In this episode, Tony hosts Vikram Agarwal, former Avon CSCO with over 32 years of international experience in FTSE 100 companies. Vikram shares his learnings in driving growth and giving businesses a competitive edge through purpose-driven supply chains and digital transformations. Besides, he talks about managing cross-culturally after working 15 years as an international executive for Unilever. Before leaving Unilever to become Avon’s CSCO, Vikram led its business leadership team in Africa, responsible for an end-to-end supply chain across 15 countries with 25,000 employees.

Key takeaways:

Intercultural management and authentic leadership: Throughout his time in India, Singapore, UK, Africa, and then back in the UK, Vikram developed a global perspective in managing people from various backgrounds, gaining a deep understanding of what moves, incentivizes, and motivates people. Authentic Leadership is the one that cuts across this cultural diversity- purposeful, values-driven and building personal relationships. The business landscape differs in each region, and understanding that has to start from understanding the cultural diversity of the people we work with.

Purpose-driven supply chains: Supply chains need to take a 360-degree approach to sustainability. Having witnessed multiple activities that deeply impacted the eco-socio order, Vikram realized that it’s not only about sustainable sourcing that enterprises should focus on, but it’s also about fair wages, living conditions, cutting out waste, carbon footprint reduction for the environment, and health and wellness for communities and consumers.

Value creation through supply chain transformations:

Advice to leaders:

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