Driving Value with the C-Suite Contributes to 42% of Overall CSCO Effectiveness
Gartner surveyed 201 executives, including CSCOs and C-suite executives, in March, 2025, and found that three-quarters of CSCOs gave themselves a score of at least 75 out of 100 when asked how effective they were in their position. However, only a little more than half of C-suite peers did the same when scoring their CSCOs.
“Collaboration is prioritized by both CSCOs and their C-suite peers, but our data shows a disconnect between how effective CSCOs truly are in this critical measure of effectiveness,” said Claudia Clemens, Senior Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. “More than 60% of CSCOs state that they make proactive investments in peer relationship building, but less than half of their C-suite partners actually recognize these efforts.”
The survey identified that driving value with the C-suite through effectively collaborating across departments contributed to a disproportionate impact among five key traits that C-suite executives identified as contributing to CSCO effectiveness (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Five Traits of CSCO Effectiveness
Source: Gartner (August 2025)
Breaking into the Boardroom
- Devote Time to Areas the C-suite Values Most: To maximize their impact, CSCOs must align their efforts with what the organization values most—such as cross-team collaboration, agility, digital innovation, growth, and risk management—by prioritizing enterprise-driven goals over self-driven tasks, delegating daily operations, and focusing on long-term strategies.
- Collaborate for Impact: CSCOs are generally viewed positively among their C-suite peers for aligning strategic plans and proactively raising risks, but CSCOs must also present solutions to these risks to enhance the value of their contributions and clarify the supply chain’s role in supporting the enterprise.
- Showcase Supply Chain Value: Nearly 40% of the C-suite executives surveyed believe CSCOs fall short in helping the executive team understand how the supply chain supports the organization. Effective CSCOs proactively communicate and demonstrate supply chain value by aligning strategy with business goals, clarifying dependencies, integrating supply chain considerations into strategic plans, explaining the impact of investments, and highlighting capabilities that affect outcomes.
