Corporate Leadership Committee

Jason Xu
Manager, IT Vendor Management, SUPERVALU

Jason Xu leads the IT vendor management Boise office and the India team at SUPERVALU. He is responsible for enterprise IT sourcing, contract management, vendor relationship management and performance management.

Prior to SUPERVALU, he was the IT sourcing manager for Nokia Siemens Networks in the APAC region and later the head of indirect purchasing for Asia South. Prior to Nokia Siemens Networks, he spent his early career days in Motorola Global Sourcing and KPMG Consulting.

Jason obtained his MS degree in Supply Chain Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Information Engineering, with a minor in Finance from Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Marc Gordon
Vice President of Finance, Best Buy

Marc is responsible for Best Buy’s Enterprise Planning and Performance Management including long range planning, budgeting and forecasting and management reporting processes. He also leads Finance decision support for the Company’s HR and IT functions. In his 16 years with Best Buy, Marc has had responsibility for finance leadership of the Tax, Treasury, Investor Relations departments and decision support leadership for the Company’s merchant, supply chain, services and retail operations functional areas.

Gordon began his career with Best Buy in 1993 as director of finance. Before joining Best Buy, he spent 10 years with Ernst & Young LLP, most recently as a senior manager.

John Johnson
Strategy & Innovation, PepsiCo, Inc.

John Johnson is a strategy development and innovation leader with a proven track record of building and leading the implementation of new business ideas. John is accountable for initiating and leading innovative global change across the PepsiCo enterprise. John’s organization actively pursues internal and external technology-enabled business innovation to develop core business competencies and create a high-impact innovation pipeline.

Previously, he held the position of lead negotiator and relationship manager responsible for business process outsourcing programs including data center consolidation, application consolidation, and network managed services for 2,000+ locations in over 200 countries. During John's tenure in this position at PepsiCo, he was awarded prestigious corporate awards for being instrumental in leading his team in generating multi-million dollar savings for PepsiCo business divisions worldwide.

John holds both a BBA and MBA from Oklahoma State University and is currently writing his dissertation for the completion of his PhD in Organization Management.   His focus on virtualization and enterprise innovation promises groundbreaking research and insight to the field of information technology.  He holds several industry certifications, including PMP, ABCP, CCNA, and ITIL designations.

Bill O'Connor
COO, Food Science Corporation

In April, 2008 Bill O’Connor joined FoodScience Corporation as Chief Operating Officer. FoodScience Corporation makes Animal and Human Food Supplements. Bill began his career in the Transportation & Logistics Industry in 1972 with Customs and Border Protection in Boston, Massachusetts, of which he spent 5 years of his employment as a Customs Inspector stationed in Toronto, Canada; Buffalo, New York; and Boston, Massachusetts.  Bill has also worked as UPS Supply Chain Solution’s Northern Border Regional Operations Manager, as IBM’s Global Logistics Manager, and as Tower Group International’s Director of North American Transportation and Warehousing.  His college education is in Mathematics and Business Administration at Boston State College, State University of New York in Buffalo, and University of Massachusetts in Boston.  He is a U.S. Licensed Customs Broker.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the National Industrial Transportation League in Washington DC, and is the chairperson of the League’s Select Committee of Security.  He lectures at University of Vermont on Supply Chain Management.

Bill resides in Swanton, Vermont with his wife, Susan.  

Robert A. McAdoo
Vice President of Worldwide Business Systems, Parker Hannifin Corporation

As Parker's Vice President of Worldwide Business Systems, Bob is responsible for the planning and deployment of business applications in support of Parker's worldwide operations.  Bob has held positions at large and small enterprises in Information Technology, Finance, Materials Management and Sales. 

McAdoo holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Information Technology from the Ohio State University.  He is a non-practicing CPA and is a member of the AICPA, MAPI and AAIG.

Belinda Lang
Vice President, Consumer Marketing Strategy, American Express

Belinda Lang is a senior marketing executive and innovation leader with an extensive track record of successfully building out new business ideas, creating loyalty management programs and developing breakthrough brand and communications strategies. Belinda brings a deep understanding of strategic, marketing and P&L levers for profitable growth as well as end-to-end operational requirements for successful market delivery.

