A whole lot of perseverance and membership of a professional body are rated amongst the top factors that determine the success of women entering the demanding field of supply chain management.  That's the word from one such woman, SAPICS Director and Transnet executive Kea Mpane, nominated as a finalist in the 2014 Africa's Most Influential Women in Business and Government awards. According to Mpane, she's but one of many talented women who're entering the industry right now.

"As the number of women entering the field rises, it's encouraging to note that they're not just filling lower level positions, but increasingly taking top spots in the industry," she says. "But, it's not without a fight. Women often need to be better at what they do than their male counterparts in order to get recognised in some companies," she adds.

Perseverance in the face of challenges
Trailblazing author of the seminal book, MRP and Beyond, Carol Ptak was one of the first women in senior supply chain management in the USA. She believes the top challenge facing women is credibility.

"A man is typically given the benefit of the doubt but a woman has to be twice as good to get half as far," she remarks. "This is the reason I wrote my first book - it didn't increase my knowledge but it gave me credibility."

Furthermore she says that a woman who is emphatic about her position, when challenged, is called aggressive while a man with the same argument is regarded as assertive.

"To move forward in your career you have to know when to push and when to pull back. An advantage that women have is that we are more empathetic to those around us, so if we tune into that capability it can help us move ahead without leaving too many damaged relationships behind," she says.

Pick the right organization
According to Ptak, who spent much of her career working for IBM and PeopleSoft, another important issue is finding an organisation that is open to women in supply chain. 

"You need to find an organisation that values the contribution that women can make and fights for their rights to advance in their careers," says Ptak.

Belonging to a professional body
Another key factor helping women to advance in the supply chain field is belonging to a professional organisation such as SAPICS.  Ptak, a former President of APICS, thinks it has been invaluable in her work. 

"Your APICS colleagues will tend to forgive your mistakes more readily than the boss as work does. APICS was a great source of learning - not just for production and inventory control but also how to be successful with management and people. The best thing from APICS is the strong network of people. When you go into that relationship without a thought of what you are going to get out of it, you will be blessed with more benefits than you can ever repay."

Ptak says there are three things that the next generation of women in supply chain need to have if they are going to be successful in their careers; the ability to think critically, to communicate effectively - both in written and verbal forms - and the ability to work effectively in both a team and alone.

"Nothing significant has ever been achieved by anyone working totally alone," says Ptak. "The biggest innovations - like Demand Driven MRP - have come from a small group of dedicated individuals focused on a common objective. It is imperative that every member of the team is trusted by the others to do their job.  The biggest advice I can give is to NOT think of yourself as a woman in supply chain. My advice would be to become the best supply chain executive, period. I never thought of myself as a female operations manager or the female APICS president - I always tried to be the BEST operations manager or the BEST APICS president," she concludes.

We interviewed three more successful women about their careers in Supply Chain Management.

Nancy Wendorf - Senior Product Manager, General Dynamics (USA)
"A challenge for me was balancing my family life and job. To balance both family and career while making it look effortless to our male counterparts takes great organisational skills, concise communication and focused control in our daily jobs. In past corporate cultures, this delicate and skillful balancing act has been maligned and or misaligned with 'glass ceilings' limitations of women being preoccupied, stressed-out or vulnerable in the eyes of 'corporate executive fathers' whose job is solely to be the breadwinner for their family and who often have a wife who is (respectfully) a valued homemaker for the family.

"This dichotomy of corporate 'value' cultures has held many creative, talented and innovative women hostage through the years because of these compartmentalized responsibilities. As women rise up in the ranks and corporate mindsets change to the dual role/balancing act, the more women will have opportunities to fit into the offerings of higher management.

"Belonging to and serving in various positions within a professional organisation for so many years has helped me to understand that I was not alone with trying to succeed as a wife, mother and having a career. The value of being with a group of professionals outside of the workspace truly helped me through those years with their guidance, knowledge and support. The professional evolution of knowledge sharing, cultivation of talent and support by the group becomes a mutual symbiosis of producing success-orientated individuals that are a measurable validation of how successful the member organisation is.

"The best advice I can give is be willing to genuinely listen to what others are saying to you and, by continuing to be a hard worker proving your value, you will be recognized as a knowledgeable person who people will respect and listen to. In this field, you have to have a very open mind, as each day is dynamic by nature. You'll need to be able to quickly absorb and resolve 'snapshot situations' when they arise. Also, stay in tune with all levels of your organisation. Don't be pigeonholed by what your job responsibilities are. Connect with colleagues, peers and management to allow yourself to understand what they do and how you fit within the company infrastructure, strategies and goals that affect each and every one of us as shareholders."

Caroline Mondon - Owner of CM Enterprises and President of FAPICS (France)
"Being an active member of an association linked to an international network allowed me to know 5 to 10 years ahead what topics were going to become hot and get prepared. Being an active member of my national association gave me strength to face resistance at work because I wasn't alone to promote new practices.

"I have always considered 'soft skills' as important as 'hard skills' for successful teams. This wasn't difficult to say; it was well accepted that a woman could say such strange things like that. And as the results of my teams were often very good, it was even considered 'cute'. I could work very well with Human Resource departments, most of the time managed by a woman director, as this function also wasn't considered as important. Take advantage of being a woman to bring new ideas and new methods to your company. Don't hesitate to be yourself - all of yourself - at work.

Sonia Daviaud - MD of Decision Value (France) and APICS Director
"Stop thinking that being a woman is a barrier! If you want to work in SC, just do it and do not ask for special favors because you are a woman."

Reproduced with permission from SAPICS