A learning initiative, jointly designed by Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) and US-based Penn State University’s Smeal College of Business, for the benefit of Sabic employees, has been recognised by the Chief Learning Officer magazine.

The educational initiative was presented with the 2015 Gold (highest-level) award in the category of ‘Excellence in Academic Partnerships’, said a statement.

The award recognises academic institutions that have partnered with an organisation to tackle a key business issue, it said.  

Recognising the importance of its supply chain (SC) discipline to continued global growth, Sabic first engaged Penn State Executive Education Programmes in 2009 to develop supply chain professionals at all levels within the organisation. Sabic and Penn State University formalised their cooperation by signing a Learning Services Agreement in October of 2013, it added.

George Brennan, chief learning officer, Sabic, said: “Our collaboration with Penn State University has not only produced exceptional financial benefits for Sabic, but also given us a repeatable process we can use to even greater benefit across the company.”

“The award is further recognition of both the value of the Applied Learning programme and the strength of the Sabic-Penn State collaboration,” he added.

The Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence (GSC COE), accountable for the SC Development Programme in Sabic, designed an overall learning architecture with Sabic Academy and Penn State Executive Education Programmes. The Applied Learning programme combines face-to-face learning, applied learning projects, and coaching. Selected high-performers are eligible to enrol in the online Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management Programme offered by the Smeal College of Business and Penn State’s World Campus.

Sabic introduced its Applied Learning programme to support the continuous improvement and optimisation of SC operations, important pillars of Sabic’s global SC strategy. Where opportunities existed, cross-functional teams were formed to analyse current SC operations, increasing efficiency and reducing complexity. These teams included all key players in designated end-to-end supply chain processes.

“This programme has helped Sabic deliver significant benefits to our customers and shareholders,” said Uwaidh Al-Harethi, executive vice president, chemicals, whose strategic business unit has just completed the programme.
    
The introduction of the programme started in the Polymer supply chain. Guided by Smeal College of Business faculty, a cross-functional project team developed a design for the Singapore logistics hub to accelerate the end-to-end process from customer engagement to product delivery.

“This first programme completed by Sabic’s polymers team in Singapore and the GSC COE was highly successful,” said Fouzan Al-Shamekh, general manager, global supply chain management – polymers.

Gartner, a global research and advisory company, recently ranked Sabic among the top five petrochemical/agribusiness companies in its annual Supply Chain Top 25 rankings, in recognition of Sabic’s outstanding success in applying demand-driven principles to its global supply chain.

This is the first time in 11 years of the Gartner ranking that a Middle East company has figured in this distinguished list.

Penn State Executive Education Programmes works with leading organisations world-wide to develop leadership and organisational capabilities to address pressing business challenges, it added. – TradeArabia News Service