking and Sponsorship: As large majority of senior leaders are predominantly men, women often
get less access to the informal networks that provide insights about organizational norms and
connections to mentors and sponsors that can help them advance their careers.

A sponsor may have visibility to opportunities that an individual cannot see for himself or herself, or may
influence selection through advocacy of a particular candidate. Exclusion from informal networks can
also limit access to knowledge and relationships that can significantly affect job performance. Because
of the cross-functional, enterprise-wide impact of supply chain roles, informal company-wide
relationships are critical to driving innovation and crucial to supply chain organizations today.

Additionally, insights from across

multiple functions are important inputs
to plan for the future. Informal
networking across boundaries is an
important contributor to the success of
any leader, but especially for supply
chain leaders.

33
Work-life balance: Work and family balancing requirements seem to be a challenge for many women
leaders. If existing policies and practices do not allow for continued contribution and development or
provide flexibility for family demands, company shall face difficulties in retaining and advancing talented
women. In various companies, a family leave to have children can still be detrimental to the ability of
women leaders to move to top supply chain roles. And, as a result of the conscious and unconscious
biases that still exist, having children is often viewed as an impediment when staffing decisions are made,
thus limiting the development opportunities available to women.

Companies are now starting to recognize the need for flexibility, but unless flexible assignments are
encouraged for both men and women and offer the opportunity for continued development and valuable
contribution, such assignments may be counter-productive in terms of advancing women leaders.

What is Corporate Doing?

We have to identify in different organizations and sectors what supply chain leaders are doing in
response.

Female Leaders of Tomorrow

If we need to make significant progress in increasing the number of senior supply chain women leaders,
several steps are required.

First, organizations have to think bigger, set measurable and meaningful goals and put initiatives in place.
Like in supply chain, reduction of inventory is not possible without a specific goal and a plan, similarly,
people-related initiatives should also require specific goal and phase-wise plan to be rolled out. The only
way ambitious future scenarios come with formal goals and targets on management scorecards and
planned initiatives that support goals like changes in recruiting approaches, pipelining and new
leadership programs, etc.

Second, institutional changes that create a culture of diversity and inclusion and also eliminate (or at
least illuminate) unconscious biases must be embraced.

Third, policies and practices that are obstacles to the development and advancement of diverse talent
must be eliminated or changed.

If we grow the representation of female VPs within supply chain by double digits, it would translate
meaningful progress and likely result in acceleration toward diversity goals. As more women get
promoted to senior leadership positions, they can be important role models and leaders of change and
more women professionals automatically will join this field.

However, real change and real progress will only occur if senior leaders, both men and women address the
problem as they would address any other critical business issue - by making it a priority, setting targets
and holding leaders accountable for results.

Shyamaprasad De
Head Of Supply Chain Management
Sheenlac Paints Limited

34
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EXECUTIVE FOCUS

Why We Need More

Women in Tech and
Blockchain?
A
t the outset, let's understand a basic fact. Women understand women,
men don't!

Women in business was a bizarre idea a few decades ago. Then slowly, things
began to change. Women started working. People realized that women can
add serious value in making leaps for mankind as a whole.

There is currently a skewed gender gap in the workforce of our tech industry.
Most companies in the space are facing the gender diversity conflict and are
being called out if they aren't stepping up their game. The tech space, in
general, is infamously known to be a boy's club. But hey, a lot of people don't
know that the world's first computer programmer was a woman, Ada Lovelace
– she wrote the world's first complex computer program in 1843.

There is a serious dearth of women in the blockchain space. Technology is

disruptive and will impact almost every conceivable industry. Not catering to
women will eliminate approximately 50 percent of any industry's target
demographic – a serious failure on the part of any business as well as the
community as a whole. Here's why I feel women especially, in top management
roles are making and can make a direct impact to how tech and blockchain
businesses run.

Ÿ Women bring a whole different skill-set to the table. Let's just acknowledge
some unquestionable truths. I'm stereotyping here, but women are vastly
superior to men in several ways. To name a few, they are more emotionally
intelligent, better at multitasking, more tolerant, patient and understanding.
These traits are prerequisites for any business to not just get off the ground,
but survive and thrive.

36
Ÿ Diversity of thought leads to better problem-solving. This statement is backed by decades of research.
Collaborating with individuals of different genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, and race directly
leads and enhance problem-solving. Hiring for diversity means onboarding different methods and
strategies of thinking, as well as the increased capability to understand the pain points of all members
of your target demographic.

Ÿ A different perspective means increased innovation. A new idea or method, creative thought is only
enriched by a different opinion. You float an idea, seek feedback, execute and continue to sharpen your
process. The more dimensions you add to your thoughts and ideas, the more wholesome and
appealing, relevant and current it will be. A woman's mind, in my humble opinion, is the most powerful
resource a leadership can wield.

