We are facing unprecedented social, economic, and environmental crises. We've lost many lives to COVID and as unemployment reaches new highs, businesses and supply chains must navigate a new, never normal world. The business as usual operating model of globalization versus localized/shorter supply chains, lowest price versus value, opportunity versus obligation has created the status quo. Is incremental improvement or doing things "less bad" actually helping or hurting business and our planet? How do we connect the dots and show leadership during crisis using circularity?

In Episode 27, James George from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation discusses that COVID has accelerated conversations for circular economy. Two distinct groups are emerging: 1) those who've been disrupted and don't know where to go or where to start, and 2) the businesses who are successful are prioritizing doing things differently, innovation, doubling down on circular economy grounded in the business case for change including agility, supply assurance, and designing risk out of your supply chain. Supply chain resilience is critical and how do you ensure the right work gets done? Lastly, we debate how sustainability and circularity may not exist in the same sentence. Is optimizing for "less bad" the right pivot to navigate COVID and beyond?

How do you get started?

Find James George, EllenMacArthur Foundation at https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-george-20995b75/

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better. It’s no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems. There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. (Edward de Bono) 

The concept of a circular economy is a hot topic in the midst of COVID, not only because of its positive social, environmental, financial impacts but also the assuring of supply, mitigation of raw material price fluctuation, reduction of waste, and innovative revenue streams. As circular design ambitions grow, current advances in technology have made it possible for companies like Lego and IKEA to lead the transition to a circular economy. Lego is answering this question: how do we use creativity and play to help children reimagine and rebuild the world? And how do we engage AFOLs (adult fans of Lego) for current design ideas?

Technology alone cannot achieve CE at scale, so what role do humans and creativity play in the world achieving a true circular economy?

In Episode 26, James George from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes the importance of purpose, leadership, courage and risk in the Circular Economy. Using concrete examples of ingenuity, technology, and the human experience, we unpack Lego’s Circular & Sustainable journey “RePlay”…inspiring bold moves through play, creativity, and powerful leadership. IKEA is solving the wicked problem of food waste using AI, process optimization, demand planning. They pilot circular disruption at the store level and iterate to scale. Want to learn more? This is the episode for you. 

Circular economy is an investment lever many companies are pulling to weather long term disruption and build sustainable supply chains. Human and creativity play a role in achieving innovation at scale to build a better, healthier planet and economy.

How do you get started?

Find James George, EllenMacArthur Foundation at https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-george-20995b75/

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

Global carbon dioxide emissions have increased by nearly 50 per cent since 1990, and 2019 was the warmest year on record. Climate change touches everything we do and for the 1st time, the World Economic Forum has named climate change as a leading risk facing business and our survival. Episode 25 discusses the Green Revolution and all its glorious, wicked, complexities. Climate action requires rapid changes that must take place in four key parts of society: energy generation, land use, consumer behavior, and industry. Tom Raftery, Global VP and SAP Innovation Evangelist joins Sheri Hinish, and both have a deep-rooted passion for sustainability and sustainable development. 

This episode touches on everything from SDG 13, to a comparison of renewable energy sources, how to build a green data center, why Google and Microsoft cloud environments are more sustainable than AWS, and the business case for transition to EVs (electric vehicles). What is the social cost of carbon? How do we trust businesses and suppliers to be sustainable in environmental stewardship? How can reporting and pricing carbon can reduce emissions and enable smarter planning in supply chains? According to conservation.org, the Price tag for climate change in the US is $ 140​ billion per year. This is what it would take to make the changes humanity needs to adapt to a warming world. It may sound like a lot, but it’s less than 0.2% of global GDP. And the cost will only increase the longer we take to act ambitiously.

Supply Chains, technology, and Industry 4.0 are a conduit for climate action using environmental risk management, the cost of carbon, and understanding consumer behavior where shifts like purchaser-to-participant and “shades of green” meet the consumer in their green journey. There are natural climate pivots like the “flexitarian diet” and small behavior shifts that pay dividends. There is a fiscal argument for climate action that is unpacked in this episode, inlacing SAP’s new Climate 21 initiative.

