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The Supply Chain Management Center at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is bringing together top industry and government leaders to address inefficiencies in today's supply chain and come up with innovative ways to manage risk. The center spearheaded a recently released book, "X-Treme Supply Chain Management: A Guide to Mastering Business Volatility," and yesterday hosted an executive roundtable discussion among senior government and business leaders on the implications of the global economic crisis for supply chain management.

Edited by Boyson, center co-director Professor Thomas Corsi and senior fellow Lisa Harrington, the book is a collaboration with CSCMP and co-contributors from some of the industry's leading corporations and organizations. The book also includes a companion tool kit, developed by Smith's Supply Chain Management Center and Interactive Learning Solutions Inc., that provides practitioners with simulations and spreadsheets to manage volatility in their supply chains. Sterling Commerce, an IBM company, is the project's technology sponsor and a co-contributor. Published by Routledge, the book was introduced on the West Coast last week at CSCMP's annual global conference in San Diego.

As supply management professionals, we attend conferences on gaining a seat at the executive table. We read articles about how the procurement team can become a trusted business partner within the company. As supply management leaders, we train our teams on strategic thinking, emotional intelligence and cross-cultural management.

Reporting the right metrics, in the right way, has contributed to securing supply management's seat at the table. At Sodexo, we hold two spots on the executive team, and supply reports directly to the CEO. We have seats on the marketing council and CSR steering committee, as well as on numerous other task forces within the company.