“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
-Declaration of Independence
It would be easy to think of supply chains as a purely modern phenomenon. We think about Global logistics networks that leverage digital platforms using AI and predictive analytics and provide real time monitoring of package locations and conditions. It is absolutely amazing what is possible today – despite the challenges that persist.
But the concept of global supply chains goes as far back as the spice trade and silk roads to and through Asia in 2000 BC. And the expression, “follow the money” – well that dates back as old as mankind as well, and business motivations, or at least financial ones, underpin many of the major moments in human history.
In this week’s Dial P audio podcast, Kelly Barner looks at the many ways that supply chain and procurement turned the tide of history by helping the American colonists best the most spectacular fighting force in the world, the British Army, to found our own country.
- In response to the Navigation Acts and the Mercantilist System
- In the language included in the Declaration of Independence
- And in the very clever strategies deployed by General George Washington to make the British think he had more men than he really did
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