Scott Nitti, director of global operations and supply chain with Eastman Kodak Co., tells the story of the company's efforts to improve the agility and effectiveness of its supply chain in support of the production of digital cameras.

Another Apple product. Another stampede to buy it.

As the sales and operations planning (S&OP) leader, there are a few principal responsibilities: setting priorities, planning and executing your supply chain strategies, driving incremental improvements while quickly adapting to changing market and customer requirements, and linking changes in demand to changes in supply while keeping in mind the financial results. But that's just within the average day-to-day activity – it is also expected that advance changes in thinking and execution will be developed to help solve S&OP limitations.

When she entered college 20 years ago, Cheryl Dalsin didn't have a clue as to what supply-chain management was all about. It's likely that she had never heard the term. Now, she's determined to make sure that today's students aren't similarly ignorant about a promising career opportunity.