Ÿ An entire marketplace lacks tech-driven innovation. There is a marketplace of female-oriented

products that desperately lacks tech-driven innovation. These are products that by definition only
women buy, like menstruation products, ovulation tracking tools/apps, as well as products typically
bought by women. This could be a direct result of having a majority of tech businesses run by male-
dominated corporate leadership. Since people are often less likely to start a company in a sub-industry
that has no relationship to them, however, this industry presents a wealth of profitable possibilities
that tech-driven businesses run by women, or ones with more women in corporate positions, might be
more apt to pursue.

We, as a community, need to seriously evaluate why this gap persists, and bridge it. I know, I'm a man, and I
just won't get it, right? But I've been trying, and I'll continue to do so.

Kunal Karani
CEO, Turing Labs

37
 EXECUTIVE FOCUS

Women in Supply Chain:

How Far Have We Come?

S
o, what does supply chain constitutes? When you imagine supply chain what comes to your mind?
Warehousing, logistics, vendors, suppliers, procurement officers, raw material, processing,
finished products, distributors, retailers, customers, finance, invoicing, documents!! Yes, all of
these constitutes supply chain.

Historically, just like any other, Industrial Statistics Global Supply Chains have been lopsided towards
male employees and we even more skewed as one, goes up the hierarchy at CXO level positions.

Gartner's third annual "Women in Supply Chain Survey" found that, “Things have largely remained flat,”
with low female representation in leadership roles. However, the proportion of women in C-suite roles did
improve, from 2016's 7% to 14% in 2018, although this was down from 15% in 2017.

Research shows that women don't get the same advancement opportunities and pay as their male
counterparts in the world of supply chain and logistics. It's a dichotomy that while we see hiring managers
being lopsided in their hiring strategies, we also see women not actively applying for such positions. The
perception is largely driven by gender discrimination and a field job kind of scenario.

Supply Chain as management study has remained by far a man's choice of study in management diploma,
and it's only now we are witnessing a newer generation of women coming up and showing their desire to
study supply chain and aspiring for careers in warehousing, logistics, procurements, supplies, trade
finance, etc.

38
If we see Shipping & Logistics Industry, we see a remarkable lack of women employees and some of the
possible reasons are:
Ÿ Women don't get same advancement opportunities as men.
Ÿ Lack of vertical or even horizontal movement for women employees in senior management roles.
Ÿ Lack of women in leadership positions acting as role models and mentors.
Ÿ Company cultures not fostering career development for women or make women feel like outsiders.
Ÿ Preconceptions of woman as overly passionate and emotional, unable to make smart decisions under
pressure.
Ÿ Verbal and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Ÿ Pay inequality (according to a 2017 Logistics Management survey, the average male respondent
earned 46% more than his female counterparts).

India is right now in the stage of inflexion where supply chains are getting digitalized, manual documents
are getting replaced by e-documents. Thanks to the entire digital revolution, the way we procure goods,
store them, process them and sell them is changing. With the advent of Blockchain, AI, Robotics &
Augmented data analytics, demand-supply gaps have been met, however, there is real-time access to
data for every moment at the click of a button which is assisting organizations plan better, procure
appropriately, serve better and optimize resources.

All of above is a great opportunity for women to consider a career in supply chain. Women naturally bring
along with them an ability to multi-task and understand the macro-level ecosystem.

Having more women in supply chain and logistics roles can offer companies a great competitive
advantage. An Australian report on workplace gender equality cited the following benefits:
Ÿ Better organizational performance
Ÿ Boost in company reputation
Ÿ Ability to better attract talent and retain employees
Ÿ Improved productivity and economic growth on a national scale

“Diversity in backgrounds, genders, cultures, perspectives, and experiences is a fundamental prerequisite

for sustainable business success.” - Sabine Mueller, CEO of DHL Consulting.

Need of the hour

Ÿ Educating students about opportunities in supply chain.
Ÿ Having women role models in supply chain.
Ÿ More awareness through online and offline supply chain courses for graduates and undergraduates.
Ÿ Organizations to focus on Inclusive Hiring Efforts.
Ÿ Organizations to target, train, develop, retain and advance current women employees into future
leaders in supply chain.
Ÿ Create women-focused talent retention programs, providing female mentors to employees, and
working to counter unintentional biases by including more women in the hiring process itself.
Ÿ Reimagining workplace roles with the advent of technology; it's no more an only man's work!
Ÿ Increasing women's visibility in supply chain and logistics.
Ÿ Promoting women's success stories.

