Espresso LiVE: Globalization vs Localization - Lessons for Procurement

Tom Linton and Dr. Rob Handfield are no strangers to the world of supply chain. Many of Rob’s former students at North Carolina State University (NCSU) are now in key positions in large organizations across the globe, while few others have founded successful businesses.

For his part, Tom has been at the forefront of supply chain and Procurement ever since the 1980s, and in fact was a pioneer in sourcing of computer hardware components. He had lived in Asia for so many years as Japan and then China became a major sourcing hub.

Given their global experience, both Tom and Rob are well positioned to discuss whether the U.S.-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic has put a check on unfettered globalization.