ABSTRACT
Supply chains permeate every type of enterprise, whether commercial or not-for-profit; they pervade our lives and are the 'pathways' through which products and services move as they gather value en route to the end-user/consumer. This chapter focuses on the forces at work at the cultural capability level, because it is that the human action inside the enterprise plays out, hidden from view. It explains that we need human resource management (HRM) professionals to be focusing their attention and providing technical advice and support to senior management. Lean Supply Chains is the type of supply chain we are bent on delivering a low-cost predictable service to customers who otherwise don not care for extras. In terms of measures, those that come to the fore are forecast accuracy, Delivery-In-Full-On-Time (DIFOT); cost per unit; and selected productivity ratios. The chapter examines the audience of 300 people on 'Living Supply Chains' topic and what this meant for designing and operating contemporary high-performance supply chains.
