Over the past few months, I had the opportunity to study for and sit to become a Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) via the Association of Supply Chain Management (ASCM). The process was laborious and required immense self-discipline and countless hours of studying. Having studied Supply Chain in undergraduate school and focusing on Supply Chain for my MBA, I found the CSCP to be the toughest material to get myself through. However, there are resources and tactics to help you succeed and I am here to share what I found useful. Note – this is just what I personally found helpful, everyone learns in different ways.


So why the CSCP?

There are a number of supply chain certifications available in the professional marketplace. ASCM offers the following major certifications:

• CSCP
• CPIM – Certified in Planning and Inventory Management
• CLTP – Certified in Logistics, Transportation, and Distribution

In addition to ASCM, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) offers:

• CPSM – Certified Professional in Supply Management
• CPSD – Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity

When I sat down to weigh the options I reflected on my professional experience and where I wanted my career to go. I spent five years in the defense contracting world and at the time of this article I am a Senior Planner in the dental product space. My aspirations point toward management of the supply chain on a global level. For this reason, I chose the CSCP. The CSCP does a great job at covering:

• Supplier’s suppliers
• Suppliers
• Your organization
• Your customer
• Customer’s customers

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Thus, I felt the CSCP would give be the greatest breadth of knowledge.


Determining How to Study
After I landed on the CSCP it was time to get started. I was fortunate to have the financial support of my employer to take on the burden of purchasing the study materials. However, before I started, I needed to determine a study path.

ASCM offers three study plan methods:

• Self-Study
• Instructor-Led
• Instructor-Supported

Ultimately, I landed on the self-study option. The majority of my MBA was self-study so I felt confident I could discipline myself. However, there is plenty of value in instructor-led and instructor supported study. I will shamelessly plug my Alma Mater, Duquesne University, who has partnered with ASCM on these learning opportunities.

I also chose to bundle the Exam Prep Materials and the Exam Expense. This came with a 1-year membership to ASCM, which I was very excited about! In all, it ended up costing a little over $2,000.


Making a Plan
I am going to start with saying, EVERYTHING you need to pass the exam is in the ASCM provided Learning System. I bought Version 5.0 the day it was released and made a plan to take the Version 5.0 (2022) test the second day it was available. The key here was – making a plan.
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The first step was taking the pre-test in the online Learning System. This helps assess where you should focus your studies. DO NOT WORRY! I scored a 40% on the pre-test and I have two degrees and 8 years of experience working in supply chain!
After the pre-test the Learning System will set an order of topics for you to study. I took this order and built a plan. My plan focused on reading two sections per week. Once I read each section, I studied the flash cards, completed the case studies, and took the associated quiz. I logged my quiz scores in an excel spreadsheet (see below) and kept moving forward. After 5-6 sections were completed, I went back and refined my knowledge where I scored less than 80% on a quiz. In some cases, that meant re-read topics and in other cases, I just needed a second shot at the quiz after reviewing the flash cards. In any case, I did not move forward until I achieved 80% on all quizzes in that block. This whole process took me 15 weeks. During this time, it was important to truly understand the material as I went along. It can be easy to memorize quiz questions, but that will not help you pass the exam. You need to understand the topic and be able to apply it.

Like nearly everyone at this time of year, I am spending time reflecting on the past year. Taking time to appreciate the positives, but also considering the negatives. Reflection is an important task for all of us and the new year seems like the perfect time to do it with promises of a fresh start and an opportunity to change. But here is the thing, I am not a fan of the age old “New Year Resolution” mindset.

