Category Archives: Knowledge Management

Looking Behind the Knowledge Network Curtains

Today’s guest post is from John Shaw, the Director of Education Services for Supply Management at BravoSolution.

In a recent post, the doctor asked, “Where is the Knowledge Network?” and “What is an aspiring supply management professional to do?”

Our industry is offering a growing list of online resources and supply management organizations. We can use these resources to augment the knowledge we gain through our professional activities and personal networks. As the doctor stated, each of these resources takes time and effort to build, so naturally, the goals and objectives of these networks are aligned with those individuals who invest in building each network in the first place.

Our challenge as supply management professionals is to navigate this forest of information in a way that maximizes our personal development. To do so, we need to understand where our personal objectives align with those of a knowledge network. The better we understand how each network’s objectives align with our own, the more value we will receive out of the limited time we have to invest in them.

So as both a consumer of these networks and a developer of some (see discloser below) I’d like to offer some questions for you to ask when trying to determine if participating in a particular knowledge network would be valuable to you:

  • Does the intent of the network align with the needs of the membership?
    The Network Guidelines should clearly state the audience, and the types of information exchange the network facilitates. If they are not stated, or they do not align with what your current development needs, your time may be better invested elsewhere.
  • Who are the thunder lizards?
    Look to see who the most active participants are. The most active people in a community will steer its direction. If these people are your peers, or better, if they are in roles that you aspire to, look further into participating.
  • Who is in charge?
    Successful communities are driven by the membership. If enough thunder lizards march in the same direction a community will move and take a life of its own. The builder can find him/herself in the passenger seat. In the best scenario, you’ll find that the thunder lizards are your peers, and they are in charge!

So what are we to do? Unfortunately there isn’t a simple answer. Whether we are learning about supply management, following politics or trying to get the best advice online for fixing a leaking pipe, we need to look behind the curtains to understand our information sources

Thanks, John!

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Where is the Knowledge Network?

Supply Network. Invoicing Network. Payment Network. Risk Network. It’s network frenzy out there. But where’s the knowledge network to make sense of it all?

It’s not the internet. It may be the information highway, but with all the marketing billboards, the best you can get is an obstructed view of the signage intended to give you directions.

It’s not the supply management organizations. While they collect a lot of data points from their members, they don’t necessarily distill down to the underlying wisdom, and when they do, it’s usually specific to the membership base they serve — which is typically restricted to a single country or geographic region.

It’s not the for-profit training organizations. They may do a good (and sometimes great) job of training you to be effective at a set of supply management tasks, but don’t expect any wisdom beyond what they promise in the fine print. The purpose of their existence is to take your money, so they’re not about to enable the market at large.

It’s not the new vendor wikis, forums, or knowledge exchanges. These exist to serve their members first and you second, as clearly evidenced by the restrictive nature of many of these network. And even though a few of these have opened the doors to anyone who wants to join, they exist first and foremost to deliver the education most relevant to the vendor. If the vendor is focussed on selling e-Sourcing, they don’t really care about certain aspects of e-Payment or the 3rd party logistic’s you’ll need to deliver your products. And forget about these networks playing nice with the competition.

It’s certainly not the analysts. We all know that the greatest influences on an analyst firm are the vendors who get the most face time, which, in turn, are the vendors who pay the most to get that face time. As a result, most vendor reports are simply repackaged vendor marketing. A few go deeper, but even then, the vendors that get the most focus are the ones that pay for it.

And we don’t even have our own supply-o-pedia! And even though, back in 2007, it looked like the independent blogs would be plentiful and collectively serve as our guideposts when we wandered off the path, at this point in time, we’re a dying breed. There might be dozens (and dozens) of blogs currently active in the space, but almost all of them are authored by vendors or analyst firms, who are using them as part of a core marketing strategy. And while a few of these do a great job of education, the education is focussed on the processes and practices you need to know to make the best use of the platforms and services offered by the company or firm.

