16.9 Discussion and Practice

Consider the metaphor of the general manager and draft day. Identify a couple of examples where a sports general manager made a "bad" draft choice. What happened? Why? In what ways do purchasing professionals make similar mistakes?

Think of a disruptive technology that has occurred during your life.

1. What was that technology?

2. In what ways did it affect people's lives positively and negatively?

3. In what ways did it affect purchasing and the supply chain?

Google additive technologies/additive manufacturing (also 3D printing). Identify an interesting application. Explain it. How will this application impact purchasing and supply management? Be specific.

Google cyber security. Identify a cyber event that disrupted "business as usual." What happened? What were the consequences and costs? In what ways do you think cyber threats will impinge on the adoption of other game changers?

Pretend you are a member of a fictitious company called Olympus. Now, imagine one of Olympus' best retail customers has invited you to help them with a scenario planning session. The goal is to better understand how sustainability and risk are going to change retail practice by 2025. As a purchasing professional, what points would you contribute to this brainstorming session? Outline a brief scenario story that would help Olympus develop a world-class supply management capability to support retail sustainability in 2025.