Looking Ahead
I do foresee more women taking active participation in senior leadership positions of large industries,
banking sector and logistics as well. Technology is here to stay and it only shall help in bridging this gap of
gender inequality in Global Supply Chains boosting inclusivity in workplace.

Manpreet Kaur
Founder & CEO
Vivantaa Capital
39
 EXECUTIVE FOCUS

Breaching Yet Another Male Bastion:

Challenges and Opportunities for
Women Leaders in SCM

I
n 2019, at most supply chain conferences, workshops or networking events, men dominate the scene.
Women are the odd ones out. The same goes for executive offices and warehouses, logistics and
sourcing departments of most organizations. It is not
that there has been no progress made in the inclusion of
women in this functional area over the past couple of
decades. Forward movement has been recorded for
sure, but a lot more needs to be done.

The challenge lies in a few specific places. This article

focuses on two aspects. First, recruiting and retaining
women in supply chain roles. Second, advancing women
leaders in supply chain roles. As a supporting aspect, a
third facet may be explored: changing the mindset of the
dominant gender.

Recruiting and retaining women in supply chain roles require a series of initiatives to be undertaken.
According to a 2018 study by global research firm Gartner and AWESOME (Achieving Women's
Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management, & Education), the number one initiative needing
attention is, top management supports to change organization's culture, leadership inclusivity and
behavior. This has implications right across the board for the advancement of women in the field.
Visibility of women leaders, telling their success stories, removing bias by ensuring that only males are
not dominating the recruitment process, elimination of the name of male candidates from their CVs for
SCM positions in the initial rounds to eliminate deep-rooted gender bias, and making it possible for
women starting families to have work flexibility, are all important initiatives that need to be taken to
improve recruitment and retention. These steps would indeed bring more women into this traditionally
male bastion.

The advancement of women in supply chain is tougher as management often looks at the risk profile of
women who are likely to “take a break” to raise a family or “completely opt-out” due to career-related
stress and lack of organizational and network support. This can be addressed by having women mentors
to guide new women in the field, creating clear cut career paths, building a pipeline of women leaders in
supply chain and creating a community of women to discuss and deal with women-centric issues at the
workplace in a male-dominated domain such as supply chain. It is a disconcerting fact that in most
cultures, even in advanced economies with egalitarian philosophies and equal gender rights, women
have to work harder and prove themselves more often to get the same recognition as men. Customer-
facing functions such as marketing of services in banking and hospitality industries have had a better run
at putting women in leadership roles. India's banking industry has numerous women leading huge
financial institutions. Human Resources function is a “natural” fit for women to make headway up the
organizational hierarchy. But other areas such as operations in general and SCM, in particular, have
suffered.

40
The suitability of women for SCM roles is indisputable. Women are organizers by nature and multi-
taskers with the ability to promote high levels of productivity in supply chains. From a personality
perspective, being less ego-driven in general, compared to males, women are capable of coordinating
much better between other departments on which SCM's success depends. This is extremely important
as it is the marketing function which is involved in demand creation and operations (SCM) which supports
it with demand fulfillment. Companies like Mondelez International, Tata Motors and Johnson & Johnson
have done exceptional inclusion initiatives for women in supply chain leadership roles. These roles are
not merely affirmative actions. Women have had to prove their mettle at every step of the way. In strong
familial cultures such as India, the role of family support is critical for the advancement of women in this
functional area too as in others. To boost scientific orientation in the functional area, women need to
initiate and participate in partnerships between industry and academic for research and training in the
field. Leadership born of research and thought leadership would give women's roles in SCM a fillip.

At the intersection of marketing and supply chain domains bolstered by Artificial Intelligence, Machine
Learning and Analytics, organizations could develop an exceptional competitive advantage over their
competitors. As big data takes over the business landscape, women executives in this domain need to
upskill and be proficient in the machine languages of the near future. Expertise in R and Python, for
instance, would help strengthen their place in the functional area. A larger number of young business
management female students today are already investing in Operations and Analytics as specialization
areas while others specialize in Marketing and Operations with open electives selected from the
Analytics domain such as Machine Learning and Deep Learning as extra skill sets. Comfort in dealing
with unprecedented levels of automation will be a preferred attribute of future supply chain leaders.
Women have been for decades stereotyped as “not tech-savvy”. It is high time, that perception is killed.

Women in the changing supply chain landscape need to clearly understand and navigate financial
objectives and constraints of the firm, understand the customer in whom marketing has created demand,
develop an SCM strategy that fulfills that demand within financial constraints, ensure that management
appreciates the alignment of marketing and SCM strategies (which calls for the ability to market
internally), and be able to continually monitor the actual performance and correct negative deviations
from plan.

