A learning initiative, jointly designed by SABIC and Penn State University's Smeal College of Business for the benefit of SABIC employees, has been recognized by Chief Learning Officer magazine with the 2015 Gold (highest-level) award in the category of "Excellence in Academic Partnership. The Gold Award for Excellence in Academic Partnerships recognizes academic institutions that have partnered with an organization to tackle a key business issue. Recognizing the importance of its supply chain (SC) discipline to continued global growth, SABIC first engaged Penn State Executive Education Programs in 2009 to develop supply chain professionals at all levels within the organization. SABIC and Penn State University formalized their cooperation by signing a Learning Services Agreement in October of 2013. George Brennan, Chief Learning Officer, SABIC, commented, "Our collaboration with Penn State University has not only produced exceptional financial benefits for SABIC, but also given us a repeatable process we can use to even greater benefit across the company. The Gold Award is further recognition of both the value of the Applied Learning program and the strength of the SABIC-Penn State collaboration." The Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence (GSC COE), accountable for the SC Development Program in SABIC, designed an overall learning architecture with SABIC Academy and Penn State Executive Education Programs. The Applied Learning program combines face-to-face learning, applied learning projects, and coaching. Selected high-performers are eligible to enrol in the online Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management Program offered by the Smeal College of Business and Penn State's World Campus. SABIC introduced its Applied Learning program to support the continuous improvement and optimization of SC operations, important pillars of SABIC's global SC strategy. Where opportunities existed, cross-functional teams were formed to analyse current SC operations, increasing efficiency and reducing complexity. These teams included all key players in designated end-to-end supply chain processes. "This Applied Learning program has helped SABIC deliver significant benefits to our customers and shareholders," said Uwaidh Al-Harethi, executive vice president, Chemicals, whose Strategic Business Unit has just completed the program. The introduction of the Applied Learning program started in the Polymer supply chain. Guided by Smeal College of Business faculty, a cross-functional project team developed a design for the Singapore logistics hub to accelerate the end-to-end process from customer engagement to product delivery. "This first Applied Learning program completed by SABIC's Polymers team in Singapore and the GSC COE was highly successful," said Fouzan Al-Shamekh, general manager, Global Supply Chain Management – Polymers. "In less than a year, the team's design increased process velocity by more than 25 percent, reducing supply chain costs and working capital while increasing customer satisfaction and revenue." Gartner, a global research and advisory company, recently ranked SABIC among the top five petrochemical/agribusiness companies in its annual Supply Chain Top 25 rankings, in recognition of SABIC's outstanding success in applying demand-driven principles to its global supply chain. This is the first time in 11 years of the Gartner ranking that a Middle East company has figured in this distinguished list. The 2015 Learning in Practice Awards were announced recently at a special awards ceremony during the Fall 2015 Chief Learning Officer Symposium in Austin, Texas. The event attracted more than 300 top corporate learning executives from around the world. Penn State Executive Education Programs works with leading organizations worldwide to develop leadership and organizational capabilities to address pressing business challenges. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks as the world's second largest diversified chemical company. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers. SABIC recorded a net profit of SR23.3 billion ($6.2 billion) in 2014. Sales revenues for 2014 totaled SR188.1 billion ($50.2 billion). Total assets stood at SR340 billion ($90.7 billion) at the end of 2014. SABIC's businesses are grouped into chemicals, polymers, fertilizers, metals and innovative plastics. It has significant research resources with innovation hubs in five key geographies – USA, Europe, Middle East, South East Asia and North East Asia. The company operates in more than 50 countries across the world with around 40,000 employees worldwide. SABIC manufactures on a global scale in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Headquartered in Riyadh, SABIC was founded in 1976 when the Saudi Arabian government decided to use the hydrocarbon gases associated with its oil production as the principal feedstock for production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers. The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent publicly traded on the Saudi stock exchange.