And with all of these vendor blogs augmenting the traditional publications, supply management organization reports, and analyst briefs that are now focussed on online distribution, we’re drowing in a sea of infomation without a life vest. We need a knowledge management network to keep track of it all, but given that we don’t even have a common language for supply management information interchange, it’s probably a long way off. So what’s an aspiring supply management professional to do?

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Where Are The Intelligent Networks?

In a recent piece from ChainLink Research on “Remapping the Supply Chain Universe”, the author suggests that there are intelligent networks [that] are truly unique, yet little understood. What I’d like to know is, where are these intelligent networks. As far as I’m concerned, an intelligent network is as real as a griffin or a chimera.

The author suggests that they are a trusted source to synchronize the mutual data and processes between trading partners using a shared model based on agreement in policy, process, [and] security. Supposedly they separate the physical supply from the logical supply chain to enable mobility by providing peer-to-peer access and a single version of the truth.

Working backwards, the only system I’ve ever seen give a truly single version of the truth is a spend analysis system after an expert has merged all of the disparate data sources using hand-mapped rules. (Now, there are half-a-dozen companies running single instance Oracle systems that also provide a single version of the truth, but since these white unicorns are rarer than black swans, we might as well pretend they don’t exist.)

Peer-to-peer access has been around for decades, and hit the mass market on the web back in 1999 with Napster. Don’t tell me that was intelligent.

Every system separates the physical supply chain from the logical one. After all, software is an abstraction. And it’s not intelligent. It’s just code.

Marketplaces have been providing a shared model based on agreement in policy, process, and security for over a decade as well. It’s framework, not intelligence.

Finally, there’s no connection, or even correlation, between a “trusted source” and intelligence.

Plus, if you look at today’s “social networks”, there’s a good chance that you’ll wonder if there’s even any intelligence in the user base!

The reality is that “intelligent” networks don’t exist because “intelligent” systems don’t exist because there’s no such thing as “artificial intelligence”. Take it from a CS PhD who knows. If someone is trying to sell you an “intelligent network”, they are bs-ing you. Don’t fall for it.

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Cultural Intelligence X: Thailand

This series is edited by Dick Locke, SI’s resident expert on International Trade, author of Global Supply Management — A Guide to International Procurement (which was the definitive guide for almost a decade), and President of the Global Procurement Group and Global Supply Training which regularly gives seminars on International Trade and working with International Cultures.

As highlighted in last year’s post on Overcoming Cultural Differences in International Trade with Thailand, Thailand is is fiercely independent, astutely diplomatic, and a very distinct trading partner to deal with as over 95% of its population declare themselves as Buddhist, with the majority belonging to the Theravada school of Buddhism. As a result, in negotiations, which you cannot rush, you should be prepared to avoid direct confrontations at all costs.

With respect to Locke’s seven key cultural differences (first outlined as six in his classic text on Global Supply Management), power distance is high as they believe that authority and power are natural to the human condition and that hierarchy is good for you. Time is not just polychronic, but cyclical. As a result, there is no rush to seize an opportunity as it will come around again. And while many social researchers indicate that the buyer has a high rank, this isn’t really the case as buyers and sellers don’t have a status in the Thai belief system, only people. As a result, both senior negotiators will be equal, and there will be a desire to work together to create harmony, which is very important. Saving the face of others is very important, individualism is low, and uncertainty avoidance is high. Furthermore, with security before risk-taking and a belief that easy work for sufficient pay is better than hard work for high pay, there is a large reluctance to initiate change.

With respect to verbal communication, they are indirect, even though personal questions may be asked so they may understand where to place you in their hierarchy, as this is essential for them to “harmonize” with you. You must speak lowly and calmly and avoid confrontation at all costs.

With respect to non-verbal communication, your facial expressions and body position are more important than your words. You should keep your emotions in check, avoid waving your hands or making other large gestures when you talk, keep your hands out of your pockets, and never lay your arm over the back of a chair someone is sitting in. Personal space is very important to the Thai, so don’t stand too close, and you should avoid touching them. While limited touching between the same sex is okay between friends and colleagues (but never between strangers), touching the opposite sex is taboo. Finally, eye contact is common, as they want to put you at ease.

