Supply chain risk comes in many forms, but one of the most common and perhaps least considered is the ripples created by a leadership transition at a key supply chain partner. Whether caused by reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions or corporate scandals, these shifts may mean big changes at a partner company.
In retrospect, the past year has been quite active in terms of leadership among large global distributors, from the planned succession of Arrow COO Sean Kerins to CEO to the more recent exit of CEO and founder Robert Miller from Future Electronics amidst troubling accusations of misconduct. In December, Lindsley Ruth, CEO of RS Group, resigned for personal reasons.
In addition to creating headlines, these shifts may signal a strategic shift or at least uncertainty in the organization. Relationships are particularly important in electronics distribution as distributors partner with hundreds of suppliers and thousands of customers. While business performance is the main driver of these alliances, history and goodwill play a bigger role than many executives care to admit.
