Back from the Easter break and looking forward to settling back into work nice and gently?
Sorry to disappoint you – it turns out that the boss is not happy. The revelation comes in a new survey of company chief executives which found that nine out of ten of them are not happy with the business performance of their organisations.
And, according to the study by Censuswide for Oliver Wight, many of the problems are self-inflicted because businesses are not effective at forward planning. And given that supply chain plays such a critical role in the sales and operations planning process, that has to be a concern for industry professionals.
Almost three quarters of the 152 CEOs surveyed admitted that business planning wasn’t a priority, and 19 per cent admitted they were only planning 12 months ahead. More than a quarter of businesses have not fully integrated their business planning across the entire organisation.
The report also reveals that CEOs are not innocent in all this. Liam Harrington of Oliver Wight points out that most CEOs are only concerned with improving processes rather than transforming performance. “For example, almost one in three business leaders want improved forecast accuracy compared to just 19 per cent who want to increase margin. It beggars belief.”
Another concern identified is a tendency for CEOs to prioritise short term gains over long term benefits. It found that there was a preference to invest almost twice as much in technology as in people or processes.
We are seeing significant changes in the global business environment as a result of the political changes in the United States and Europe, and these are forcing a reassessment of supply chain strategies. Effective planning is going to be more critical in the years ahead. Get it wrong, and I can guarantee that the boss is going to be even more unhappy.