Climate change impacts natural and human systems globally through the increase globally averaged surface temperature, extreme weather events, changing precipitation patterns, rising sea levels and ocean acidification. These risks will ultimately impact people’s livelihoods, particularly marginalized groups such as women, children, and the elderly, as resources, food and water become more scarce. If you think about the SDGs, the lasting effects of climate change tied to SDG 13 makes it very difficult to achieve other goals. The green revolution starts with you. Learn more about how we can design a better future with zero waste, equality, and transition to carbon neutrality, and carbon negative solutions to unite people and our planet.

This is a longer discussion than other episodes but worth the listen!

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

This Part 2 of a 2 part series featuring Celia Fleischaker, Chief Marketing Officer at PROS, an AI-based platform that helps people and companies outperform by enabling smarter personalization in the digital economy. In this episode, we explore diversity & inclusion and dive deep into the building blocks for digital trust.

Employment in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations has grown 79% since 1990, from 9.7 million to 17.3 million, outpacing overall U.S. job growth. There’s no single standard for which jobs count as STEM, and this may contribute to a number of misperceptions about who works in STEM and the difference that having a STEM-related degree can make in workers’ pocketbooks.Research published by the National Center for Women and IT describes how women remain highly underrepresented in software engineering, whereby:

• Only 26% of computing-related jobs are held by women.
• Just 3% of computing-related jobs are held by African-American women, 6% held by Asian women and 2% held by Hispanic women.
• 50% of women said they have experienced gender discrimination at work.

One of the biggest offenders of unconscious bias is assessing for “culture fit.” unconscious biases are the underlying attitudes and stereotypes people associate with a person or groups of people. We discuss Celia's journey as a woman in technology, her leap past the “broken rung” and how the tech industry and STEM fields can do a better job to promote gender equity and inclusivity of underrepresented people in the workplace.

Online presence and your digital footprint can be a conduit for connecting with customers, associates, and partners. Building trust in a digital age is becoming increasingly important. As we continue to navigate COVID and digital transformation, while pivoting to digital everything - in the workplace, virtual events, engaging across social media - what is digital trust and why does it matter? Accenture defines digital trust as a widely accepted belief that a brand is reliable, capable, safe, transparent, and truthful in its digital practices. Digital trust is difficult to build, but startlingly easy to lose. This makes it a key differentiator in the digital economy. We explore how companies build trust in this digital era with customers and partners using data, insights, personalization, and consistency cross-channel. 

To learn more about PROS, visit https://pros.com/

To learn more about Celia, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/celiafleischaker/

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

In Episode 23, we explore AI and how digital transformation is a driving force in business today. But do we understand AI, and how can we shift the paradigm of black box to glass box? Recent research shows that even the most well-designed AI systems can still end up with bias, per McKinsey. This is important as we think about the future of work and autonomous everything because AI can exhibit “unfairness” by accident, ultimately embedding bias like sexism, racism, ageism and other discriminatory behaviors that WE rely on for decision making to become automated at scale.  

According to Genpact's study, AI 360: Hold, fold, or double down?, mitigating AI bias can increase opportunities to build customer relationships. Most consumers (58%) are more likely to recommend a company that can demonstrate its AI algorithms are bias-free, and more likely to purchase products or services from such businesses (56%). Gen Z (69%) and millennial (70%) respondents champion unbiased brands even. How do you build trust in the digital age? 

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series featuring Celia Fleischaker, Chief Marketing Officer at PROS, an AI-based platform that helps people and companies outperform by enabling smarter personalization in the digital economy. In this episode, we describe the AI revolution and how to prevent unethical AI, how to build trust in algorithms, and impacts in the future of work and autonomous supply chains. Part 2 of this discussion (Episode 24), will explore diversity & inclusion and dive deep into the building blocks for digital trust.

To learn more about PROS, visit https://pros.com/

To learn more about Celia, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/celiafleischaker/

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

Imagine a world where city and suburban agriculture takes the form of backyard, roof-top and balcony gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, roadside urban fringe agriculture and livestock grazing in open space. From bio-walls, to edible landscapes, and “gardens-as-a-service,” the transition to a circular economy and sustainable world includes leveraging Urban Agriculture and regenerative farming techniques.

