The Sustainable Supply Chain – Costs, Compliance, Challenges and Competitiveness
The next presentation in the Texas A&M Energy Institute Lecture Series, featuring Dr. Christopher Gopal, a global supply chain and operations consultant and educator, will be held on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST (UTC -6:00) in the Frederick E. Giesecke Engineering Research Building (GERB) Third Floor Conference Room and through a Zoom Meeting. The topic will be “The Sustainable Supply Chain – Costs, Compliance, Challenges and Competitiveness.”
Abstract
Supply Chains have become one of the most high-profile topics of discussion and strategy in corporate boardrooms, the media, and government circles. Sustainability is now one of the biggest challenges facing companies and nations. The two are intertwined. Global supply chains account for about 80% of the world’s total carbon emissions, while eight industry supply chains are responsible for more than 50% of global emissions. Yet, most discussions of sustainable supply chains revolve around ideology and a stated desire to do good for the planet on the one hand, and the livelihood and prosperity of individuals, companies, supply chains, and communities on the other.
This discussion is from the perspective of the supply chain executive, defining the issues and highlighting the challenges and research that needs to be addressed. It discusses balancing the different needs of the various stakeholders while ensuring that their companies and end-to-end supply chains thrive and prosper.
Biography
Dr. Christopher Gopal has more than 35 years of experience in global supply chain and operations strategy, execution, and technology in a career that has encompassed industry executive management, consulting, and executive education. Dr. Gopal has held executive positions at several leading companies, including Partner & Director of Global Supply Chain & Operations Services at Ernst & Young Consulting, VP in World-Wide Operations at Dell Computer, as well as executive positions at leading global technology and services companies. His consulting clients have included prominent global and regional companies across a range of industries, and he has also assisted several start-up companies.
He serves as a Member of the Defense Business Board (DBB), which provides the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, as well as other senior leaders, trusted independent and objective advice which reflects an outside private sector perspective on proven and effective best business practices for consideration and potential application to the Department.
Gopal is also a Member of the Supply Chain Advisory Board of the Global Fund, Geneva. The Global Fund is a public-private partnership with a mandate to eliminate HIV, TB, Malaria, and Covid as pandemics.
He currently consults with companies and serves as a Senior Strategic Advisor to start-up Customer Experience and Supply Chain AI companies. He teaches at the University of California San Diego and at the University of Southern California, where he also serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Supply Chain Management Center.
Gopal serves on the Advisory Board of a prominent think-tank on Industrial Competitiveness and recently served on a White House sub-committee on Manufacturing Technologies.
He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management, UK. He is the co-author of four books on Supply Chain & Operations, including “Breakthrough Supply Chains: How companies and nations can thrive in an uncertain world” to be published by McGraw-Hill in 2023. Dr. Gopal has spoken and has served as an invited panelist at major industry forums, including the Milken Institute Global Forum, the IATA World Conferences, the OMI-OECD Forum, the Harvard Business Review Forum, the SecureAmerica Institute, and the USC multi-disciplinary “Learning from the Pandemic” Symposium.