dle of the pack, laggard, or up-and-coming? If you do not
already have a strong market position, then the imperative
for action will be greater than for those that do, because
your company will not have the reputation, assets, and
channel control that could buffer you from the changes.
Question 4. Will this disruptive technology give you a
competitive advantage that would be difficult for rivals to
imitate? Can successful adoption of disruptive technology
give you an edge over your rivals that would be valuable to
customers? If so, how easy would it be for rivals to imitate?
For example, using off-the-shelf technology in a straightforward way will never provide a robust advantage. The more
likely it is that a new technology can give you a protectable
and valuable advantage, the greater your attention and priority should be.
Now, how should you respond to the resulting patterns?
x If you have mostly GREEN (not an immediate threat/
priority) indicators: Monitor the situation intermittently
by collecting and analyzing relevant data. Do not ignore,
because conditions can change.
x If you have mostly YELLOW (moderate threat/priority)
indicators: Monitor and analyze the trends regularly, and
start experimenting. Create agile teams to explore small-
scale applications of disruptive technologies. Develop and
deploy these experiments quickly and learn from failures.
x If you have mostly RED (serious threat/high priority) indicators: Aggressively move forward, considering
three options for implementation: ( 1) intensively invest in
research and development (R&D); ( 2) acquire an emerging
source (competitor or supplier) of the disruptive technology; or ( 3) work with a partner (competitor, trade association, consultants, customers, or suppliers) to accelerate
development and share risk.
Should you ignore disruptive technologies you believe
do not matter to your company? It is probably best to
never ignore disruptive technologies. Instead, it’s advisable
to at least monitor news feeds, social media, trade shows,
marketing materials, and industry newsletters. Also, listen
to what vendors have to say. You can categorize the status
of each trend using the same green/yellow/red organizing
scheme we have just discussed.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MANAGERS
It’s critical that supply chain managers be able to accurately
answer the questions posed in Figure 1. The effectiveness
of the analysis, however, will inevitably be influenced by
the mix of people who are engaged in that process. Having
a diverse set of perspectives that can address competitive
position, current level of in-house expertise, supplier capa-
bilities, and customer requirements will yield the most
valuable outcomes.
When discussed in an open environment, the output of
this contingency-based planning approach will be a menu
of adoption and investment options for each disruptive
technology perceived as imminent and impactful. This is
consistent with Coyle and Ruamsook’s advice to “look out”
to identify disruptive exogenous forces, “look around” to
gauge the competitive climate, and “look in” to assess your
resources and capabilities. 9
In summary, the important takeaway for supply chain
managers who are inviting disruptive technologies into
their supply chains is that “one size does not fit all.” There
is no single formula that will work for every company or
supply chain organization—except, perhaps, for this piece
of advice: Don’t ignore disruptive technologies! c
Notes:
1. Clayton M. Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma
(New York: HarperBusiness, 1997).
2. Michael Watson, “Three things you should know about
big data and analytics,” CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly,
Quarter 3/2014, 44–49.
3. Andy Souders, “From Desert Storm to the retail store:
Five technologies that are closing global supply chain gaps,”
CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, Quarter 4/2015, 42–45.
4. Kevin O’Marah, “Supply Chains and Artificial
Intelligence: Ask Jeff Bezos,” Forbes, June 6, 2016, www.
forbes.com.
5. André Kieviet and Suraj Alexander, “Is Your Supply
Chain Ready for Additive Manufacturing?” Supply Chain
Management Review, May/June 2015, 34–39.
6. Richard D’Aveni, “The 3-D Printing Revolution,”
Harvard Business Review, May 2015, 40–48.
7. Kieviet and Alexander, “Is Your Supply Chain Ready
for Additive Manufacturing?”
8. C.W. Hofer, “Toward a contingency theory of business strategy,” Academy of Management Journal 18 (1975):
784–810.
9. John J. Coyle and Kusumal Ruamsook, “T = MIC2:
Game-changing trends and supply chain’s ‘new normal,’ ”
CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, Quarter 4/2014, 22–29.
FARZAD MAHMOODI, PH.D. IS PROFESSOR OF
OPERATIONS & INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND JOEL
GOLDSCHEIN ‘ 57 CHAIR IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
AT THE DAVID D. REH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT
CLARKSON UNIVERSITY, POTSDAM, NEW YORK. MICHAEL
WASSERMAN IS PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL
MANAGEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED
SCIENCES-MUNSTER, IN MUNSTER, GERMANY.