As with every erstwhile male fortress, it is only a matter of time before women take their rightful positions
at the top. Current CEOs need to ensure that this process happens sooner than later by creating the right
leadership impetus at all levels to be inclusive, merit-based and gender-neutral.

Dr. Jones Mathew

Professor, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

41
EXECUTIVE FOCUS

Women Leaders in
Supply Chain Management:
Recruitment, Retention
and Advancement

C h a i n s
Supply
n s t a n t l y
Are Co
Evolving
42
S
upply chains have probably existed for hundreds of years. Most of us are aware of the role that
logistics and distribution have played since World War I. The field of supply chain management is
as much an art as it is science.

It has constantly evolved over the last three decades – starting from the 80s. We don't need to
overemphasize the fact that supply chains are the nerve centers of domestic, international and global
trade.

What began as material and inventory management in the 80s has metamorphosed into an all-
encompassing function that begins from the ideation/design/product introduction stage to the last mile
delivery to the customer/end consumer.

And the myriad and complex flows of material, machinery, product, process, data and information make
this ever-changing and dynamic field more fascinating.

Modern supply chains are global, glocal and local. There is an increased focus on addressing the 3Vs –
Visibility, Velocity and Variability.

Every effort being made by organizations across the world is to increase visibility and velocity and to
control/reduce variability.

The advent of technology startups, unicorns and “Amazon” has changed and continue to change supply
chain and logistics paradigms. eCommerce companies such as Amazon and technology giants such as
Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook have been trendsetters for supply chains globally.

Today's supply chains are seen to be strategic differentiators and a source of competitive advantage for
companies across various sectors/industries.

Some of the key trends and developments that have affected current supply chains include:

Ÿ Automation across sub-functions/processes across the extended chain

Ÿ Digitalization
Ÿ Big data and Advanced Analytics
Ÿ Artificial Intelligence
Ÿ Supply Chain Risk Management
Ÿ Sustainability
Ÿ Supply Chain Finance
Ÿ Supply Chain Design
Ÿ Omni-Channel Distribution
Ÿ Global Trade – US vs China

43
People, Process & Technology

The collaborative role of these three key elements in the success of any organization needs no emphasis.
Changing supply chain dynamics and consumer demand patterns call for flexible and responsive supply
chains.

It is well acknowledged that “technology” is more of an enabler that supports business excellence and
transformation. Processes and policies play a similar role through standardization and adherence to best
practices.

But the most critical element among the three is undoubtedly, “People”. This is the fulcrum around which
everything else revolves.

Therefore, supply chain talent management has taken the front seat among firms. Hiring, shaping and
retaining the most suitable talent have been a major challenge.

Supply Chain Talent

When I completed my MBA in Operations 12 years ago, we had only one female student in our class of 31.
Over the years, the batch size has more than doubled with more than a fifth comprising women. Need I
say anything more?

I have had the good fortune of working and learning from female demand planning professionals. I am of
the strong opinion that there should be a gender mix across supply chain functions and roles in
companies, spanning the entire spectrum starting from design and product development to last mile
logistics and delivery.

Every company today is taking concerted and focussed steps towards inclusion and gender diversity in
various ways, and I strongly feel this is a very welcoming step.

I was a panel speaker at the Technology Supply Chain Conference conducted by CPO Innovation in April
this year. It featured over 50+ thought leaders including top-notch and very senior women leaders that
accounted for a fourth of the total speakers.

Their thoughts and perspectives were very insightful. This further corroborates the fact that there is
abundance of women talent not only in supply chain and operations management but in various other
fields as well.

Gender diversity and mix is not an option anymore. It is an absolute necessity. Moreover, the only criteria
while hiring should be talent fit and meritocracy.

The IIMs have also seen a significant increase in women across domains in the 2019-21 batch. The
overall % of women in the flagship course at the top 6 IIMs has gone up to around 34% from 26% last year,
as per LinkedIn news.

Top educational institutions, companies and professional conferences are playing a key role to nurture,
promote and enhance the presence of women leaders in supply chain.

44
Many leading global companies and professional supply chain and operations bodies are focussing on
promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) among young and aspiring female
students to encourage them to take up operations and supply chain management roles going forward.

Advancing women in supply chain management roles and making sure that they are provided the right
career path and opportunities to take up leadership roles is absolutely vital for any organization seeking
growth.

This is a logical step and would yield significant benefits to diverse functional teams in organizations
through plurality and diversity of opinions and ideas and enable the discussions to become a lot more
meaningful.

The eight key tips from the eight global CSCOs are:
Ÿ Be open to new things
Ÿ Learn all aspects of the business
Ÿ Foster a global perspective
Ÿ Deliver on what you promise
Ÿ Find the fun in what you do
Ÿ Value and champion diversity
Ÿ Create a fulfilling work-life balance
Ÿ Take risks

True nuggets of wisdom for all supply chain and operations professionals indeed!

