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If you want to be innovative, you have to be open to the next big idea coming from the unlikeliest of places, says the founder and former CEO of FedEx.

The term ‘supply chain’ is just a name that we give to a nexus of logistics, inputs, processes, transportation, packaging, distribution, marketing, customer relations, vendor relations, and human capital, which together support the supply and demand of every physical, digital, intellectual, or artistic artefact on the planet and in space. The supply chain is everywhere.

Supply chain bottlenecks that are disrupting deliveries to shoppers and businesses – while driving inflation to 40-year highs – mostly have been traced to pandemic-driven worker shortages at factories, ports and warehouses. But some top analysts say there’s a bigger culprit: You.

Professor Yossi Sheffi is featured in the number one spot of this list due to his research, academic success, and foremost expertise in the supply chain industry. 

Environmental sustainability in the supply chain is top of mind for consumers, and a brand that fails to hold itself responsible risks reputational damage that will affect the bottom line... It’s easy to criticize a company that isn’t making environmentally-conscience business decisions, but it’s also unconscionable for a company to make a decision against the best wishes of its stakeholders.

I thought I understood all the major supply chain implications of the pandemic until I began reading Yossi Sheffi’s new book The New (Ab)Normal: Reshaping Business and Supply Chain Strategy beyond Covid-19. Jim Hackett, the CEO of Ford at the time, was quoted as saying: “We didn’t realize there was an off switch.

The pandemic shattered the fine art of moving stuff from your fingertips to the front door. Purchases of food, household supplies, and over-the-counter medicines exploded when COVID-19 lockdowns spread across the globe... This triggered severe strains at every level of the nation’s transportation and logistics system.. This has led to a mad scramble for storage, a warehouse space race. 

Professor Yossi Sheffi spoke with David Pogue of CBS Sunday Morning about what’s causing supply chain breakdowns. "The underlying cause of all of this is actually a huge increase in demand,” says Sheffi. 

Being tasked to manage risk in the supply chain as a job title is relatively new; Resilinc CEO, Bindiya Vakil, took classes from Yossi Sheffi, author of “The Resilient Enterprise,” which talked about supply chain risk in the aftermath 9/11 crisis. One case study in the book included the Philips fab fire caused a massive disruption that led to the exit of Nokia Ericsson from the handset market.  “It was $300 million in revenue impact. It changed the competitive landscape, and it was one fire.”

Each December, the focus of the issue is our annual Executive Guide to Supply Chain Resources. This is a comprehensive guide to services, products and educational opportunities targeted specifically to supply chain professionals.