Since Doug Smock has joined as a Supply Excellence contributor, I have gone back and re-read my now dog eared copy of his book, Straight to the Bottom Line. It contains extremely insightful strategies for measuring supply management performance, quantifying the financial impact of supply improvements, and securing support and alignment from C-level executives for supply management initiatives. I anxiously await next year’s sequel which will dive into how leading organizations have leveraged technology to accelerate and improve their supply management performance.

In the interim, I decided to dust off some of my other favorite supply management tomes and provide the Supply Excellence Summer Reading List. My recommendations are mostly ”classics” but the principles and best practices they proscribe are still very applicable today:

• Balanced Sourcing: Cooperation and Competition in Supplier Relationships by Timothy M. Laseter: Drawing upon his experiences consulting with leading companies, Laseter, founder of Booz-Allen & Hamilton’s global sourcing practice, lays out six organizational capabilities that for effective sourcing: modeling total costs; creating sourcing strategies; building and sustaining relationships; integrating the supply web; leveraging supplier innovation; and evolving a global supply base. While ahead of their time, these principles are now a requisite for effective supply management in today’s global and risk-infested economy. Don’t worry. Laseter balances theory with practical examples, case studies, and frameworks you can use.
• The Connected Corporation: How Leading Companies Win Through Customer-Supplier Alliances by Jordan D. Lewis: Lewis takes an inside look at how leading companies like Motorola, Ford, and PPG have used new organizational and governance structures, collaborative processes, and business systems to reinvent processes, remove waste, and drive joint competitive advantage with suppliers. This book has some great examples of how to integrate suppleirs into the product development process and how to establish an effective performance management program that fosters continuous improvements.
• Strategic Supply Chain Management by Jim Morgan and Robert Monczka: My former mentor and Purchasing Magazine editor-in-chief, Jim Morgan, teams up with former ASU professor (now at Michigan State) to provide a practical guide to understanding supply management, what best practices look like, and how to get started on your journey. This is a great primer and reference guide for strategic sourcing and supplier management strategies. I refer to it often.

Add your own supply management reading recommendations by replying in the comment section. I will republish the list based on feedback from the Supply Excellence community.

Happy Independence Day! And happy reading!

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