14.9 Discussion and Practice

Using your favorite search engine, identify a company that used a pilot project to establish credibility and build momentum for implementing a strategic initiative (e.g., lean six sigma, resilience, sustainability, etc.). How well did the company follow pilot project best practices? What did it do particularly well? Where could it have improved its performance? What were the ultimate outcomes, both for the pilot results and the overall implementation?

Using your favorite search engine, identify a company that struggled with, and ultimately backed off, a strategic implementation. Why did the company abandon the strategic initiative? If the company did not use a pilot project, how might a pilot project have changed the outcome of the implementation for the better? If the company used a pilot project, what went wrong? Or, did the pilot project help the company make the choice to kill the initiative?

Consider the weighted-factor selection process. What are its strengths and weaknesses? Be prepared to share the relative merits of using weighted-factor models.

In using the weighted-factor selection process, could someone assign weights to “game” the system to favor the supplier that they want? How can this gaming be prevented?

What are the pros and cons of having a cross-functional team use the weighted-factor approach? If you have a cross-functional team and you ask each person to complete the evaluation, should each person’s views receive equal weight? Should each person be allowed to assign their own weights to the criteria? Why or why not?

Go to a favorite source of business news, such as the Wall Street Journal or the Economist. Identify and read a substantive supply-chain-related article that you find interesting. Now, do the following two activities.

First, evaluate the article using the SUCCES formula. How sticky is the article? Be sure to address each of the six attributes of stickiness.

Second, based on the article, write a 100-word sticky elevator pitch that highlights key takeaways from your supply chain classes. Once you are done, highlight the elements of your story that make it simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and a real story.