Return to Form

From sea to shining sea, every single IT vendor and business publication--including this one--likes to trumpet the words "Return on Investment" (ROI) as though it still retains some sort of impact. But just like "End-to-End Solution", Return on Investment is a buzz word that has lost its buzz, becoming more diluted than a parent's bottle of Chivas Regal that has been filled one too many times with water by their sneaky, teenage offspring. Whatever happened to the good ol days of IT investment, when kicking the snot out of a competitor was all the ROI a CIO needed?

To digress for minute, the hotbed of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) currently taking place is an obvious indicator that the CG generals are indeed strengthening their supply chains as if preparing for a battle of the brands set to rival a Lord of The Rings clash. But as "forward thinking" and "strategic" as M&A might appear, in truth, it might do more harm than good. Think of how you feel at the end of Thanksgiving, for instance, after feasting on too much of a good thing. Does P&G, Coors, Heinz and Oracle (to name a few) feel the same way after swallowing one too many competitors? For their sake, I hope not. Bloated and sleepy is no condition to be in when it comes to satisfying the almighty Demand Driven Supply Network.

Our best practices coverage on Marketing Resource Management (p.16-21), shatters the typical industry perception of ROI. Kimberely-Clark for instance, deems its Marketing Resource Management (MRM) strategy as an ongoing journey that involves learning, adapting and reacting--a far cry from implementing an application in hopes of achieving payback in six months. By doing more of what works and less of what doesn't, Kimberly-Clark's IT and marketing departments have proven to upper management that a dynamic MRM philosophy can do wonders for the company's bottom line.

Their story is a true return to form that exemplifies that the sky is the limit when it comes to the right mix of people, process and technology.