Inside Supply Management^®'s Mission Statement

Inside Supply Management^® is the authoritative resource for supply management executives delivering thought leadership, trends and current issues.

Objectives (in priority order)

• To establish the Institute for Supply Management™ (ISM) as the leader in supply management.
• To enlighten ISM members and executives about thought provoking and timely supply management concepts.
• To communicate ISM's positions and initiatives.
• To provide a forum for leading edge ideas and real world good practices.
• To highlight the Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® as early indicators for assessing the state of the U.S. economy.

Audience

ISM has many audiences and the Institute offers a variety of products and services to serve them. The focus for Inside Supply Management^®, however, is to support ISM's mission to lead supply management by targeting those professionals positioned to first experience changes, trends and critical issues in the field. These individuals are concerned with strategy, broad business issues, how supply management fits into larger enterprise goals and insights on new "hot" topics.

According to the 2004 Inside Supply Management^® Environmental Analysis, the members surveyed represented 42.5 percent from manufacturing with 57.5 percent from non-manufacturing. The largest non-manufacturing percentages were from: other services; educational services; utilities; professional, scientific, and technical services; finance and insurance; public administration; and health care and social assistance.

Editorial Focus

In order to best support ISM's mission to lead supply management, the magazine must deliver thought-provoking discussion and information on those topics most relevant to today's forward-thinking, strategic supply managers. The editorial concentrates on trends, current issues, and visions of thought leaders and executives in supply management.

The magazine will present a first glimpse of topics, as they come onto the executive's radar screen. In addition, it's important to present thoughts and critical issues that should be on the executive's agenda, even if there are no clear-cut answers. The magazine will present examples from audience-comparable firms.

Supply management is defined by ISM as: The identification, acquisition, access, positioning, and management of resources the organization needs or potentially needs in the attainment of its strategic objectives.

Supply management is: future oriented, senior-management critical, strategic in relation to the competitive imperatives of the organization, and a significant contributor to marketplace intelligence and profitability.

Components included under the supply management umbrella include the following list; however, as the scope of supply management professionals shifts, other components may be added. Magazine articles concerning these components are written in the context of the magazine's mission statement and objectives.

• disposition/investment
• distribution
• inventory control
• logistics
• manufacturing
• material management
• packaging
• procurement/purchasing
• product/service development
• quality
• receiving
• transportation/traffic shipping
• warehousing

Inside Supply Management^® is the voice of ISM, particularly on those issues where ISM has taken a position to advance the profession. In certain instances, the tone may be authoritative and decisive. In its effort to lead the profession, the magazine will showcase leaders in the profession, those individuals and companies who excelled in or conducted good practices.

Potential topics include:

• Supply management trends
• Organizational design issues
• Global sourcing, outsourcing, and organization
• Global competition
• Creativity
• Developing the right talent
• Managing technology and technological advances
• Managing risk
• Social Responsibility
• Mergers, acquisitions, consolidations
• Sarbanes-Oxley
• Services purchasing
• Diversity within supply management organizations in a global environment
• Demand management and process improvements
• Supply manager as an internal business consultant with internal customers
• Managing relationships — supplier, customer, and internal customer
• Virtual workforce
• Quality issues vs. lowest price
• Performing with a smaller workforce
• Global political and economic forecasts
• Recognition of supply management as a key player in bottom line results for organization
• Knowledge transfer, management professional mentoring, and coaching programs

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