Art of Supply
The value of lean thinking comes from its effectiveness as a resilience strategy, not just a financial tool. It comes down to process mastery, problem solving. If organizations actively apply lean thinking, they can reevaluate their sourcing models and invest in resilient processes long before tariffs or any other disruption makes it necessary.
There are tremendous opportunities for those individuals, those companies, those supply chains that can kind of figure out things a little sooner than the rest and become the model for others to follow. They’re going to enjoy a huge advantage.
Thomas Goldsby - Dee & Jimmy Haslam Chair of Supply Chain, David P. Perrot Supply Chain Management Faculty Fellow
on how companies that go lean gain an advantage over their competitors
Inbound Logistics
For supply chain and logistics professionals, uncertainty is the devil. A lack of stability makes it difficult to reach informed, short-term decisions, let alone long-term, larger investments in physical locations or supply networks, where the economic implications extend beyond the next election cycle. Yet, uncertainty is the only certainty for the foreseeable future.
Alan Amling - Assistant Professor of Practice
regarding the impact of the fraught U.S. political situation on supply chains
The Tennessean
More than 73,000 new businesses formed in Tennessee during fiscal year 2024. It’s the lowest number of new business filings in three years, but it still far outpaces pre-pandemic records. I want to put some historical perspective on these numbers. This level of new business formation in Tennessee is more than double what we saw just 10 years ago. Our perspective in the Boyd Center [for Business and Economic Research] is that the U.S. economy continues to do quite well, and national recession risks are minimal at this time. And Tennessee continues to lead the nation.
Don Bruce - Boyd Distinguished Professor
on the positive aspects of Tennessee’s slowing economic growth
Marketplace
There are things bigger ports can focus on to meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They can upgrade one of the dirtiest links in any supply chain: trucks. Those not only emit higher rates of CO2, but they also have the local pollutants at vastly higher rates.
Alex Scott - Gerald T. Niedert Professor, Cheryl Massingale Business Faculty Scholar
on what large ports can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
WGBH
Tennessee’s free college tuition program has been crucial to attracting students who otherwise wouldn’t go to college, but it doesn’t guarantee other vital needs like academic coaching and financial support for living expenses. There’s still a great deal of need beyond tuition, like advising
Celeste Carruthers - William F. Fox Distinguished Professor of Labor Economics
on what Massachusetts can learn from Tennessee’s free college program
InStore Magazine
Honesty really is the best policy in this case. Be open; be direct to your customers that you need to change this policy because it’s no longer financially sustainable for you. Use those narratives to justify your actions. Do not let your customers find answers elsewhere.
Huseyn Abdulla - Assistant Professor
advising retailers to avoid consumer backlash to opaque return policies
Fortune
Given huge executive pay packages and a corporate focus on shareholder value at the expense of their customers and employees, it’s not hard to see why people will blame CEOs for the pain and suffering their companies inflict on them. There will always be wing nuts that need guarding against, but the risk will be much lower if the public loves rather than hates what the CEO and their company do.
Tim Pollock - Haslam Chair of Business & Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship, Kinney Family Faculty Research Fellow
on why CEOs of large companies should be more transparent to consumers
HR Daily Advisor
Remote and hybrid work models are the future. Synchronous communication technologies enable us to work in real time with colleagues anywhere in the connected world. Ultimately, companies will need to offer flexible virtual work options—potentially including dedicated in-office time—to attract and retain top talent and enable them to produce at a high level. The companies that figure this out will effectively differentiate themselves on the labor market.
Timothy Munyon - Management & Entrepreneurship Department Head, Ergen Professor in Business, Janet & Jeff Davis Faculty Fellow
on whether corporate return-to-work mandates are sustainable
Wall Street Journal
Many companies are finding that we don’t want to have too many eggs in one basket. Adding a production facility closer to customers may cost a little bit more in the short term, but it gives us the ability to be a lot more flexible and agile.
Justin Kistler - Assistant Professor
on reshoring production to minimize shortages from disruptions to international supply chains
Forbes
When used properly, AI can be a powerful tool for accelerating your own innovative capabilities. Whether you use it for idea generation, to automate mundane tasks so you have more time to focus on higher-level thinking, or to draw from data to improve your decision-making, AI can have a very real impact on your ability to innovate. And when AI becomes an integrated part of your collaborative culture, it can drive these improvements across the entire team.
Kate Vitasek - Distinguished Fellow, Global Supply Chain Institute
on the wise use of AI
Jeff Abbott on the Beach image