Sunil Bharadwaj
Deputy General Manager - Strategy & Supply Chain
Raymond Limited
45
Tech Supply Chain
Conference &
Exposition 2019
BOM Edition 19 - 20 September, 2019
Novotel Juhu Beach, Mumbai

Beyond Digitization: The

Dawn of Autonomous
Procurement
Making Procurement a Critical Business Driver

Asia's Largest Supply Chain & Procurement Conference

46
Meet With Key Leaders in Procurement & Supply Chain at
Asia's Largest Tech-enabled Supply Chain Conference

For further details visit

www.mumbai.techsupplychaincon.com
T: +91 0120 42969 52 / Ext 4375
E: support@cpoinnovation.com

47
MERGER & ACQUISITION

Merger &
Acquisition News

1. Colgate Makes Its Largest Acquisition in Over 20 Years

The consumer product giant, Colgate-Palmolive is acquiring European

skin care company Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques for $1.7 billion.

Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques, or Filorga for short, is a premium

skin brand focused on facial care. The company sells a variety of skin
care items, such as antiaging creams and daily cleansers, that typically
range between $40 and $100 per item. The company is headquartered
in Europe, its biggest market, but it also has a solid business in Asia.

Colgate did not disclose Filorga's financials, however, experts evaluate company's yearly sales in around
$200 million. In other words, this will be a little part of Colgate's total business, which rounded up in over
$15 billion in sales a year ago. However, Filorga is growing its sales at a fast rate and is profitable, which
on the edge should help Colgate reinforce its growth profile.

The acquisition of Laboratoires Filorga follows other smaller but similar acquisitions. In 2018, Colgate
acquired two skincare companies, Physicians Care Alliance and Elta MD Holdings, for a combined $730
million.

Colgate is clearly making a concerted effort to expand its personal care business, especially in skincare.
The company is moving in this direction because skincare lends itself to product differentiation and
premiumization that can translate into higher margins than those for other types of consumer products.

48
2. DoT to Challenge Merger of Tata Teleservices - Bharti Airtel in the SC

The telecom department is planning to challenge merger of Tata Teleservices consumer business with
Bharti Airtel in the Supreme Court in August.

"The DoT has not taken merger of Airtel and Tata Teleservices on
record. Airtel has operationalized the merger based on order from
the TDSAT. The department is planning to file special leave
petition in the Supreme Court against the TDSAT order next
month”, said an official source. On July 1st 2019, Bharti Airtel
announced that the consumer mobile business of Tata
Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) has now become its part. However, the
company sources said that telecom tribunal TDSAT had directed the DoT to take the merger on record.

"The TDSAT had categorically allowed operationalization of the spectrum and to take all consequential
actions for completing the merger. The NCLT approved the scheme and allowed for the filing with the
Registrar of Companies within the stipulated period. In line with the orders of the TDSAT and the NCLT, the
merger was completed," the company source said.

As part of the merger, Airtel has absorbed Tata Teleservices' CMB operations in 19 telecom circles - 17
under TTSL and 2 under Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd.

3. Govt Approves Merger of NIMH with ICMR-NIOH

The government of India approved the merger of NIMH (National

Institute of Miners' Health with ICMR-NIOH (National Institute of
Occupational Health). The decision was taken by Cabinet meeting,
chaired by PM Narendra Modi.

"The Cabinet has approved to dissolve National Institute of Miners'

Health (NIMH), an autonomous institute under Ministry of Mines
(MoM) and merge with ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health
(NIOH), Ahmedabad, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with all
assets and liabilities and absorb all the employees of NIMH in NIOH in similar post/pay scale as the case
may be and their pay be protected," as per an official tweet.

Further, the tweet stated that the merger of NIMH with ICMR-NIOH will prove to be beneficial to both the
institutions in terms of enhanced expertise in the field of occupational health.

4. Reliance Brands Completes Acquisition of Hamleys

Reliance Brands, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has completed

acquisition of British toy retailer Hamleys for about 620 crore (GBP 67.96
million) in an all-cash deal. In May this year, Reliance Brands had signed an
agreement to acquire 100% stake in Hamleys Global Holdings from Hong
Kong-based C.banner International Holdings Ltd.

