Book excerpt: Supply Chain Strategy and Financial Metrics is a step-by-step guide to balancing the triangle of service, cost and cash which is the essence of supply chain management. Supply chains have become increasingly strategy-driven, and this Supply Chain Triangle approach puts the supply chain at the heart of the strategy discussion instead of seeing it as a result. Supply Chain Strategy and Financial Metrics fully reflects the 'inventory' or 'working capital' angle and examines the optimisation of the supply chain and Return on Capital Employed. Including case studies of Barco, Casio and a selection of food retail companies, this book covers building a strategy-driven KPI dashboard, target setting and financial benchmarking. Regular examples and diagrams illustrate how different types of strategies lead to different trade-offs in the Supply Chain Triangle. This ground-breaking text links supply chain, strategy and finance through financial metrics, therefore creating value for the shareholder. Online supporting resources include worksheets covering basic financial concepts such as cash flow and working capital, with example data sets and guidelines/exercises to make it interactive.