2003 Pros to Know
Never short on opinion and the drive to be the best professionals in their industry, the "Pros to Know" of the last few years have thrived on the adventures of the New Economy and, lately, the challenges of a slumped economy.
[From iSource Business, February/March 2003] Never short on opinion and the drive to be the best professionals in their industry, the "Pros to Know" of the last few years have thrived on the adventures of the New Economy and, lately, the challenges of a slumped economy.
With the arrival of 2003, and with even greater resolve to move their organizations forward through these challenging times, this year's Pros are nothing short of being "Problem-solving Whiz Kids."
First, these problem-solving Pros face their challenges head-on. Whether it's the market's continuing economic struggles or the industry's lack of confidence in business ethics and accountability, our leaders are attacking the challenges with solid solutions.
Next, typical Pros take control. They examine all facets of the challenge they face, and then they decide what aspects should be tackled first. If you talk with this group of professionals they'll tell you they ask themselves a series of questions, beginning with, "What's best to remedy first?" They look for deadlines that can be extended, alternative technologies and whether or not the main structure of their plan works in the given environment.
Also, the typical Pro separates fact from fiction. When adversity arises, others may react with knee-jerk assumptions, but not a Pro. Instead, Pros seek out the facts, involve key stakeholders and get everyone's professional input for the challenges that inevitably lay ahead.
Finally, the typical Pro takes action. Having gathered the necessary tools and put them in place, the Problem-solving Whiz Kid takes the most reasonable action to turn things around.
Within this framework there are several ongoing issues that make an individual worthy of being identified as one of iSource Business' Pros to Know. First, our Pros are still spearheading and initiating supply and demand chain projects to advance their organizations' competitiveness, even while corporate finance must tighten the belt. Almost all of this year's honorees, as in the past, have at least 15 to 20 years of experience in their respective fields, and they know and practice solid business strategy.
Selecting the Pros was no less difficult this year than last. With a year's worth of in-depth supply and demand chain research and investigative journalism at our fingertips, it seemed natural to turn first to the writers of that editorial. We asked our writers to look back over their year of frontline reporting and nominate the most inspiring sources, most knowledgeable gurus and most dedicated proponents they had found. In addition, the iSource editorial staff and advisory board gathered to nominate those outstanding conference speakers, supply and demand chain management icons, or prestigious analysts that had crossed our radar screens over the past year. Every year hundreds of criteria forms are sent out. Also this year we gave our readers a chance to nominate the people they thought were most deserving of the award via our Web site, iSourceonline.com.
As nomination forms poured back in, the iSource editorial staff began a strict series of selection phases. Among the top elements factored into the selection: the candidate's fundamental participation in the development and execution of a supply and demand chain enablement initiative at a traditional brick-and-mortar company, the candidate's breadth of supply and demand chain knowledge and experience, and the candidate's continued participation in the future of supply and demand chain technology. (For a complete list of criteria, look for this article on iSourceonline.com.)
It is never easy to exclude people from a listing such as this, and inevitably, there will be those who were inadvertently overlooked. Nevertheless, we are extremely proud of this year's selection. 2003's Pros to Know are an increasingly diverse group of people with a broad range of field expertise. Leading by example, they offer other supply and demand chain professionals a rich perspective and progressive attitude toward new and emerging technologies. Bold, convicted and driven, these individuals will assuredly lead the industry to the next level in 2003 and we, at iSource, will eagerly follow.