In Episode 22 (Part 2 of the discussion), we explore the principles of regenerative agriculture in the circular transition, including the tension of going local, integrating food education in public schools, the benefits of urban agriculture and holistic design, the importance of communities in agriculture and circularity, and how you can get started in your journey rethinking food and food security. The revolution starts at the bottom. Learn more about how we can design a better future with zero waste, equality, and transition to soil-to-soil approaches to unite people and our planet.

PS: This is the 2nd part of a long discussion. Part 1 is Episode 21, so if you haven’t listened to it yet it’s a good primer for this episode. It’s about 17 mins.

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

"More than a mere alternative strategy, regenerative agriculture represents a fundamental shift in our culture's relationship with nature." In Episode 21 ( Part 1 of 2 ), we explore the principles of regenerative agriculture in the circular transition, including integrated permaculture which provides an environmental-social-economic framework for equity, social, and environmental justice.

The future of food and cities uses space, people, and buildings to maximize value. This episode touches on the benefits of urban agriculture and decentralized food systems for food security and sovereignty...the right of people to have healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. The revolution starts at the bottom. Learn more about how we can design a better future with zero waste, equality, and transition to soil-to-soil approaches to unite people and our planet.

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

"If we are going to see real development in the world, then our best investment is women." (Desmond Tutu) The research is clear: when a women has the ability to take control of her destiny and make informed choices there are positive ripple effects on her family, her community and her country. Women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchases, so it also makes great business sense to build a solution that focuses on women.

In Episode 20 we are joined with Joanna Bichsel, Microsoft software developer turned CEO of health tech start up Kasha, pioneering women’s e-commerce and consumer driven supply chain in East Africa. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Joanna learned that women in Africa faced real challenges in buying sanitary pads and other basic health products. She thought, “Why not develop a e-commerce platform for women to buy affordable, high quality health products confidentially?” The idea for Kasha was born. 

This episode explores best practices in last mile delivery using mobile to deliver direct to consumer, discreetly, the consumer driven supply chain fueled by data and digital with the women in mind, using social media for market shaping, public private partnerships in working with governments to create access for people using technology, and empowering women to confidentially and affordably purchase the products they need to live their best lives.

To learn more about Kasha, visit: http://www.kasha.co

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

In Episode 19, we explore one of the most controversial materials in consumer packaged goods and first mile sustainability - palm oil. Palm oil is in over 50% of products on retail supermarket shelves (WWF). From Unilever, Kelloggs, PepsiCo, to other members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Sustainability and traceability are hot topics and front of mind in many CPG Supply Chains.

Cameron Plese joins us from RSPO in one of our best discussions yet, to explore why palm oil is such an important topic. Provocative PoV on the impact of palm oil on the environment and economies, industry collaboration with CPG leaders like Proctor & Gamble (and their Smallholder Academy), Walmart (and Project Gigaton), Kelloggs advances in human rights, and Unilever's ongoing commitment to sustainability. Topics we cover include strategy in sourcing, policy and how to get started, technology in first mile sustainability including traceability, drones, and blockchain. If you ever wanted to learn about sustainability in sourcing, including smallholder farmer collaboration, this is a great episode.

To learn more about RSPO and their North America Sustainable Palm Oil Virtual Conference on June 16-18, 2020, visit https://www.rspo.org/

Find the Supply Chain Queen and Circular Nomad at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/

In Episode 18, we are joined with Adebayo Adeleke who explores three truths of supply chain: 1) how emotion is an element of critical thinking, 2) hope is not a cause of action, and logistics is the oxygen that allows supply chains to function. Adebayo Adeleke has an interesting story with twists and turns in different supply chain roles that has led him all over the world. He was a soldier, supervisor, and an officer in the US Army responsible for procurement, strategic sourcing, and logistics. Post retirement, Adebayo is a sought-after consultant, speaker, leadership trainer, and podcaster who shares his passion for supply chain and making an impact in the lives of others. His podcast “UnFettered”shares insights to help global leaders reach their goals in complex transformations.

This episode explores ‘Bayo’s’ journey living in a post-truth era where we synthesize information that can make or break your success. He shares the importance of strategy in logistics, the negative and positive influences of emotions in leadership and change management, and encourages others to not shy away from difficult situations. Lastly, we discuss risk management through the lens of balancing emotion and demand for effective planning.

To learn more about Adebayo, visit: http://www.adebayoadeleke.com

Find us, connect, and explore at https://www.supplychainrevolution.com/