ABSTRACT
Most companies are deeply into some type of continuous improvement effort that has been embraced as part of a larger supply chain initiative. Under skilled direction, these efforts move as close to optimization as possible. Most of the involved firms also have a culture that favors incremental change for the better, fueled by internal-only effort, and backed with a lot of denial for why objectives were not achieved or when exposed to evidence of better competitive progress. In supply chain, this condition limits a firm’s movement across the supply chain evolution. When a company’s culture stands in opposition to a new strategy or better practices, the culture always wins, and we encounter the next obstacle to progress — dealing incorrectly with the existing culture.
