Identify the major trends in supply management and their impact from a strategic perspective

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: The trends in supply management identified in this section are sustainable supply and supply chain disruptions. Sustainable supply or "eco-friendly" production, is becoming an important supplier selection criterion. Firms are looking for ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle, especially as the end user becomes more aware of supply chain membership and votes with their wallet.
As supply chains become more extended and firms depend even more on outside companies to provide critical goods and services, many firms are feeling the sting of disruptions to the supply chain. Causes of supply chain disruptions vary from natural disasters to manmade, but in a recent survey of senior executives at Global 1000 companies, the respondents identified supply chain disruptions as the single biggest threat to their companies' revenue streams. The complexity associated with multiple links in the supply chain increases the probability of disruptions.
From a strategic perspective, a company perceived as being "greener" than its competition may win orders that it otherwise wouldn't. Streamlining and outsourcing (or offshoring) allow a company to become more productive by having companies better-suited to produce the outsourced component or service do just that. This carries with it the risk of supply chain disruption, which is deleterious to their competitive position.