Like Entrepreneurs, Let’s Think Like Chief Value Officers

Lessons from My Son Hold the Key to Your Business Future

My son recently taught me a lesson: We all need to think more like a chief value officer, not a chief supply chain officer, CEO, chairman, etc.

He did so by ignoring my advice – which he does on occasion.

You see, every week I speak with chief supply chain officers (CSCOs), CEOs and other C-suite executives about what we’re facing in this world of disruption. Those conversations gravitate toward efficiency, costs and risk. And we’re thinking like CEOs, CSCOs, chief procurement officers.

So when I talk to my son about his business, I talk like a CEO or CSCO. And when he says thanks, but no thanks, my son is usually thinking like a chief value officer.

He has the advantages of being an entrepreneur. He doesn’t have to fight through departments or beg for approvals.

As the chief value officer, he’s saying, to heck with the view from supply chain, procurement, marketing, whatever. He’s going to do what’s best for his business, because that’s what makes for profitability.

A value chain lens looks at how every decision will improve customer satisfaction and profitability. That perspective is second nature to entrepreneurs. And it explains why small firms often outperform large incumbents.

Why Entrepreneurs Beat the Big Players

As a startup founder, you don’t have a board of directors demanding long explanations or a corporate bureaucracy slowing things down. You are free to experiment, pivot and change direction quickly.

Big corporations, by contrast, often have to keep their models the same to satisfy the board, investors and established customers. Large firms often have to absorb the blows of disruption and respond slowly.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs turn on a dime and rebuild everything from the ground up. Every department doesn’t have to weigh in on a process change. Fast decisions make for efficient workflows and agility that is a real competitive advantage.

I see the same dynamic in the supply chain world. Most organizations structure their operations in silos. Procurement buys materials, logistics plans shipments and production schedules manufacturing without talking to the people down the line.

This pass‑the‑baton approach limits agility and responsiveness. Issues flow downstream without resolution.

This results in suboptimal supply chain decisions. Procurement may make choices using old demand data, while logistics and production know little of current business priorities.

Entrepreneurs can see across those silos because they have no silos – just one team and one mission.

Time for Leaders to Think Like Entrepreneurs

The C-suite needs to continue shifting toward that paradigm.

For years, we’ve talked about end-to-end supply chains that encompass the entire value customers receive from businesses. Every department and every manager needs to focus on end-to-end value.

Lasting impact doesn’t come from just cutting costs. I should know – for years, companies valued supply chain pros only when they could reduce costs. Now, we’re valued for, well, actually adding value.

I’m seeing the same thing happen to procurement, although that function is about a decade behind supply chain. Like supply chain, procurement’s potential for lasting impact depends on evolving from a traditional cost cutting to emphasizing value creation and resilience.

Entrepreneurs don’t need a mandate to become value entrepreneurs – it’s ingrained in the way they operate. They automatically think like chief value officers rather than CSCOs or CPOs.

They constantly ask, “What decision maximizes value for my customers and my business?” rather than “What decision minimizes cost?”

This focus on value also makes them more open to collaboration; instead of fighting internal departments, they pull together design, marketing, logistics and finance to serve the customer better.

When My Son Doesn’t Listen to Me – and Makes Me Proud

Let’s get back to my son.

As you might imagine, having grown up in a supply chain family, my son often gets unsolicited advice from me. Recently, I urged him to move production out of China. Tariffs on Chinese imports are high, geopolitical tensions are rising and transportation costs are volatile.

My son simultaneously thanked me and ignored me.

Why? Because he’s relentlessly focused on value.

My son did a full analysis of his sourcing options and concluded that China still offered the best value for specific things his business needs. He looked at speed to market, production efficiency and the strength of China’s supply chain infrastructure.

Many U.S. companies quietly agree with my son. Most suppliers and distributors still source from China, although they are exploring nearshoring and friendshoring alternatives.

Academic research on fashion companies’ earnings calls found that some brands continue to regard China as a viable sourcing base because of the decades it has spent developing transportation, logistics, ports, roads and more. The fashion brand Steve Madden, for instance, moved some production back to China in 2025 because it could not ensure on‑time delivery or reasonable pricing elsewhere.

My son understood this. He realized that switching suppliers would disrupt his lead times, impact quality and increase total landed costs. So my son stayed with China for certain components while diversifying in other categories.

From my supply chain lens, it looked risky; from a value lens, it was the right call. My son’s decision not only maintained his margins but also allowed him to deliver products faster than his competitors.

His old man had to admit he was right.

Being the Chief Value Officer

When I look at my son’s business card, it says CEO, but in reality, he is his company’s chief value officer (CVO).

He doesn’t spend his day optimizing procurement metrics or debating whether logistics reports to him or someone else. He spends his day understanding his customers’ needs and then aligning his team and supply partners around those needs.

Then, he makes fast decisions that deliver value. My son is unencumbered by corporate politics, boardroom approvals or functional silos. That is why entrepreneurial organizations can “kick tail.”

The lesson for larger companies is not to throw away structure. Supply chain expertise and procurement discipline remain essential. But leaders should empower their organizations to think more like entrepreneurs. They need to collapse silos, align cross‑functional teams around the customer and adopt a value‑creation mindset.

A value‑chain orientation sees procurement, operations, marketing, supply chain – everything – as parts of the same system. Combined, that integrated system must work together to deliver value.

As for me, I’ll keep giving advice, because that’s what dads do.

And don’t get me wrong. For the vast majority of businesses, I still think viewing the whole world as your factory is the path toward supply chain resilience.

But I’m also learning from the next generation. They are showing us that success doesn’t come from thinking like a CPO or a CSCO. It comes from thinking like a chief value officer – no matter where we are on the managerial food chain.

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