During her 24 years at American Express, Belinda held various leadership roles in marketing, business development and information management. In her most recent position, Belinda was responsible for the development and execution of market segmentation, consumer positioning and product line strategies as well as integrated marketing, brand communications and customer experience initiatives for the Consumer Card business. In this role, Belinda developed and launched American Express’ first significant online cause marketing and social networking initiative, The Members Project, which enabled Cardmembers to collectively choose an idea to have a broad positive impact, to be funded by American Express.

Prior to this role, Belinda was Vice President of Co-brand Card Portfolios and New Product Development, which included oversight of the Delta, Hilton, Starwood, ShopRite and Bank of Hawaii portfolios. Earlier in her career, Belinda held diverse leadership roles which included creating new cross-selling and distribution channels, which transformed American Express’ customer service operation into a critical revenue generator, and overseeing information management reengineering and capabilities development. Belinda also launched American Express’ Membership Rewards program, expanding and rebranding the original Membership Miles airline program, and drove crucial growth during the early stages of American Express’ Consumer Lending business and expansion of the merchant network into the health care sector.

In recognition of her innovative marketing leadership on Members Project, Belinda was recognized as one of Advertising Age’s Top 50 Marketers for 2008. Members Project was also awarded a Gold Effie for Financial Services and a ProAward for Best Cause Marketing promotion in 2008.

Belinda received her M.B.A. from New York University, a M.Sc, with Honors in Occupational Therapy from Columbia University and a B.A. with Honors in Art History from McGill University.

Shawn Knox
Senior VP & Chief Information Officer, Ansell Healthcare

Shawn Knox is Senior Vice President and CIO of Ansell Healthcare, a leading global manufacture and marketer of barrier protection products for the healthcare industry. With sales of approximately $.9 billion, Ansell's products include latex surgical, medical examination, industrial gloves, condoms, and household gloves.

Knox joined Ansell in March 2005, as a member of Ansell's Executive Management team reporting to Ansell's CEO and Managing Director. Prior to joining Ansell, Knox served as Vice President, Global IT, with Photronics, Inc., a global manufacturer of photomask, an enabling technology supplier to the semiconductor industry.  Prior to Photronics, Knox had held senior global IT positions at Duracell, Inc., a consumer battery manufacturer and at American Saw & Manufacturing, an industrial cutting tool manufacturer.

John Goione
Manager, Supply Chain Systems , BMW North America

John Goione is the Manager for Systems and Processes in the Parts Logistics division of BMW of North America, LLC. An employee with BMW NA for over 21 years, he has worked in the Engineering, IT, and most recently the Aftersales division of the company. Responsible for support and continuous improvement in the supply chain technology space, the most recent challenge being a medium to large scale implementation of SAP R/3 and SAP APO solution internally code named ATLAS.

Michele Meoni
Chief Operating Officer , Continental Hotels

Michele Meoni is the Chief Operating Officer of Continental Hotels where he is involved in the management of all units (9 hotels between 3 and 4 stars). He holds an EMBA from CASS (City University Business School), DMS in Management Sciences from Westminster University, and completed his technical skill development at Forte Hotels Plc with a 2 years Hotel Management Training placement in Grosvenor House Hotel, one of the 18 hotels forming the former Exclusive Hotels brand. He has 25 years of experience in hospitality operational management which includes 10 years in Tour operator and Travel Agency and Coach Management and the last years all in the hotels industry.

Tom Larkin
Chief of Staff, Supply Management, Credit Suisse

Tom Larkin has over 22 years of experience in supply management, organizational design, change management and strategic sourcing. Tom has designed and implemented strategic sourcing organizational structures for Fortune 100 companies. He is currently a Director of Supply Management at Credit Suisse Securities LLC (USA) based in New York where he is responsible for the development of global supply management strategies, policies, and financial controls.

Greg Tennyson
Chief Procurement Officer, Salesforce.com

Greg Tennyson has 25 plus years of progressive sourcing/commodity management and commercial contracts experience affording him a view of the buy and sell-side of operations.  Greg regularly engages companies on best-in-class use of technology and process to drive operational excellence and scale for growth.  Industry peers consider him a subject matter expert around the use of eBusiness/ERP applications and process optimization in driving operational excellence.

With over 50 acquisitions in the last four years he has developed procurement synergy strategies to quickly integrate procurement operations and deliver savings.  He also has extensive experience managing business process off shoring – documenting process, bifurcating roles/responsibilities and achieving labor arbitrage benefits while enhancing corporate governance. 

