Prompt 1: Common Preconceptions

Supply Chain Management is not widely known by most people. This may result in a handful of preconceptions of what supply chain is or how supply chain workers present themselves. Before truly looking into what supply chain is my preconceptions were as follows. The workers most likely are outgoing and have good social skills. I think this because they need to be able to communicate to keep the flow of goods steady and frequent. They should also be comfortable with people of many backgrounds because they have sales with all nations. Workers in supply chain probably have to be good on computers; they need to be able to make spread sheets or create charts to keep track of sales. Change is all around us, especially in sales, so workers must be able to adapt to change.

After doing some research, most of my preconceptions I was not sure about turned out to be correct. When big companies have many suppliers, communication is key to avoid any slow down of the product getting to the consumer. Good social skills come in handy in Costumer Relationship Management, it is cheaper to have a long-lasting relationship with a customer, rather than trying to constantly pick up new costumers. Because supply chain has gone global, it has opened new markets and ways to retain supplies. This goes along with my idea that the workers must be able to relate to people of all backgrounds. Not all workers in supply chain need to be good with computers, though. There are many job titles in supply chain, so there are options that do not require computer skills. Lastly, a costumers demand is always changing, people in supply chain have to forecast these changes in order to adjust their sales to keep costumers. The source of my research can be found here.

I found that I had a good grasp on the basics of supply chain. After doing the research, though, I feel more well-rounded in what I know. The second edition of Principles of Supply Chain Management was easy to follow along with and very helpful (link posted above).  It is a great source to any type of questions about supply chain.

-Jarrod Lincoln