Why Women Matter in Supply Chain Management

I have been ruminating of late why people celebrate the idea of having a first female president, the first woman on the moon, or our first female Olympian champion. Then I read from a Gartner survey that women only represent 17% of chief supply chain officers. And just recently, I began reading journals about gender inclusion in supply chain leadership roles and got me deeper into the rabbit hole.

Gender equality in the corporate world has been one of the foremost topics in social circles today. Perspective has rapidly shifted from having stereotypical work hats to being more inclusive, open and fair to all kinds of candidates regardless of what position and function one is applying for.

But what is the barrier we need to break so that more women enter the field of supply chain and become successful leaders?

In the Beginning There Was Only Man

It is common knowledge that logistics (which is a precursor to the supply chain concept) started with the military as a strategic technical discipline. In fact, most of the famous conquerors in history were also talented generals and experienced logisticians. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Xerxes of Persia, Napoleon Bonaparte - and the list could go on.

What made them extremely successful in their military crusades is their ability to rally troops into strategic way-points into the battlefield. This comes with the full support of weapons, food, medicine and other supplies needed to win the war. Having all these provisions arrive at the right quantity, in the right place, on the right time, with the right price and quality is crucial in achieving success and ultimately winning the war. Sounds a bit familiar, right?

Back in day, it was very uncommon for women to be in active occupations and act as breadwinners for the family. In fact, it was more rare for them to enlist in the military since wars have been fought physically in skirmishes until the invention of gun powder, tanks, ships and airplanes.

It was only in the 20th century in modern military times that female cadets started entering military school and eventually join the army. But there was still few or very nominal who were able to rise within the leadership ranks - not because of the lack of skill or talent, but mainly due to the male dominance and established heuristics that women are said to be weaker than men.

Doing Business in the Modern Times

Fast-forward to today, logistics has been commuted to a bigger and more complex discipline termed "supply chain management" which covers end-to-end planning and execution activities in moving goods from source to consumer. Like many other ideas and disciplines first started and used in the military, private companies have also also adopted supply chain management and found its commercial use to be a key critical success factor in running a business.

However, as we made mention in the premise of this article, SCM has been a consistently male-led department for most companies across industries. From automotive, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, fast moving consumer goods, health care among other types of industries, the perception about the SCM role is industrial in nature and mechanical or at the very least, physical in requirement.

This perhaps has influenced the career decisions of most women to veer away from supply chain from the get-go and focus on traditional but safer choices in starting and shaping their professional life.

"Human touch can always turn the tide favorably when leading a large team working in a complex project with a high-stress environment. On the flip-side, an autocratic head who only cares about the results and timelines will most likely become the straw that would break the camel's back."

The Venus Factor Effect

?It was posited by Kalat JW (2012), "although men have larger brains, men and women have equal intelligence quotient." However, "even though everyone is emotionally intelligent, studies have shown that?females demonstrate a higher degree of emotional intelligence than males do"?according to (Joseph & Newman, 2010; Patel, 2017).

From the literary review above, we can surmise that the advantage of having a female supply chain professional onboard is the emotional capacity to connect with other team members. This is not to argue that men do not have feelings nor they are as emotionless as zombies. But aside from empirical data from studies, experience in relationships would dictate that females have a better grasp in understanding how other people feel. And this understanding can come a long way in leading a team.

Stock knowledge and technical skills in SCM such as capacity planning, network modeling, project management, linear and multiple regression analysis among others are indeed distinct abilities needed to perform a role. Like other specialized fields such as medicine, information technology, law, and engineering, SCM jobs require these aforementioned abilities to be able to make the right decisions and deliver good results.

The key differentiator will be when the role already involves leadership. As we step-up the corporate ladder, we also need to upskill ourselves to be better equipped to face bigger responsibilities. And while IQ may get us in, what would get us up the ladder is EQ.

EQ has been a proven ingredient that is pivotal in leading teams. Many studies have shown that leaders who have a higher level of emotional intelligence have a higher range of understanding on how employees behave and react to various conditions. Therefore, these leaders can adjust their styles and tolerances per employee type and would know how to better communicate with them - all of which leads to better performing teams.

Human touch can always turn the tide favorably when leading a large team working in a complex project with a high-stress environment. On the flip-side, an autocratic head who only cares about the results and timelines will most likely become the straw that would break the camel's back.

Achieving the Supply Change in Leadership

The tipping point in the gender equality issue in SCM has been triggered by the widespread talent-war. This has been vastly felt by most industries both globally and locally. Over the years, SCM has been gradually accepted as one of the critical and important functional departments in many organizations, In fact, its importance and role in driving company efficiencies and profitability can not be emphasized enough.

This ongoing issue on talent scarcity has been exacerbated by the arrival of the pandemic. Again, the key role of supply chain in successfully navigating through the pandemic ordeal has been highly publicized and widely accepted by most companies as the way to thrive and survive the new normal. From sourcing alternative suppliers apart from China-based vendors to accrediting new partner shipping lines and NVOCC's who have alternate ocean routes avoiding congested ports, the value of supply chain can not be mistaken.

Now, it is through these real world phenomena that I hope will drive the new perspective in companies to start considering equal opportunity for leadership roles in SCM. While schools and universities have started offering curriculums in supply chain management and encouraged many female students to take the leap, the expected output from these academic institutions may take years before we can eventually catch-up with the demand in SCM jobs.

Further, there needs to be an aggressive change in mindset in considering incumbent female supply chain practitioners in companies for vacant leadership posts and promote them. They can lead...with a heart.

Here's to men and women having equal footing in becoming good SCM leaders. Cheers!