Greg holds a bachelor's degree and MBA from St. Mary’s College, Moraga CA and held professional certification credentials from the National Contract Management Association (Certified Professional Contracts Manager) and Institute of Supply Management (Certified Purchasing Manager).

Leslie K. Lambert
Vice President, Information Technology, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Leslie K. Lambert is a Vice President of Information Technology at Sun Microsystems, Inc. She reports to the CIO as the Chief Information Security Officer and is responsible for overall IT Security Management, including intrusion detection, threat vulnerability assessments, incident management, security awareness, prevention and protection against SPAM and malware attacks, policies/standards/procedures development and deployment.

Since joining Sun in 1992, Lambert's previous roles have included: Vice President of IT Strategy and Architecture, Service Management and Systems Engineering Practices, Chief Information Security Officer, Vice President of Demand Creation Systems IT, as well as Vice President of both the iPlanet and Software Systems Group divisions at Sun. Other key IT roles have included: Director of Information Technology for Sun Express, JavaSoft, and Sun Microelectronics, a Sun IT Enterprise Architect, and the Director of Internet Commerce.

Lambert has 28 years of experience in both Information Technology and technical/business infrastructure. Her experiences range from Control Systems Design to the delivery, implementation, and management of IT systems and infrastructure.

Prior to Sun, Lambert was with Intergraph Corp. and Fluor Daniel in key Customer Engineering, IT, and Control Systems Design roles. Her experience covers the industries of oil and gas, engineering and construction, evaluation research, customer training, CAD/CAE, and Information Technology, where she gained significant hands-on operational, architectural, and management experience.

Jamie Crump
Director of Indirect Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Diversity, United Rentals, Inc.

Jamie Crump is the Director of Indirect Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Diversity for United Rentals, Inc., the world’s largest equipment rental company.  She has worked in the indirect space for most of her career in various industries including welding supply, medical equipment, pharmaceutical, banking, IT and telecommunications before joining United in 2006.  She also worked in the software development and support arena for several years with her own company and later for IBM.  Jamie speaks on a number of topics including sourcing and supply chain, supplier diversity and performance management for suppliers.  She has been featured at conferences and events for ISM, ProcureCon Indirect and others. 

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Regis University in Denver and is working on a Masters in Organizational Behavior.  Jamie makes her home in New Milford, CT with her husband Bill Thebert.

John Viele
Staff Vice President - Procurement, Wellpoint, Inc.

John Viele has 18 plus years of progressive strategic sourcing management experience across a multitude of spend categories.  His experience allows him a perspective from both the supply and demand side of business transactions. John regularly engages companies on best-in-class use of technology and process to drive operational excellence and scale for growth.  Colleagues consider him a optimist who seeks and finds solutions that are focused on mutual benefit and mutual respect.

With 100’s of multimillion dollar transactions during his career he has developed procurement synergy strategies to quickly integrate procurement operations and deliver innovation, operational efficiency, and savings. He also has experience managing business process off shoring and outsourcing and achieving long term benefits beyond the short term / short lived benefits of labor arbitrage.

John holds bachelor's degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from Northeastern University and Quinnipiac University respectively.  He also earned an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Brian Hancock
Vice President, Supply Chain, Whirlpool Corporation

Brian Hancock joined Whirlpool Corporation and was named vice president, Supply Chain in May 2005.  He is responsible for all global supply chain functions, including the integration of supply chain operations from Maytag Corporation.

Prior to joining Whirlpool, he served two years as vice president and general manager of Schneider Logistics Inc. in Green Bay, Wis.   During his nine years with Schneider, Hancock led the General Motors team as general manager, served as vice president of Automotive and vice president and general manager of the entire Automotive Division.   During this time, Hancock also served as the chairman of the General Motors Logistics Supplier Council.

Earlier in his career, Hancock held various positions of increasing responsibility with Tredegar Molded Products of Richmond, Va. and Honeywell Corporation in Phoenix, Ariz., and Minneapolis, Minn.  He then returned to Arizona as director of finance for a municipality prior to joining Schneider Logistics as controller.

Hancock holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University.  He is currently the chairman of the Marriott School Global Supply Chain Advisory Board at Brigham Young University.  Hancock holds a CPA certification and is fluent in Portuguese.

