Ingram Micro's Xvantage platform is an artificial intelligence-powered feature that allows employees, partners and associates to seamlessly interact, and the company hopes it will bring a "Netflix-like experience into distribution," Sanjib Sahoo, executive vice president and chief digital officer for Ingram Micro, says in this video. "It's an ecosystem that really creates a single window for subscription renewals, hardware, software, recommendations and using all the data to deliver personalized experiences to get a much more consumerized experience that they are used to outside of distribution," Sahoo says.
Wesco International has created a Data Center Solutions group that will address the electrical distribution and services company's global data center customers' increased cloud adoption, data consumption and demand for data storage and management. Senior Vice President Tarun Raisoni, who joined Wesco when the company acquired data center solutions firm Rahi Systems Holdings last year, will lead the new team.
Cargo theft affected the food and beverage industry more than any other last year, with incidents involving both products and heavy commercial vehicles, according to TT Club and CargoNet. The average value of cargo stolen amounted to $223 million, and California was the top state for reported events.
Real-time goods visibility and tracking, product authentication, financial facilitation and inventory management are among the top 10 blockchain uses for supply chain executives, writes Sean Ashcroft. He highlights five leading blockchain-based supply chain platforms that can help get the job done.
It is crucial for distributors to incorporate digital technologies -- such as artificial intelligence, cloud-first applications and headless commerce -- to optimize operations and customer service, says Karie Daudt, director of commerce strategy for digital consultancy Perficient. "Distributors need to partner with their manufacturers to deliver better experiences through data quality, leveraging tools that help customers make better informed decisions" and "always visualize what the future looks like so they can plan ahead," Daudt says.
Biases for our own strategies, ideas and wished-for outcomes can lead to "magical thinking" by sales teams, especially during challenging economic times, which can result in poor decisions or sticking with strategies that clearly don't work, writes Cherie Singer, the strategic solutions ambassador at Heinz Marketing. Singer outlines five ways to avoid such thinking including using feedback and data to make better-informed decisions.
It may be easy for a leader to grab power and lead people through the strength of their will, but leaders who take the time to cultivate influence will develop a long-lasting skill to attract and inspire followers, writes Steve McKee, co-founder of McKee Wallwork + Co. Influential leaders are those who see the dignity and humanity of those around them and lead by example in ways in which they can be proud, McKee writes.
Both male and female leaders who shared a weakness with subordinates were viewed as more authentic and the sharing was not judged as feeling manipulative by those who heard or read about them, according to a study co-authored by Kellogg School professor Maryam Kouchaki. There is a vulnerability "sweet spot," says Kouchaki, who warns against sharing personal moral failures such as lying or being rude to others.
