Sheri Hinish, Global Sustainability Services Lead at IBM, is regarded as the “Supply Chain Queen” among colleagues and clients. Her goal is to have a positive influence on the customers, coworkers, partners, and communities she serves. She works with customers to design and construct future supply chains that empower the human experience, strategically promote sustainability, and effect meaningful, equitable and lucrative change.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Describe your background and what did you do before you joined IBM?
Colleagues and clients affectionately call me the nickname “Supply Chain Queen.” I’m recognized as a trusted advisor that companies leverage for strategy and a unique point of view in supply chain, sustainability, talent + organizational change management, diversity as a business imperative, and digital transformations.
I have spent over 17 years leading and influencing transformations as a practitioner and consultant for Fortune 500 clients in consumer, technology, industrial, and disruptive innovation in e2e processes and product design.
I am a rebel and an eternal student who loves to bring out the best in people. I’ve made a career of simplifying the complex, rethinking supply chain strategy and customer experience. I host a top podcast that evangelizes the future of supply chains called the “Supply Chain Revolution.” My vision is to change the world through shared purpose, sustainable supply chains, circularity, and building technology grounded in the principles of sustainable development.
Before joining IBM, I served as a sustainability and supply chain leader for a number of global brands. I also founded Supply Chain Revolution, a podcast that shares stories of purpose and sustainable transformation, innovation, and provocative points of view that challenge paradigms for progress.
What was the idea behind joining the supply chain industry?
I actually joined the industry when my employer at the time decided to build out their supply chain department from scratch. At the time, I was working in an IT and accounting role, but I found myself intrigued by how critical the supply chain was to how the business was run day-to-day and how much it impacted the company’s success.
The next thing I knew, I was enrolled in business school, on the path to receiving a Masters degree in Supply Chain Management. That was such a pivotal moment in my career, and I really learned about the fundamentals of developing a supply chain strategy and the importance of global logistics management. That role, coupled with the supplemental education that I was receiving, really laid the foundation for the career that I have today.
Tell us more about IBM.
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI services and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries gather insights from data, streamline business processes, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge.
I am especially excited to tell you about one of our newer offering portfolios within IBM Consulting. Earlier this year, IBM Consulting officially launched our Sustainability Services capability. Our team of leaders and consultants work with businesses to develop sustainability roadmaps that go beyond compliance, to meet board and consumer expectations; implement a holistic, responsible computing platform based on cloud and AI; and operationalize sustainability by incorporating data and automation into daily workflows.
Who is your target audience? How do you create services that align with what they’re looking for?
My target audience broadly is any leader looking to make a meaningful impact by aligning digital, modernization, and sustainability across business operations and strategy. I also believe sustainability is a team sport and everyone’s job. It’s not a department or a project. Transformational sustainability is about challenging the systems we built as much as it is about an end-to-end lens that includes product design, sourcing and procurement, supply chain, operations, and how to help stakeholders make better, more sustainable decisions. Many of my conversations start with the CPO or CSCO around environmental and social sustainability and how technology can enable and accelerate transparency, visibility, and ESG performance.
What are the major changes happen in client behavior and market operation since pandemic?
Clients see the tie between business and the communities where they serve and operate. The biggest change is the role of business and the associated responsibility, whether through regulatory and ESG pressures, customers, trading partners, and associates who make up the fabric of an organization. We are thinking differently about the lowest cost models and thinking more in terms of lowest risk and highest impact. I think people are leading with their values, and it shows up in professional decisions, investments, and who they choose to do business with post-pandemic.
What gets you up in the morning? What are your responsibilities as the Global Sustainability Services Lead of the company?
I believe sustainable supply chains can change the world. I believe we’ve never been smarter and the technology exists now to accelerate progress in environmental and social sustainability. The coalition of the willing and the power of people coming together under shared purpose is inspirational.Knowing we can ACT NOW and truly change the course of the climate emergency and design a fair, responsible and equitable world is comforting.
I am responsible for IBM Consulting’s strategy, offerings, ecosystem partnerships, and capabilities centered on sustainability and ethical innovation.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
Humans making better decisions for the quadruple bottom line: people, planet, business model shifts, and impact. This looks like equitable societies that are thriving, climate restoration; healthy oceans and life on land; and businesses answering the call to responsibility and a circular, just transition.
What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
Don’t be afraid to use your voice and challenge the status quo. Stop asking people who have no idea where you’re going for directions or to proofread your ambitions or vision you have for your life.
Website: www.ibm.com