Faculty

Jim Cromwell
Director, Supply Chain Management Research Center, University of Arkansas

Jim Crowell joined the Supply Chain Management Research Center (SCMRC) as managing director in August 2001. He came from the Denver area with some 25 years of industry experience in finance, supply chain management and logistics.  His company affiliations include a 21 year career at a Fortune 500 Company in corporate financial planning, operations, procurement, transportation, logistics systems and supply chain collaboration.  Subsequently, he was operations manager for a small entrepreneurial organization for two years prior to joining the Center.

The Center (http://scmr.uark.edu/) membership has grown three fold over the past several years and during that time developed a host of annual events including a spring conference, fall board symposium, International Logistics Graduate Case Competition and Women in Logistics chapter.   The Center mission to link faculty, students and industry practitioners includes; student scholarships, internships and career placement, research projects and interactive forums. 

Crowell has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Colorado at Denver, Regis University and the Walton College.  He has taught classes in marketing, transportation, distribution, international logistics and information systems.  He has been a speaker at national meetings and various corporate engagements.

His professional affiliations include: the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (chapter president three times), Retail Industry Leaders Association, American Wind Energy Association, VICS/CPFR council, Delta Nu Alpha, Damage Prevention Council and Traffic Clubs International. He has severed on numerous professional and community boards and is the recipient of various awards including the 2002 Educator of the Year by the Colorado Transportation Community.

Mark Millar
Managing Director, M POWER Associates Limited

Mark Millar is Managing Director of M POWER Associates Limited - a specialist services provider of Marketing, Consulting and Training solutions for the Supply Chain and Logistics industry. In March 2009, Mark was named as one of the "2009 Provider Pros to Know" - the prestigious listing of “Thought-Leaders in their respective Supply Chain Segments” - published by Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine. Mark has Chaired and Presented at more than 75 Logistics and Supply Chain conferences in 12 countries, where event organizers and participants consistently rate him as one of the top speakers, and delegates have described him as entertaining and energetic. His twenty years in Supply Chain and Logistics includes 15 years in the Asia Pacific region, where Mark has led business development initiatives across ten Asian countries, including extensive experience in China, where he held executive positions at Platinum Logistix, ModusLink, Exel Contract Logistics (now DHL) and UPS Supply Chain Solutions. An active participant in industry organizations, Mark is the Asia Pacific Regional Leader for the Supply Chain and Logistics Group of Dubai, serves as Vice President of International Relations at Supply Chain Asia, the Singapore based industry community organization, and as Vice Chair of the Logistics Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. In Hong Kong, Mark serves as Chair of the Logistics Committee at the British Chamber of Commerce and is an elected Council Member at the Hong Kong Logistics Association. Whilst previously based in Shanghai, he served as Honorary Chairman of the China Supply Chain Council and as Logistics Committee Vice Chair at the American Chamber.

Oliver Marks
Consultant & Author, ZDNET

Oliver Marks provides seasoned independent consulting guidance to companies on the effective planning of ‘Enterprise 2.0’ strategy, tactics, technology decisions and roll out. With extensive practical senior management experience in international enterprise collaboration, Oliver previously managed the Sony PlayStation ‘WorldWide Studios’ collaboration extranet, and has worked with the American Management Association, Sun, Docent/SumTotal Systems, Harvard Business School and McKinsey & Company on major initiatives around knowledge transfer and change management.

Oliver’s deep pragmatic knowledge of people types, business processes and associated technology stacks makes him an in demand consultant, providing strategic roadmaps tailored to anticipate efficient scaling and growth aligned with cost saving efficiencies. Oliver has dual US/UK citizenship and has worked on Asian, European and American global enterprise collaboration, and has helped organize and spoken at various conferences. He is based in San Francisco and writes the widely read ‘Collaboration 2.0’ blog on ZDNet.

Jon Hansen
Writer & Speaker, Procurement Insights

Jon Hansen has studied and written extensively about e-Procurement and the changing face of procurement around the globe.  In addition to being a highly acclaimed international speaker, his Procurement Insights Blog reaches 300,000 syndicated subscribers each month worldwide, and is currently available in several languages. He has written more than 200 articles and papers on subjects ranging from supply chain optimization and the utilization of agent-based modeling in the software development process to the evolution of sustainable purchasing practices and the impact of traditional ERP-centric implementation methodologies on the high rate of supply chain initiative failures. Funded by the Government of Canada’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program Jon's work in both identifying the existence of Commodity Characteristics as well as defining and recording their impact on “best value” purchasing practices represented a seminal breakthrough that led to the establishment of new theories surrounding the practical utilization of synchronized platforms in achieving sustainable coordinated savings and overall process efficiencies.