There are a few reasons why I do not love the idea of New Year Resolutions, but mainly that they set people up to fail. Most resolutions are sweeping initiatives to keep all year long and are phrased in a very general way. One that comes to mind is, “I am going to work out everyday in 2022.” What does this mean? Is it realistic? I would say no. Inevitably, there is going to be one day where the prospect of working out simply is not going to happen due to family priorities or a long workday. This leads to another issue with the idea of a resolution. If you set this goal of doing something every single day and you miss a day, you are more likely to give up on it entirely and abandon the objective. Resolutions can often times be treated like excuses. In October, someone might say they are not going to work on that goal until the New Year since that is his or her resolution. This delays the opportunity to start working toward improvement now.
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Finally, a resolution is rarely a SMART goal. I am personally a big advocate for setting SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound. By setting broad declarations for the start of the year, you typically are not setting yourself up for success. Is your resolution an attainable goal? How are you measuring success? Now I realize that this is a harsh criticism on resolutions, and this is not a “one size fits all” scenario. If resolutions work for you, that is fantastic, and you should not feel in any way obligated to change that. But, if you have trouble sticking to your resolutions, I have a proposal on how to switch it up and set yourself up for success.

Toss out the idea of creating a resolution and create goals for yourself—SMART goals. Don’t make a goal that has to last the entire year. Structure quarterly goals that you can review and adapt. The shorter interval is likely to help you enable success. Instead of “work out every day,” you can start with making sure you go on a fifteen-minute walk before work three times per week until March because you know that is time available to you. You might realize you actually have thirty minutes in the morning and can revisit that goal in a couple weeks or months and revise it for the next few months. Maybe you start feeling more in shape and decide to change it to a jog rather than a walk. Regardless, you can build on the shorter-term goal and improve incrementally. We are often conditioned to swing for the fence with our goals, but the reality is, not every goal has to be a homerun.
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The point of this blog is not to completely bash the “New Year Resolution” mentality, but to offer an alternative to reshape how you think about resolutions and goals. I personally know I have had some success with resolutions in the past, but that is rare for me. Setting goals in a different format has helped to be more successful overall in completing both personal and professional challenges. This will also help to avoid delaying goals. You can update your goals whenever you want and do not need to wait until the New Year to try again!

An important topic during the holiday is taking time for yourself. Anyone who knows me will be able to tell you that this is something that I struggle with personally, but still understand the importance of. After all, I usually travel with my work computer even if we are just going away for a weekend in case something comes up.

Getting time off and a moment to reset is extremely important for our mental health. We are constantly plugged in due to email being connected to our phones or coworkers having our cell phone numbers. What we need to remember is that it is okay to let that inbox have a few emails sitting in it on your day off. It is okay to miss that call when you are using a vacation day. This is where I struggle. I struggle to trust that others will be able to handle my usual responsibilities while I am away. One of my worries when taking a day off is that my responsibilities will be a burden on my team members. The teams we are on are integral to our success everyday and it should be no different when covering for you while you take that hard-earned day off. Trust that those you work with will have your back and just as you have their back when they are out of the office.

We also need to be better at encouraging coworkers and employees to disengage from the day-to-day of work. Approving a vacation day is one thing, but it is entirely different to hear a manager say, “Approved—and really take this day off. Don’t log on. You earned this time to rest and relax. Your team can cover for you on this day off.” Validation from a manager can go a long way, but it is also nice to hear from your peers. Encouraging your coworkers to disengage is a wonderful way to begin to shift the culture and mindset surrounding time off.
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I have been working to be better about this and separate work time and personal time. This is something we should all strive to do because it goes without saying that we need that time to ourselves and to our families or loved ones. If you are taking some time off over this holiday season, try to really take that time for yourself. You deserve it and you NEED it.

As supply professionals, we have a responsibility to all other segments of our businesses to ensure we are engaging and teaching those segments about what our discipline entails. Supply chain is not easily understood. It takes time and patience to help others in different areas of a business to understand the interconnectivity of the various aspects of supply chain and how they affect each other. Any easy way to begin this conversations is by asking co-workers, “what does supply chain mean to you?”

From sales to production to customer service, it is crucial that all teams in a business understand the supply chain and how one issue may affect getting the end product to a customer. We are seeing this every day with the rise of finished good shortages on the customer side. When teaching someone somewhat green to the field of supply chain, an easy starting point is to discuss the bullwhip effect. The bullwhip effect explains very simply how changes in the downstream supply chain (closer to the customer) can impact the upstream supply chain (toward the suppliers). A great way to illustrate this is through a simulation called the “beer game.” This is an inventory exercise that demonstrates these changes by varying the end customer demand and having the various pieces of the simulated supply chain react to those changes usually causes huge shortages or overages of “material.” Anyone can participate in this simulation and can not only show how the supply chain is impacted, but also help participants understand the different departments within the supply chain.

