Dell, Drucker, Stephenson, Gattorna feted by CSCMP

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) today inducted IT executive Michael Dell; management guru Peter F. Drucker; railroad pioneer George Stephenson; and Dr. John Gattorna, the supply chain management consultant who yesterday received the organization's Distinguished Service Award, into its Hall of Fame.

Dell revolutionized the personal computing industry in the mid-1980s by selling PCs directly to the customer rather than through the conventional indirect retail channel. In 1996, Austin, Texas-based Dell began selling computers directly over the Internet. Dell based his model on the belief that selling direct to consumers would enable him to underprice traditional retail chains. He reasoned that, with a strong supply chain, he could hold parts in inventory and then bring them together to fulfill an order that had just been placed. Like Walmart Founder Sam Walton did in retail, Dell proved that success and market power could be achieved by building a better process rather than through a superior product.

Drucker was an Austrian-born American management consultant, educator, and author whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern corporation. He was also a leader in the development of management education. He invented the concept known as management by objectives and self-control, and has been described as "the founder of modern management." Drucker became one of the best-known thinkers and writers on management theory and practice. His writings predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century, including privatization and decentralization; the rise of Japan to economic world power; the decisive importance of marketing; and the emergence of the information society, with its emphasis on lifelong learning.

Stephenson, a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was renowned as the "Father of Railways." Largely through his work, rail transport became one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century, and was a key component of the Industrial Revolution. In 1825, Stephenson and his son built the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Stephenson also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830.

Gattorna, an author, academic, and principal of Gattorna Alignment, a Sydney-based advisory firm, has been instrumental in changing the perception of logistics and supply chain management from that of a tactically driven cost center to a strategic differentiator and business imperative. His work has elevated the supply chain management profession from the factory and distribution center floors to the boardrooms as a strategic advantage for companies.