ALM Intelligence Pacesetter Research: Supply Chain

New research finds that clients in 2023 are struggling to rationalize the (involuntary) investments they’ve been making in their supply chains over the past two years. The findings also conclude that the focus is on learning to integrate and manage the many interconnected components. Political and economic headwinds clients face in 2023 further complicate the challenge of rationalizing investments. These are just a few factors that lead to clients needing help with active, constant management of all the moving components of the supply chain. The emphasis on service delivery has moved from visibility and connectivity to flexibility and end-to-end relationship management. This evolution, in turn, has injected an essential strategic element into professional services providers’ approach to supply chain, favoring those providers best able to align strategy for clients at both the macro and micro levels in supply chain management (SCM).

In Law.com Compass Pacesetter Research: Supply Chain 2023-2024, the Pacesetter Advisory Council assessed dozens of providers to arrive at twenty-three Innovators recognized for their ability to help clients navigate an increasingly complex market environment. Additionally, the research and analysis provide insights into the competitive dynamics and service delivery trends driving convergence across legal, management consulting, multi-service, and technology providers.

2023-2024 Research Highlights

Supply chain management is one of the primary areas of investment in 2023 for many professional services providers, ranking with M&A and restructuring services in terms of resources
Skilled talent scarcity continues to be the leading impediment to achieving supply chain goals
Global trade is undergoing a profound reorientation with organizations seeking to simplify and localize/regionalize their supply chain networks, a trend accelerated by geopolitical volatility
Evolving client supply chain strategies and market volatility (leading to significant changes in production strategies) are also disrupting traditional supplier and market relationships, further contributing to uncertainty

Investments in digital technologies in supply chain management have accelerated, but with different players (both internal and external partners) at varying levels of digital maturity, misalignment between data and technology environments has become a serious impediment to achieving key supply chain goals
Innovators have focused on helping clients transform their supply chain networks into value creation centers by integrating supply chain strategy with enterprise strategy, balancing in the process cost, agility, resiliency, and sustainability

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What Makes A Supply Chain Pacesetter & innovator?

Supply Chain Innovators and Pacesetters in 2023 approach supply chain management seeking to foster greater collaboration, connectivity, and visibility – what is being called “radical transparency” – across client organizations despite the short-term cost challenges. These providers are best able to align strategy for clients at both the macro and micro levels in supply chain management (SCM).

The 2023-2024 Supply Chain innovator & Pacesetters

Accenture
AlixPartners
Alvarez & Marsal
Bain & Company
Boston Consulting Group
Camelot
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
FTI Consulting
Genpact
Hogan Lovells

IBM
Kearney
KPMG
Linklaters
Mayer Brown
McKinsey & Company
North Highland
Oliver Wyman
PA Consulting
PwC
SupplHi
Thompson Hine

The 2021-2022 Supply Chain Market Leaders & Pacesetters

Accenture
Argon & Co.
Bain & Company
Boston Consulting Group
CAMELOT Management Consultants
Deloitte
Efficio
EY
GEP
Hogan Lovells

Kearney
KPMG
Mayer Brown
McKinsey & Company
North Highland
Porsche Consulting
PwC
Thompson Hine
Trianz

the methodology

The goal of ALM Pacesetter Research is to help buyers of professional services navigate an increasingly complex landscape with confidence. We use a multidisciplinary perspective to identify best-in-class providers of legal, consulting, financial, insurance, employee benefits, and other professional services and analyze how they are evolving as an ecosystem of interdisciplinary service providers. Our research is grounded in over 50 years of accumulated market insights and qualitative research models that combine knowledge of management science with case studies and other sources of knowledge to understand patterns of market supply, demand, behavior, and ways of doing business. Our research also includes voices/perspectives from both the sellside and buyside, as well as knowledgeable people working in industry associations, academia, etc.

The ALM Pacesetter Advisory Council (PAC) convenes in advance of the research project kick-off; members include ALM journalists and editors, and external experts such as consultants, general counsel, and industry thought leaders
The PAC selects the set of Market Leaders that will be covered in the research topic from a larger group of providers that members have identified in the normal course of their work
PAC members also provide expert knowledge and insights to the ALM Pacesetter team throughout the research and analysis process

The ALM Pacesetter Team within ALM Intelligence conducts primary and secondary research
Primary research includes in-depth interviews with practice leaders at the provider firms covered in the research; satisfaction interviews with clients referred by those providers; and in-depth interviews with thought leaders, recruiting professionals, and other sources
Secondary research includes data gathered from annual reports and earnings calls, management presentations, public filings, case studies, press releases, journals and publications, online information databases and other publicly available resources

Market Leaders that achieve a Pacesetter Impact Score equal to or over 85 are designated as ALM Pacesetters
Pacesetter analysts map markets and stakeholders and write market trends
Market segment overviews are peer reviewed by the appropriate PAC member

Service providers are evaluated and scored based on five core criteria

Business Model

Provider’s ability to reposition core competencies around new products, services, and business models to adapt to shifting patterns of market supply, demand, behavior, and ways of doing business.

Value Proposition

Provider’s ability to deliver on its value proposition, i.e., the positioning statement that communicates the benefits and economic value a prospect will receive by purchasing the provider’s products and services over a competitor’s.

Service Delivery

Provider’s ability to mobilize resources and configure assets to serve clients.

Client Impact

Provider’s ability to help clients affect continuous, sustainable change, mitigate risk, improve performance, and achieve growth.

Brand Eminence

Provider’s ability to leverage brand and marketing strategies to differentiate in its marketplace as an expert practitioner and thought leader.

Tomek’s focus is on finance management consulting, which includes finance operations, balance sheet strategy & investor relations, portfolio & capital strategy, and transaction advisory services.

Before joining ALM Intelligence, Tomek led the European asset-backed securities (ABS) and global collateralized debt obligation (CDO) report sourcing and research efforts for the asset-backed securities market intelligence firm Lewtan Technologies. Before that he spent five years with Capital Access International, a fixed-income market intelligence firm responsible for bringing the widely known fixed-income investment professional and securities profile tool eMAXX™ to the investment world. He was Director of North American data research when that firm was acquired by Lipper (a Reuters company) in 2002.

Tomek earned a B.A. in History magna cum laude, with a minor in Cultural Anthropology, from SUNY at Buffalo (New York). In 2017 Tomek earned his Masters of Science degree in Applied Economics from Southern New Hampshire University. He also spent several years living and studying in Poland, Hungary, and other regions of Eastern Europe and has authored a successful book (published in late 2013) on Eastern Europe, which is going into its second edition in 2018.