Departmental understanding is also important for those outside of the supply chain. Often, coworkers will look to communicate with whoever they are comfortable with or already know, but that does not mean that is the person they should be working with on the issue. For this reason, the supply chain should have a robust organizational chart that has high level details about what each department is responsible for to streamline finding that correct person to help.
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Finally, supply chain has a duty to communicate processes. Processes are a major part of the supply chain and the related processes to another department can be extremely valuable in gaining traction between the two groups. This includes helping groups understand ERP systems and the impact they play on the business. This can help other departments understand the supply chain and the roles they play within it as well as how to positive impact it to make it more efficient. Groups outside the supply chain can also begin to learn the value of supply chain and where the supply chain can be beneficial in helping create need value. The supply chain is able to play a role in new process development, which can save money. It can also be part of the product development process to understand bottlenecks and capabilities, but can also work to avoid design flaws that others may miss not having a different perspective in the room. It is this type of collaborative effort that allows the various business departments and a supply chain to work to develop a strategic competitive advantage.

What kind of leader are you and what kind of leader do you aspire to be? The two main types of leadership that we will discuss today are transactional and transformational leadership. A transactional leader will focus on group performance and day-to-day activities to reach goals. Transformational leaders will on focus on a shared vision, which can be used to motivate and engage the group she or he is leading. Both leadership styles are certainly needed in organizations, and one is not necessarily better than the other. You can find each type of leader throughout all levels of organizations, but often, roles will be a large determinant of what type of lead you have the ability to be.


Expanding on what qualifies as aa transactional leader, there are particular characteristics that help define what a transactional leader is. One characteristic is close supervision of employees and their effect on group performance. This can result in closely monitoring each employees work and understanding where shortfalls have occurred to avoid them in the future. Transactional leadership typically involves a reward-punishment incentive system as well. Finally, transactional leaders operate within the current organization structure and tailor work to fit what that would usually dictate.

Transformational leadership, on the other hand, uses a variety of methods outside of reward and punishment to motivate their team. Transformational leaders are typically role models for their team and demonstrate a shared vision to establish a sense of significance behind the group’s work. This shared vision is an important pillar in motivating employees to complete goals successfully without the need for close work review by the manager. Transformational leaders also establish an environment that allows for “followers” to safely challenge ideas or norms and present ideas of their own. Individual needs from a leader are often considered by transformational leaders, who then work to successfully meet the needs of each employee to enable his or her success.


It should be noted that these two leadership styles, like much else in the world of supply chain, are not mutually exclusive. Both approaches can, and are often, seen working with some traits of one leadership style integrated into the other leadership style. One clear example is in transformational leadership. Transformational leaders are defined as finding various ways to motivate their employees, but that does not mean there is not a reward and punishment system at all. While finding different mechanisms to engage employees is a core tenet, an overperforming employee may still be rewarded for his or her overwhelming success. Regardless of what kind leader you are, it is important to understand different types of leadership and how you can incorporate different leadership techniques to your own unique leadership style. It is also critical to understand that because you are not a manager does not mean you cannot be a leader. Motivating your coworkers or leading the lead on a new project can be excellent ways to practice your leadership skills and prepare for moving up the organizational chart.


After reviewing both transactional leadership and transformational leadership, which style most fits who you are? What style does your boss fall under? Comment below!

An important topic of discussion that has been arising as of late is the idea of the Golden Circle and knowing your “why” for existing. The Golden Circle refers to the “what,” “how,” and “why” of an organization or role. Nearly everyone knows what they are doing or trying to do within their job or company. At a very fundamental level, this could be as simple as selling products to customers. As we dig deeper, we arrive at the “how,” which refers to how you are completing the “what.” The “how” can refer to the actual process implemented to complete the “what.” Less people understand the “why,” yet this is what most customers are truly looking for according to the philosophy.