Jon is also the host of the critically acclaimed PI Window on Business Show on Blog Talk Radio which features leaders and bestselling authors from the world of business discussing timely and thought provoking subjects. The PI Window on Business Show airs every Tuesday and Wednesday between 12:30 and 1:15 PM EDT.

Edgar Blanco
Executive Director, MIT Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation (CLI) Alliance

Dr. Edgar Blanco is the Executive Director for the MIT Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation (CLI) Alliance. His current research focus is the design of energy and carbon efficient supply chains. He also leads supply chain research initiatives on emerging markets and humanitarian operations.

Dr. Blanco has over ten years of experience applying operations research techniques, statistical methods, database design, GIS technologies and software solutions to deliver significant savings in supply chain operations. Prior to joining MIT, he was leading the Inventory Optimization practice at Retek (now Oracle Retail). He received his Ph.D. from the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His educational background includes a B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) and a M.S. in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Lisa Ellram
Professor in Distribution, Miami University

Professor Lisa Ellram is one of the world's top 10 professors in supply chain management. Her name is instantly recognisable to anyone in the field thanks to her extensive publications record, (including 4-star publications in the Journal of Operations Management and the California Management Review), her high international profile, and her many roles on editorial boards and advisory panels. She has recently accepted the Professorship in Distribution at Miami University.

She has published more than 50 articles in a number of journals, including the 'Journal of Business Logistics,' 'The Journal of Supply Chain Management,' 'The International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management,'' 'The European Journal of Purchasing and Supply,' and 'The International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management.'

Professor Ellram is a founding member of the Procurement Sciences Institute. She serves or has served on the editorial review board for the Journal of Business Logistics, the Journal of Purchasing and Supply, the Journal of Supply Chain Management, the International Journal of Logistics Management, and Inside Supply Management. She is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Supply Chain management, the longest standing journal focusing in supply management. She has served as chairwoman of the educational resources committee of the Institute for Supply Management and as a member of the board of trustees for the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies. She is a member of The Institute for Supply Management, Decision Sciences Institute, the Institute of Management Accounting and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. 

Michael Hugos
CIO at Large, Center for Systems Innovation (c4si)

Michael Hugos, at Center for Systems Innovation [c4si], is a speaker, mentor and practitioner in business and IT agility and supply chain management. He previously spent six years as chief information officer (CIO) of a national distribution organization where he developed the suite of supply chain and e-business systems that transformed the company's business and revenue model. He is a recognized expert in business agility, IT agility and supply chain management. He won the CIO 100 Award in 2003 and 2005, the InformationWeek 500 Award in 2005, and in 2006 was selected for the Computerworld Premier 100 Award for career achievement.

Michael earned his MBA from Northwestern University 's Kellogg School of Management and his bachelor's degree in Urban Planning and Design from University of Cincinnati. He writes a blog for CIO Magazine titled “Doing Business in Real Time” and has authored several books including best selling Essentials of Supply Chain Management 2^nd Ed., and his newest book Business Agility: Sustainable Prosperity in a Relentlessly Competitive World.

Joe Sandor
Hoagland-Metzler Endowed Professor of Practice in Supply Management, Michigan State University

Joe Sandor was appointed as the Hoagland-Metzler Endowed Professor of Practice in Supply Management at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad School of Business in March 2006 .  This new Chair was created to help drive the impact of the Broad School on supply management by focusing with senior executives on the collaborative creation and dissemination of knowledge.

Effective September 1999, Joe Sandor formed Creative Procurement Strategies (CPS).  CPS is a sole proprietorship dedicated to help firms earn significant and sustainable supply management advantage. CPS clients include: Harley-Davidson, Delphi, Rolls-Royce, Deere, Whirlpool, Electrolux, Sara Lee, USAF, Hewlett-Packard, ConAgra, IBM and Motorola.

Prior to forming CPS, Joe was CPO and Director of Corporate Purchasing and Logistics for the Sara Lee Corporation from 1984 to 1999.  Joe has over 35 years of Supply Management experience with Sara Lee, General Motors, NL Industries and Beatrice.

Joe earned a BA in the Philosophy of Science from the University of Miami and an MBA from the University of Chicago.  Also, he is both a C.P.M. (Certified Purchasing Manager) and a CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management), and was an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.