The Supply Chain Academy

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1 Accenture Australia Point of View The Supply Chain Academy Transforming professionals and supply chains to help organisations achieve high performance

2 An efficient and effective supply chain operation is essential to achieving high performance and profitable growth in today s global economy. Many organisations in both the private and public sector have recognised this tenet of high performance, and have made significant investments in new supply chain technologies and business processes. Accenture has conducted research in conjunction with Stanford University and INSEAD which showed the extent to which successful organisations incorporate supply chain management into their business strategies. Nearly 90 percent of respondents said that their supply chain is very important or critical to their success. An equal percentage reported having increased their supply chain investments in recent years. The research also ascertained that supply chain mastery contributes to an increase in stakeholder value. Organisations that excel in supply chain management build innovation into their operating models, with particular regard to outsourcing, internal and external integration, and the matching of supply and demand. Although many organisations have seen investments in their supply chain lead to improvements and greater efficiencies, they have often failed to realise their full potential because their staff often do not fully understand the underlying concepts of supply chain management. Supply chain practices have consequently often been poorly adopted, with varying levels of effectiveness, and with professionals ill-equipped to respond to the ever-changing demands of the 21st century marketplace. That need no longer be the case. Accenture s Supply Chain Academy is part of Accenture s High Performance Business initiative that offers supply chain training online and on demand, and provides a flexible and costeffective way to create a common supply chain language through the organisation. The Supply Chain Academy s courses integrate the best of the best supply chain ideas and content from functional, industry and academic experts, and leverage Accenture s experience in identifying successful supply chain practices and building high-performance businesses. 2

3 The Supply Chain Academy enhances traditional e-learning by forming a supply chain community, where supply chain professionals can interact live and communicate with other leading supply chain functional, industry and academic experts. This collaborative environment enables professionals to learn innovative supply chain and procurement techniques more quickly and effectively. Traditional management education is often inappropriate. A suitable course might not even be available, or it might be scheduled to occur in six months time as a component within a broader curriculum. Another common problem is that the right material might be just a very small component of a much larger course, which means that attendance is not an effective use of time or money. Supply Chain Academy content is highly modular, and can be tailored to an individual s specific needs. Students can work at their own pace, in their own workplace on a centralised set of consistent materials. A lack of this sort of on-demand training is a major barrier to the implementation of effective supply chain functions in organisations around the world. Corporate learning is all too often delivered in piecemeal chunks, with no long-term view of the progression of the individual or the strategic direction of the organisation. This is particularly true in the education of supply chain professionals. Given the nature of supply chains, it is often difficult for in-house HR professionals to design and implement effective learning programs. Supply chain staff are often widely dispersed across geographies, cultures and time zones.

4 Because many people who work in supply chain related jobs have risen through the ranks, their knowledge is often the result of on-the-job training. Additionally, few have had access to formal training courses due to the lack of concentrated learning programs. In addition, often supply chain professionals do not have a formal training development plan that can track training objectives and learning outcomes. As a result, measuring an individual s progress becomes virtually impossible whilst the value of training is minimised. Furthermore, the learning-on-the-job approach fails to properly address staff attrition, quality control, benchmarking, and the increasingly volatile and dynamic nature of business today, in which the operating environment is in a constant state of flux. There is also a major risk with consistency of understanding and approach, particularly when the focus has been on on-the-job training from different supervisors. Accenture s Supply Chain Academy can help organisations overcome this challenge by enabling more effective supply chain collaboration. Too often supply chain management has been regarded as something of a poor cousin amongst professional skills. Although training programs are nearly always available for general management, or for areas like sales and marketing, they are not as readily available for supply chain professionals. Many are junior or middle managers without formal tertiary education who have worked their way up from the shop floor. As a result, there are typically gaps in their knowledge. The Supply Chain Academy provides formal training in fundamental and advanced supply chain skills, at a time when demand for experienced supply chain professionals has never been higher. Additionally, many organisations have recently undergone major transformations or mergers. In these environments developing consistency in people s skill sets and operational procedures is a major challenge, but it also represents a major opportunity for improved performance. As organisations invest more in the productivity of their supply chain professionals, they need innovative training programs that are flexible enough to meet modern-day travel schedules and work commitments. With the Supply Chain Academy, learning can be tailored to people s needs. The Supply Chain Academy provides formal training in fundamental and advanced supply chain skills, at a time when demand for experienced supply chain professionals has never been higher.

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6 Examples of how people use the Supply Chain Academy s courses vary widely. Applications might include short courses for executives who need to know how their decisions will affect their organisation s supply chain, or bridging courses for new graduates. Or they might comprise overview courses on supply chain fundamentals for managers and executives, or medium- or long-term curricula from junior to senior levels, based on the competencies required to support an individual along a specific career path. The Supply Chain Academy s training programs are flexible, multifaceted and delivered on demand. That is why the Accenture Supply Chain Academy is one of the world s most advanced supply chain trainers. Organisations can also use the Supply Chain Academy framework to add their own professional development content, and then track the training of students and their satisfaction levels across an integrated, personal development program. The Supply Chain Academy offers a completely tailored learning approach that can provide a single platform for all an organisation s training needs. With its combination of quality, content and comprehensiveness, the Supply Chain Academy helps organisations create a better performing, more proficient and more consistently trained global supply chain staff. As a result, organisations can ensure global consistency in process and terminology, and enjoy access to world-class content, industry thought leaders, and a worldwide community of information sources and information exchange. Multilingual content is also available to support organisations with a global footprint. The Supply Chain Academy promotes job satisfaction and improves staff retention, while at the same time entailing a lower cost per student than traditional classroom programs. The Supply Chain Academy also supports industry-leading certifications such as The Australasian Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), and The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS).

7 The Supply Chain Academy s comprehensive, multiple channel e-learning syllabus is regularly reviewed by experts from more than 30 leading international and local professional associations, industry consortia and educational institutions to ensure its content is timely and relevant. The Supply Chain Academy provides an Internet-based blended teaching environment that combines more than 220 online courses with interactive distance learning events for a comprehensive and engaging learning experience. numerous FORTUNE 1000 companies and high-performance government agencies around the world, it builds the skills that organisations need to put the right product in the right place at the right time. No other supply chain training program combines such broad content with such extensive depth, global reach and wide variety of curriculum-delivery options. The Supply Chain Academy delivers the innovative solutions that enable high performance. Accenture has extensive experience in global supply chain knowledge and learning solutions. The Supply Chain Academy is the most advanced and widely used supply chain learning solution in the world. Used by

8 About Accenture Supply Chain Management The Accenture Supply Chain Management service line works with clients across a broad range of industries to develop innovative strategies and differentiated operating models that support profitable growth in new and existing markets. It combines deep skills and leading-edge approaches in procurement, supply chain planning, manufacturing and design, fulfilment, and service management to help clients improve their operational performance. The service line also collaborates with clients to implement new solutions including supply chain and procurement outsourcing, radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, and supply chain education - to drive high performance through supply chain mastery. Its home page is For more information on Accenture s High-Performance Supply Chain Academy, please access the link below. Read research and insights from the Supply Chain Academy and learn about our client successes at Contact: Ming Tang, Managing Partner, Supply Chain Australia and New Zealand, Accenture ming.tang@accenture.com Copyright 2006 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become highperformance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilise the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 133,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$15.55 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, Its home page is