The “why” can be the reason for the existence of an organization. This is commonly found in the mission statement, but can also be found in other aspects of the business, such as codes that establish organizational culture. “Why” is critical to understand since the idea is based on consumers preferring goods from companies to which they can relate to their purpose. The first part of this blog is to challenge you to understand the “why” of your organization. Understand what your company’s reasons for existing might be and how this can set your organization apart from the crowd.
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The second part of this blog is to challenge you in another way. What is your personal “why?” Yes, the why of the company is important, but equally as important is your own personal reason for wanting to be in this role or business. For supply chain professional, I personally find it somewhat easy to find a reason to exist—supply chain affects everything! Whether you are in start-up tech or retail clothing, supply chain plays a role in the organization. This is the case for every organization. If you are not necessarily passionate about supply chain (but we hope you are!), you can find a strong “why” by trying to work for an organization, industry, or product that you are passionate about. This is what will drive you through the day and keep you energized, especially when facing adversity. Times might get tough, as is the case with COVID-19, but a sense of passion and drive for whatever it is you may be doing can help one get through those tougher times.

Understanding the impacts of changes to the supply chain on both the organization and the stakeholder’s standpoint is a crucial portion of the planning stage for any project. While it may seem that a small forecasting model adjustment or different warehousing layout change might appear to have minimal impact throughout the organization, that is most likely not that case.  We often have tendencies to focus only on how a change will affect the immediate group and occasionally some of the secondary groups. For example, changing the warehouse layout may have a long-term improvement on pick efficiency, but will there be short-term setbacks of employees learning the new system? If this is the case, perhaps a secondary impact will be a delay in how long trucks are waiting to be loading.  That is possible, but what a lot of groups forget to think about is who else that delay could impact. There is potential for that one change to then impact the end customer deliverable and then the sales team having to explain why a shipment was late. Many of these “issues” could become opportunities if a “heads-up” to the sales team about the change and explanation of the long-term benefits of the project were given. This can then better prepare them to deal with the bumps and bruises of a new process, as well as help them pass that information to their customers if needed. These are just some of the reasons why ensuring strong stakeholder communication within supply chains is so important.


Stakeholder communication plans should be part of every project’s initial focus. This is an opportunity to not only communicate better with external groups, but also brainstorm solutions and help teach other groups about the current state process and why it needs addressed. As supply chain professionals, we are uniquely situated to understand the end-to-end process of getting a product to the customer’s door. It is a responsibility of the supply chain to help educate other areas of the business and help identify key areas for improvement. The supply chain is able to make a great deal of change that can ripple through the organization for increasing benefits. I have personally seen small changes within the planning process greatly reduce waste—stabilize production, reduce inventories, and increase customer on-time in-full delivery (OTIF).
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One key to success for these business developments is to foster strong communication within groups of professionals regardless of their familiarity with one another. This is a great opportunity for the team to demonstrate leadership by example and involve all the players that may not always be involved with a chance to weigh-in on the matter. This can help build stronger teamwork and new innovation within a company as well as improve the overall sense of communication throughout the organization. As far as externally, there is a really great opportunity to work closely with suppliers or customers to determine if there are common issues or creative solutions to problems that would benefit both parties.

The pandemic has been a stark reminder of the struggles we encounter as we navigate balancing work life and personal life. The work-from-home environment has demonstrated that we can all feel very isolated. Whether you are working from home or not, it seems that everyone is working harder and more than ever before. This can be trying when it comes to making up for lost time/production during the initial COVID-19 shutdowns or struggling to manage the global logistics shortages. One big issue that most of us are facing is how to balance personal life when work life is only a computer on the counter away.


I know this is something I have personally struggled with off and on during the pandemic.  There are some weeks when it is easy—log on at 7:00AM every morning and offline by 4:30-5:00PM every evening. But there are weeks that are much more difficult, where our team is working sixteen or seventeen hours a day. As supply chain professionals, we are always dealing with issues to provide our customers the absolute best service, but we also need to remember to take care of ourselves.


Now I certainly have not found the perfect balance myself and as I mentioned, it is a fluid issue depending on the week, but I have found some techniques to help manage this a little more. The first one is probably the most obvious—but unplug, literally. Make sure you turn the computer off and move it out of sight. This will help you be able to focus and enjoy times with your loved ones or give you that much needed mental break while you watch The Office, episode “Stress Relief” for the 12th time. We all need that mental break from work that is tough to find that when you are sitting two steps away from your office.