In 2015, China's C.banner International Holdings Ltd. had acquired Hamleys in a GBP 100-million deal. In
October last year, Sky News reported that C.banner International, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange, had launched a strategic review of loss-making Hamleys and was looking to sell it.
Founded in 1760 in London, Hamleys is one of the world's oldest retailers of toys. It has 167 stores across
18 countries and in India, Reliance Retail has the authorized franchisee for the brand and operates 88
stores across 29 cities.
49
5. L&T Infotech to Buy AI Firm Lymbyc in 5th Acquisition since IPO

The multinational conglomerate company,

L&T (Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd)
announced that it has signed a definitive
agreement to acquire the AI, ML and
advanced analytics company, Lymbyc.

This marks L&T's fifth acquisition since its

listing in 2016. In January, the firm acquired
Ruletronics, which uses the Pega platform
for business process management and
customer relationship management
solutions. After a month, it also acquired
Germany-based Nielsen Partner, which
specializes in Temenos WealthSuite, an
integrated software package for wealth managers.

The Bengaluru-based AI firm, Lymbyc was founded in 2012 and is known for its capabilities in
analytics and data-sciences spaces. The company leverages its proprietary product Leni, a virtual
analyst that allows users to conversationally access information and insights to solve descriptive to
predictive business insights, leveraging natural language processing, data visualization, deep learning
and predictive analytics. The company has customers in the US, UK, Africa and India.

6. Ultratech to Complete Century Cement Merger by September: Kumar Mangalam Birla

Ultratech Cement will complete merger of Century Cement during the course of second quarter of current
fiscal, which will take its capacity to 117.35 million
tones, said Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ultratech Cement.
In May 2018, the Aditya Birla group announced a
reorganization of cement business of the group firm
Century Textiles' cement business, under a scheme of
demerger.

The deal, which has long been in the works involving

Kumar Mangalam Birla and his grandfather BK Birla will
give Ultratech market leadership in all regional
markets.

"After the completion of Century Cement transaction, coupled with the on-going capacity expansion, our
capacity will be augmented to over 117.35 million tones per annum, inclusive of its overseas operations,"
said Birla.

During FY19, the company had completed acquisition of Binani Cement, which was subsequently
renamed Ultratech Nathdwara Cement, which has a 6.25-mt capacity in Rajasthan and operates plants in
China and the UAE.

50
TOP 10

Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2019

Bioplastics for a circular economy Disordered proteins as drug targets

Less than 15% of the world's plastic is
recycled, with the rest burnt, abandoned or
sent to landfill. Biodegradable plastic offers a
solution, however does not have the strength
of customary materials. A breakthrough idea
promotes the circular economy by using
cellulose or lignin from plant waste, which
increases material strength without using
crops that could otherwise be used for food.
“Intrinsically disordered proteins” are proteins
that can cause cancer and other diseases.
Unlike conventional proteins, they lack a rigid
structure so change shape, making them
difficult to treat. Now scientists have found a
way to prevent their shape-shifting long
enough for treatment to take effect, offering
new possibilities for patients.

Social robots

A social robot is an autonomous robot that interacts and communicates with humans or other
autonomous physical agents by following social behaviors and rules attached to its role. Like
other robots, a social robot is physically embodied (avatars or on-screen synthetic social
characters are not embodied and thus distinct). The increasingly widespread use of more
advanced social robots is one of several phenomena expected to contribute to the technological
post humanization of human societies, through which process “a society comes to include
members other than 'natural' biological human beings who, in one way or another, contribute to
the structures, dynamics, or meaning of the society.”

51
Metalenses

Making the lenses used by mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices has been
beyond the capabilities of traditional glass cutting and glass curving techniques. But advances
in physics have led to miniaturised, lighter alternatives to established lenses, called metalenses.
These tiny, thin, flat lenses could replace existing bulky glass lenses and allow further
miniaturization in sensors and medical imaging devices.

Smart fertilizers

Smart Fertilizers provides significant dosage reduction and yield improvement in an

environment-friendly way. They have been developed for phosphates - Smart Phosphates and
micronutrients - Smart Micronutrients. With the Smart Fertilizers, nutrient release is under the
control of the plant itself. This makes it especially beneficial in increasing yields since a plant
requires different quantities of nutrients at different stages of its life cycle.

Collaborative telepresence Advanced food tracking and

Imagine a video conference where you
not only feel like you're in the same
room as the other attendees, you can
actually feel one another's touch. A mix
of Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual
Reality (AR), 5G networks and advanced
sensors, means business people in
different locations can physically
exchange handshakes, and medical
practitioners can be able to work
remotely with patients as though they
are in the same room.
packaging
About 600 million people suffer from
food poisoning every year and it's
essential to locate the source of an
outbreak immediately. Blockchain
technology can help in monitor every
step of a food item's progress through
the supply chain. Meanwhile, sensors in
packaging can indicate when food is
about to spoil, reducing the need to
waste whole batches once an expiry
date is reached.

