Lesley Dickie says she must flex her business muscles as much as hone her technology chops to be successful in her role as vice president of global business services-IT at Raytheon.
"In my role, we often have more business insight across the business domains and into end-to-end processes, all the product lines and services. So it's helping others to know how to leverage and use the technology," says Dickie, who is responsible for nearly 800 employees.
Dickie, 52, says that by building strong relationships with colleagues on the business side, she and her team "can expose leaders to the innovations and the technologies that are out there. We talk in business terms and talk about how they impact how they do things, so they trust us. And more doors open when that happens."
Case in point, says Dickie, is her team's development of a strategic sourcing and analysis capability as part of the company's Enterprise Sourcing and Performance Excellence (ESPX) project.
The ESPX system enables Raytheon's supply chain professionals to leverage the company's aggregated demand for components to negotiate the best prices with suppliers. The system also automates tracking from request for quote through execution across the supply chain ecosystem while also automating adherence to the numerous regulations that govern the process.
This in turn helps Raytheon provide more competitive bids to clients, increasing win rates.