Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3 - 119

conagra brands inc. food & beverage

voice might mean," he adds. "Sometimes you have to
write an email and they have to respond because you
have to give people information. But I say if you're going
point for point, back and forth and you've emailed them
more than two times, pick up the phone and just talk
through it. Normally, when people get together, they're
going to find common ground, especially if they both
are in the same company." And that is true, whether the
organization is the U.S. Army or a Fortune 500 company
like Conagra.

The company's open floor plan
in the Merchandise Mart helps
promote the values it is trying to
embrace as it becomes leaner
and more performance-oriented.

Building Confidence
Through the many lessons he learned in his military
and corporate experiences, O'Rourke believes that
when a leader gets to know his or her people, the leader can challenge them, find their passion, determine
their expertise and skills, and how all of that intersects
to lead to a great career. This belief aligns with how
Conagra works with and supports its team.
Conagra has about 550people at its headquarters in
Chicago's Merchandise Mart and a larger team at its
facility in Omaha, Neb., its one-time headquarters city.
O'Rourke notes it can be challenging for the teams not
to see each other every day, but technology has been a
boon to maintaining internal relationships.
Conagra's conference rooms, he says, are set up
with high-quality audio and video equipment, including cameras equipped with smart technology that
pan to whoever is speaking. As a result, O'Rourke can
have a video conference between the two teams and
white board an issue to develop a solution together.
At the same time, the company encourages teams
from each office to meet each other, have coffee and
spend time together to ensure communication continues to get easier.
With strong internal communication, Conagra's people are better equipped to develop quality relationships
with its supply base. "Some procurement organizations
look at travel as a necessary evil," O'Rourke says. "I see
it as an enabler. If my buyer understands how a supplier
is running their operating line, or if they go and meet an
engineer and can learn more about the technical capabilities of that supplier, that's huge. That builds confidence
in the supplier. We also like to host here and bring in suppliers. But whether we go to see them or they come here,
we try to make sure that we build those relationships,
because that yields trust."

Trust then "accelerates everything else," O'Rourke
notes. He recently was on the phone with the CEO of one
of the company's largest suppliers who was working on a
large project for Conagra. The CEO wanted O'Rourke to
talk to him with the supplier's chairman on short notice.

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 3 Supply Chain World

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Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3

Contents
Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3 - Cover1
Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3 - Cover2
Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3 - 1
Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3 - Contents
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Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3 - Cover3
Supply Chain World - Volume 7, Issue 3 - Cover4
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