52
Safer nuclear reactors

Although nuclear power emits no carbon dioxide, reactors come with a safety risk that fuel rods
can overheat and, when mixed with water, produce hydrogen, which can then explode. But new
fuels are emerging that are much less likely to overheat, and if they do, will produce little or no
hydrogen. These new configurations can replace existing fuel rods with little modification.

DNA data storage

DNA data storage is defined as the process of encoding and decoding binary data to and from
synthesized DNA strands. It consists of long chains of the nucleotides A, T, C and G—is life's
information-storage material. Data can be stored in the sequence of these letters, turning DNA
into a new form of information technology. It is already routinely sequenced (read), synthesized

Utility-scale storage of
renewable energy

The way world gets its electricity is

undergoing a rapid transition, driven
by both the increased urgency of
decarbonizing energy systems and
the plummeting costs of wind and
solar technology. But storing energy
generated by renewables for when
there is no sun or wind has been a
barrier to increased take-up.
Lithium-ion batteries are set to
dominate storage technology over
the coming decade, and continuing
advances should result in batteries
that can store up to eight hours of
energy – long enough to allow solar-
generated power to meet peak
evening demand.

53
 Certified Purchasing
& Supply Chain Manager™
The Fortune 500 Certification Program of Choice™
Jan 13 - 16, 2020
Courtyard by Marriott Bengaluru Hebbal

T
he Certified Purchasing & Supply Chain Manager (CPSCM™) certification program is world's most
advanced, interactive and prestigious purchasing and supply chain management certification
training system.

The CPSCM™ is originally approved by the prestigious University of Houston (UoH), and accredited by the
Center for Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Excellence (CA, USA). In India, only Competitors
View has the sole authority to provide this certification.

This certification program captures the essence of the top issues and opportunities that purchasing and
supply chain senior executives need to know and need to be doing to enable their success, delegates will
have proven tools that not only demonstrate how the organization can do better today, but also leverage
on research and practise that has been tested with dozens of executive interviews, hundreds of global
corporations and with advanced higher education institutions as well.

This year, Competitors View executed the 4th annual of the prestigious CPSCM™ Certification at the
Marriott, Hebbal, Bengaluru, India (July 01 - July 04, 2019) and the 5th annual of it is scheduled to be held
on Jan13 - 16, 2020 in Bengaluru.

54
 The CPSCM™ Graduation Program is for experienced
practitioners and those who are in senior leadership
positions. Everything learnt will be actionable immediately,
with templates, process steps and examples to get your
organization going. You will know exactly how to drive
these strategies yourself, and will know how to drive them
in your organization. This is not something that can be
taught in any other seminar or certification series, nor
should you be obtaining those other certification by
ordering and reading books and taking exams.

The prestigious CPSCM™ program will be facilitated by Mr.

Omid Ghamami. He has been called “The Secret Weapon of
Fortune 500 Chief Purchasing Officers” by industry experts
and has been named “The Godfather of Negotiation
Planning” by Intel Corporation.

Omid Ghamami is CEO & Chairman of the Board
at The Center For Purchasing & Supply Chain
Management Excellence, the world's most
powerful and prestigious purchasing and supply
chain management Certification Institute. Since
1995, he has taught thousands of hours of
courses, workshops, and seminars in 21 different
countries on topics related to the entire
spectrum of purchasing, supply chain
management, purchasing contract law,
negotiations, and supplier management. He has
trained all 50 Chief Purchasing Officers of the
United States, been published in global journals
including Fortune Magazine, published
bestselling purchasing and negotiations books,
has presented by request to Harvard University's
Supply Chain Management program many times,
and has worked with over 50% of the Fortune
100.
“The CPSCM™ Certification is an absolute game
changer and is by far the most valuable
Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
certification program available today.” –
Professor Zal Phiroz, Supply Chain Management
Instructor, Harvard University
Obtaining a CPSCM™ certification indicates that
candidates have enhanced their knowledge and
practical skills in the supply chain and
procurement domain. Current evolution of the
profession dictates that a strategic level
certification is needed for the professionals in
supply chain and procurement to effectively
implement innovative strategies in their entire
organization. The CPSCM™ certification is a
milestone for those professionals who take
ownership of their careers.
By undergoing this certification program,
candidates will learn a proven method to know
when a supplier is bluffing when they say they
will walk from a deal, they will learn how to
anticipate, recognize, and respond to supplier
negotiation tactics. Candidates will be able to
perform total cost analysis and price
benchmarking to deliver best possible
procurement results, they will learn how to
slash negotiation cycle time using a critical
procurement & purchasing technique and much,
much more!