Meetings should be well planned in advance, but don’t expect them to get down to business until at least the fourth day, as they want to get to know you first. Negotiations will be slow, as decisions must pass through many levels, but they will progress if you are patient. Meals are also a part of the business culture, and cutlery is more common (although sticky rice may be eaten with the right hand), and the host always pays the bill. And while the Chinese might like it if you play fight for the bill, you should never offer to pick up or split the bill in Thailand.

Finally, greetings follow the wai.

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Cultural Intelligence IX: Mexico

This series is edited by Dick Locke, SI’s resident expert on International Trade, author of Global Supply Management — A Guide to International Procurement (which was the definitive guide for almost a decade), and President of the Global Procurement Group and Global Supply Training which regularly gives seminars on International Trade and working with International Cultures.

As highlighted in last year’s post on Overcoming Cultural Differences in International Trade with Mexico, while Mexico is part of North America, there are significant differences in doing business in Mexico when compared to Canada or the United States. For example, as appropriately summed up in Richard D. Lewis’ When Cultures Collide, while the Mexican gives freely to his guest, conducting business and obtaining many social services incur a cost which is normally obviated in U.S. and Northern European societies. Mexican civil servants, officials, and police are paid very little and usually seek to augment their meager salaries by accepting what Americans call bribes to facilitate the granting of permits and other services.

With respect to Locke’s seven key cultural differences (first outlined as six in his classic text on Global Supply Management), power distance is very high with severe power distances between those at the top and those at the bottom. While the modern factory may work on the clock, Mexico is an authoritarian polychronic culture and punctuality is nowhere to be found on their list of priorities. You’ll have a higher rank than the seller if your money “talks” with respect, as long as you don’t bring a lot of uncertainty to the table (as they don’t like too much uncertainty, though some is okay). While harmony doesn’t have the importance it has in other countries, honor, obedience to authority, and group loyalty is very important. On the other hand, due to their exceptionally high emphasis on personal dignity, they need to save face at all costs. Despite their rankings on Hofstede’s individualism scale, they are actually quite individualistic and very personal.

With respect to verbal communication, Mexicans are generally very direct, but like Korea, “no” can be indirect. The volume is usually moderate as their style is toned down, warm, and gracious, but as in India, you can get louder if you are passionate about what you are saying.

With respect to non-verbal communication, facial expressions are common, as they are a passionate people, gestures are normal (but, as always, avoid the US ‘OK’ sign), touching is common (and they commonly hug and backslap each other) and essential between friends and colleagues, and body position is relaxed (just don’t put your hands on your hips or in your pockets). They tend to stand close, make eye contact (and if they don’t, it’s a sign of respect), and show their emotions.

Meetings are generally social, and business is often discussed over lunch. However, business lunches are not power-business sessions. Ideas, concepts and possibilities are discussed, not specifics. The only exception is if the detail has been pre-negotiated and agreed to beforehand, in which case it’s time to seal the deal over a meal. Negotiations are slow, involve lots of haggling, but only after they get to know you. It’s important to always keep your hands visible at a meal.

It’s also important to remember that while it is perfectly acceptable to discuss business over lunch, it is not acceptable to discuss business over dinner (except in very exceptional circumstances, and only if initiated by the host). Mexican people make friendships first (business comes later), and they often do this over dinner.

Finally, people from the United States need to remember the historic “difficulties” between Mexico and the United States. What US Marines call ‘The halls of Montezuma’ is a national monument to the revered Ninos Heroes. Every Mexican schoolchild learns that these six young cadets committed suicide rather than surrender to the invading US military. And the last time the US military invaded Mexico they were chasing Pancho Villa. He went on to become President of Mexico and there’s a street named after him in nearly every Mexican city.

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