A message from the chair: March highlights

Chairman John Fowler reviews some of the highlights of the department of supply chain management in his welcome message for the first 2012 issue of KnowSCM.

Motorola Professor and Chair My how time flies! Eight months have passed since I became the chair of the W. P. Carey School's supply chain management department at Arizona State University. At this point, I have figured out where all the facilities are and think I have finally met all the wonderful staff (academic success specialists, career development associates, program specialists, etc.) who support the teaching and student placement missions. During these eight months, I have become even more impressed than I previously was with our outstanding faculty, students, alumni, and industrial partners. In this issue of KnowSCM, you will get a glimpse of some of the amazing things these folks do. In addition, I would like to highlight just a few other examples.

First, Professor Tom Choi and co-author Tom Linton wrote an article for the prestigious Harvard Business Review entitled “Don’t Let Your Supply Chain Control Your Business.” In this article they indicate that many manufacturers are delegating too much power to top-tier suppliers, which undermines their own ability to innovate, cut costs, and manage risk.

Second, I was recently given the opportunity to nominate supply chain management faculty for W. P. Carey teaching awards. In preparing for this, I read over student evaluations for many of our faculty members. It was both humbling and rewarding to read about the awesome job our faculty do in educating tomorrow’s leaders and the significant impact the faculty have on the students’ lives.

Third, as you read this we will be welcoming our Network for Value Chain Excellence to campus for our semi-annual meeting. Network board members will hear about some of our latest accomplishments, meet some of our top undergraduate and MBA students, and give us feedback on what we can do better to meet their short- and long-term needs.

In addition, there will be an Open Forum where some of the top supply chain executives in the world will discuss current events and ways to deal with supply chain challenges, today and in the future. For example, there will be a discussion of how best to prepare for the increasing logistics costs brought on by the current and anticipated rise in gas prices.

Finally, let me give you a little peek at what will be included in next quarter’s issue of KnowSCM. There will be a feature article on an event that Mars Foods recently held at the W. P. Carey School. Their supply chain leadership team chose the W. P. Carey supply chain experts to organize, conduct, and facilitate a three day strategy formulation and review workshop for eight top corporate executives representing sourcing, manufacturing, logistics, finance, and supply chain effectiveness. There will also be an article that parallels the growth of the supply chain profession and the W. P. Carey supply chain department.