For more information visit

www.competitorsview.com
support@competitorsview.com

55
CASE STUDY

Chipotle's
Supply
Chain
Difficulties

Chipotle has thrived in the fast-casual food industry by prioritizing sustainability in its
supply chain. The company's “Food with Integrity” policy focuses on sourcing food from
suppliers that meet its requirements for animal welfare, sustainability and social
accountability. Pursuant to the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010,
Chipotle published information on its website about its traceability program, under
which the company performs periodic audits, implements certification standards, and
holds their suppliers accountable for adhering to environmentally and socially sound
practices. Chipotle has been a leader in its field.

56
As Chipotle has learned, however, adhering to its policies (and,
really, doing nearly everything right) does not guarantee
contamination-free or sell-able food. Chipotle stopped serving
pork for the better part of 2015 after a routine audit of one of its
pork suppliers revealed practices, not in line with the company's
“Food with Integrity” policy. Sales took a hit, but the company
was applauded for sticking to its principles.

Then, Chipotle started experiencing contamination issues with

its locally-sourced ingredients. The first of these highly
publicized outbreaks occurred in Washington and Oregon,
where Chipotle voluntarily closed nearly 43 locations while it
launched an investigation. What was thought to be a one-off incident, quickly spiraled into a
series of illnesses linked to the company. Reports of E. Coli started coming from states
including California, New York, and Ohio. While the recent norovirus incident in Boston was
not related to food at all, the timing could not have been worse.

As the company predicated in its 2014 annual report, Chipotle's reliance on fresh produce left
the company susceptible to these food-borne illness outbreaks. “We may be at a higher risk
for food-borne illness outbreaks than some competitors due to our use of fresh produce and
meats rather than frozen, and our reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods
rather than automation.” Chipotle's traceability system helped the company react quickly at
the first sign of a problem. However, while traceability is important, equally important is
oversight in the supply chain.

To that end, Chipotle implemented enhanced food safety and food handling program. CEO
Steve Ells promised an enhanced safety and quality assurance program for its fresh produce
suppliers. IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group were tasked with designing a more robust
food safety program and to help Chipotle identify opportunities to enhance food safety
practices throughout its operations. Program implementations include DNA-based testing of
all fresh produce, end-of-shelf-life testing, and employee training on food handling. “While it is
never possible to completely eliminate all risk, this program eliminates or mitigates risk to a
level near zero, and will establish Chipotle as the industry leader in this area.” Mansour
Samadpour, Ph.D., CEO of IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group, Chipotle Press Release.

The lesson here is that sustainability and responsible CSR measures are important, but may
complicate supply chains in other ways – a challenge facing producers going forward.

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Kindly note: References for the article entitled 'Diversity Matters' was missed in previous edition of CPO
Innovation Magazine – July Edition. Please find below mentioned references for the same.

References – Diversity Matters! By Seema Mohanty (CPO Innovation Magazine – July Issue)
1 Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
2 'Improving Women's Visibility' published in 2014 by Women in Supply Chain Australia
3 2018 'Women in Supply Chain' research conducted by Gartner and AWESOME
4 'Leaders of Change: Women in Supply Chain' published in SupplyChain247 on 2nd Sep 2016
5 'The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women's Representation on Boards' published by
Catalyst in 2007
6 'Women in Procurement' study by Oliver Wyman (Year 2019)

References – August Issue

Supply Chain & Logistics Industry: Gender Gap – Aneeta Madhok
1. “Supply Chain 2025 – Trends & Implications for India”, A Joint AT Kearney-
CSCMP Study, April 2014.
2. “SCM Definitions and Glossary of Terms” CSCMP Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals.
3. “India's Logistics Sector To Reach USD 215 bn by 2020” ET Survey, Economic
Times, January 29, 2018.
4. “The Business Case for Gender Equality”. Workplace Gender Equality Agency,
Australian Government. November 2018.
5. “Seeking to Close The Gender Gap in Shipping and Logistics” American
Shipper, December 17, 2017.

Women Leaders in Supply Chain: A Competitive Differentiator – Kumar Singh

(1) HBR -What makes a team smarter? More Women
(2) (3) Does Female Representation in Top Management Improve Firm Performance? A Panel
Data Investigation Cristian L. Dezső University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of
Business
(4) HBR: Gender Diversity makes firms more productive
(5) HBR: Women score more than men in most of the leadership skills

Case Study
https://www.globalsupplychainlawblog.com/case-studies/case-study-chipotles-supply-chain-difficulties/

TOP 10
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/these-are-the-top-10-emerging-technologies-of-2019/
https://innovate.mygov.in/innovation/smart-fertilizers/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/collaborative-telepresence-could-render-distance-relatively-
meaningless/\
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_digital_data_storage
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dna-data-storage-is-closer-than-you-think/

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