The next thing is a big one for me—get moving! I don’t want to sound like those Play60 commercials we all used to see on Nickelodeon, but this is incredibly important. We all go through ebbs and flows of varying degrees of exercise, but I would urge everyone to try to get ten to fifteen minutes of movement a few times a day. For me, this time is usually lunch where I take the dog out and go for a walk—leaving my work phone on the kitchen counter. 


This brings us to our final point. TAKE A LUNCH BREAK! You earned it! Similar to everything else above, taking a lunch break can be difficult when working from home, but it is critical that you give yourself thirty minutes to recharge your batteries both mentally and physically. Too often, I find myself with a fork in one hand and my mouse in the other sifting through work emails. This practice does not allow me a chance to recharge. I have started to move my work computer somewhere else while I eat lunch to give myself that time. A fifteen-minute walk and a fifteen-minute lunch break can be more effective than you would imagine!


We want to know what you are doing to help balance work life with your personal life! Please let us know in the comments below to help us and others improve on the balance!

All our lives, we are taught that failure is negative. From getting a bad grade in school to a flaw in designing a report for management, we are instructed that failure is not an option. Saying that failure is not an option has consequences, though. This idea that an employee cannot fail leads to many employees fearing taking risks—risks that would, if successful, greatly benefit the team or company.  It is up to managers and more importantly, leaders, to show trust in their employees.


Managers and leaders are very different, although they are commonly considered to take on the same role. Managers can be leaders, but simply having the management title does not automatically make someone a leader. Being a leader requires more than being a manager. A manager, without being a leader, is usually going to be results driven, focused on success, and lacking the ability to inspire. This type of character typically falls into the trap of the “failure is not an option” notion.


Leaders are more inspirational and do not fear failure in the same way. Trust is the cornerstone of leadership. Being able to allow employees to try and fail is welcomed in the mindset of leaders. If an employee fails, then a leader can help that employee, or team member, become more successful through a learning experience.  A leader also can help team members understand the significance of important objectives rather than just command results. This is a good opportunity for leaders to demonstrate creative and innovative solutions. A good leader will also be passionate and committed to his or her role as well as the team. Finally, leaders need to show a degree of empathy and ensure they are relatable to his or her team. A strong leader will encourage a team to do their best and entrust them whether they fail or succeed. This will help the team overcome the “no failure” mentality.


How do you view failure? Are you a leader… or simply a manager?

Whether you are actively working or not during this pandemic, we have all been greatly affected one way or another. One of the ways we all seem to be affected is through communication. For some of us, the changes stop with the inception of “Zoom” dates with friends as you are still returning to the office every day. Others are faced with working exclusively from home and hosting meetings via video chat. No matter your situation, we must all embrace cohesive communication during the pandemic. 


It seems that some organizations are handling this quite well and demonstrating their ability to adapt quickly. However, eight months into the pandemic and some organizations are still struggling to find their feet as they navigate the new way of doing business. It is absolutely crucial for organizations to maintain a high level of organization during this time. While a great deal of employees are enjoying flexible work schedules and their new work from home environment, there are a number of employees that feel disconnected. Managers are needing to ensure they are frequently reaching out to their teams, not only through emails, but team meetings and individual calls. Managers need to have a “pulse check” for their employees to establish that everyone is doing okay, and we are continuing to operate as a team. 

​Furthermore, management of change needs to be at the forefront of every organizations’ communication strategy. Nothing is making employees feel more disjointed than hearing there has been a big change from someone else on the team and knowing the change directly affects their day-to-day work. This does not only hold true from process changes, but also personnel change. Being remote can cause some confusion about who to go to if someone leaves the organization, so there needs to be clearly communicated guidance on who the correct resource is during some form of turnover. Employees are proving every single day that the work from home lifestyle is possible, but it is up to leadership to ensure everyone has the tools and knowledge to succeed for the long-term! How is your team embracing cohesive communication during the pandemic?