Introduction
The overall theme of the story of Joseph as found in Genesis 37-50 is that of forgiveness: Joseph’s brothers threw him down a cistern then sold him into slavery, then convinced their father that Joseph was eaten by a wild animal. Later, after Joseph rises to power in Egypt, he invites his brothers and the rest of the family to live there. This was not unlimited forgiveness, however: he verified that the brothers were indeed remorseful before inviting them to Egypt. For purposes of this paper, the story of Joseph and how he overcame famine in Egypt will be interpreted through the lens of supply chain management.
by Domenico Fiasella, c. 1640
Story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis
Joseph, son of Jacob, lived in Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, and two things made his brothers jealous. First, Joseph told them about two dreams he had that suggest his brothers will bow down to him. Second, Jacob gives him a "coat of many colors."
Joseph's brothers are mad enough to kill him when he comes looking for them in Dothan. The eldest brother, Reuben, instead suggests that they throw him into a cistern, with intentions to come back for him later. They follow through with this plan: they take his coat of many colors and then throw him down one of the cisterns.
The brothers see a caravan of Ishmaelites carrying spices and oils en route to Egypt. Judah (one of the brothers) says "we could kill our brother and hide his body. But then we will not get anything for ourselves." The brothers agree to this plan. They pull Joseph out of the cistern and sell him to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver coins (Genesis 37:28). The Ishmaelites took Joseph with them to Egypt.
Reuben returns to the cistern and sees that Joseph was not there - he's very upset. Reuben finds his other brothers and says: "Joseph is not in the well! What can I do now?" The brothers kill a goat and put its blood over the coat of many colors. They take the coat back to Jacob. Upon seeing the coat Jacob says: “It is my son's coat! A wild animal must have eaten him! The animal has torn Joseph's body into pieces.” His children tried to comfort Jacob, but he was inconsolable: “I will be sad until the day that I die, because my son is dead.”
Meanwhile, the caravan took Joseph into Egypt, where he was sold to Potiphar, captain of the Pharaoh's guards. Joseph eventually becomes the superintendent of Potiphar’s house.
Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of sexual harassment, and he is imprisoned. God is with Joseph even while he's in prison, and as such the warden puts him in charge of all the other prisoners.
Joseph meets the Pharaoh's cupbearer and chef, both imprisoned for offending the Pharaoh. Both the cupbearer and the baker have disturbing dreams on the same night. Joseph interprets the cupbearer’s dream, learning that in three days the cupbearer will be released from prison and the Pharaoh will restore him to his former position. Joseph asks the cupbearer to remember him to the Pharaoh to get him out of prison. Joseph next interprets the baker’s dream, but the interpretation is grim: in three days, the Pharaoh will have the baker executed.
Three days later, on the Pharaoh's birthday, the events foretold by Joseph occur: the baker is executed, and the cupbearer is released and regains his position in the court. Unfortunately, the cupbearer forgets to ask the Pharaoh to release Joseph.
Two years after that, the Pharaoh has two disturbing dreams. In the first, seven lean cows eat seven fat cows. In the second, seven healthy heads of grain are devoured by seven thin, scorched heads of grain. The Pharaoh's wise men cannot interpret the dreams. The cupbearer then remembers Joseph and how he correctly interpreted the dreams while in prison.
Joseph is released from prison and credits God for his ability to interpret dreams. The Pharaoh's dreams, Joseph explains, mean the same thing: there will be seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Joseph recommends that the Pharaoh appoint someone to oversee the collection of a fifth of the produce produced all throughout Egypt and store it for the famine. Joseph is recommending emergency preparedness (Martinez, 2022, p. 177-181).
Impressed with Joseph’s interpretations, the Pharaoh gives Joseph the role, making him second in command of Egypt: “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:41). Joseph, who is now 30, travels throughout Egypt, organizing the collection and storage of food during the seven plentiful years. Egypt is thus prepared for the famine.
When the famine strikes, Joseph opens the storehouses and sells grain back to the Egyptians. The famine was so severe that people from other countries came to Egypt to purchase grain, too. The inhabitants of Egypt, except the Egyptian priests, run out of money. “Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.” (Genesis 47:16). The result was that the people sold their properties and themselves into slavery to Joseph for food. As the famine ended, Joseph mandated that 20% of all the food that the people grow will go to the Pharaoh. This condition will last until the time of Moses.
Lessons Learned from Joseph
First, Joseph based his plans upon forecasts – in this case, forecasts based on dreams interpreted through Divine knowledge. This continues to the present day, except that historical records, data science, and machine learning are potential sources of information. The important part is that the plans were knowledge-based, and following those plans would today be called “strategic planning” and “emergency preparedness.” Joseph’s overall approach was similar to what would now be called an anticipatory business model (Quigg, 2022, p. 16), except that instead of buying components and materials then manufacturing products from them. The food or grain was sent to storage for later sale.
Second, Joseph used storage to overcome the seven years of famine. This was done by collecting 20% of the people of Egypt’s grain during the previous seven plentiful years. The impact of this is to “smooth out” the available supply of grain, decreasing it during times of plenty and increasing it during the famine.
Third, Joseph used what we would now call warehouses to store the grain. This is important because warehouses are not just places of storage, but they are buildings that can be defended from looters as well as rodents.
Fourth, the warehouses were distributed throughout Egypt. This reduced the distance that people would have to travel to get their grain, but also minimized the risks of fires or floods to the overall food supply.
Joseph thus took a very rational, very modern, approach. By planning for the long term and executing those plans in a continuous and incremental manner (Parris & Pope, 2020, p. 29), he was able to get the people of Egypt through the seven-year famine.
References
Martinez, J. (2022). “Developing a resilience mindset: Joseph and his coat of many sufferings.” In B. E. Winston (Ed.), The mind of a leader: A Christian perspective of the thoughts, mental, and perceptions that shape leadership behavior. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 175-198. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07206-2_12
Parris, A. & Pope, D. (2020). “What Christian leaders can learn from lean.” Management Sciences 21, pp. 26-34. https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/mgt_sciences/21
Quigg, B. (2022). Supply Chain Management (1st ed). McGraw-Hill Create. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781307866025