Ever wondered why to choose SCM as a major, or attend an MSc or MBA programme in supply chain management? Surfing through the CSCMP website (actually checking on the CSCMP Europe conference that is going on right now in Paris) I found a nice video explaining to students why they should study supply chain management (or “the force that links our lives”). Check it out!
Gyöngyi
Everyone, and every nation, wants to be the number one. No matter in what. Even being the “worst polluter” counts. Now that carbon management has been discussed at the UN’s Security Council and the IPCC had it’s climate change meeting in Bangkok, China was pushed to the centre of attention of being the worst polluter, or the “coming” worst polluter globally. The country’s curve of greenhouse gas emissions (and its costs) follows the general “China curve”, that is an exponential curve over a timeline. As Max von Zedtwitz from Tsinghua University noted today, the running gag in Beijing is that it is healthy to smoke, at least then you breathe through a filter. As to stop smog from blurring the picture in Beijing, CSR Asia‘s meeting today focused on public transportation issues - and one of the foci of the group’s next summit is on supply chain management related issues. Other research follows suit, looking at corporate social and environmental responsibility in Chinese supply chains. Maybe instead of a political stalemate, it is through supply chains that a “one planet environmental policy” can emerge – as even stated in the document of the informal meeting of EU environmental ministers in June 2006.
Gyöngyi
Lean’n'green can be related to food products, health programmes and diets, bodybuilding, but even to a Nintendo game character. Also eco-efficiency literature has long equated lean with green. Now leanness and supply chain management have even entered the world of accounting! Thus EMAN (the environmental and sustainability management accounting network) is dedicating its upcoming conference to the topic of “sustainable supply chains“. Let’s see in some weeks what accountants have to say about supply chain management 
Gyöngyi
This years Educators’ Day at Nofoma will be hosted by Reykjavik University .
This is the fourth year the Educators’ Day is held, a day prior the main conference, at the same time as Nordlog, the doctoral workshop. This years’ theme is Executive Programs – Management Development, which should be of interest for a number of logistics scholars.
Árni
Why is the railway gauge — the distance between rails — 4 feet, 8.5 inches?
One explanation is to be found here.
The development of the container in the 1950s and 1960s has had a great influence on the size and shape of containerports and containerships. You may read more about this interesting development in this book here. Although truck-trailers have increased in size (height, length), they are still hauled along lanes on highways that are not much broader than old contry roads.
So, is the story about the Horse’s South, the railway gauge and the two booster rockets of a space ship, just another myth (to be busted)? 
Many of our blogs contain some contemporary reflections, and do, as such, ask questions rather answer questions at the bottom line.
Today, our question is: What does determine the “standard” length of a journal article?
Árni
Ps. Many thanks to Prof. Marianne Jahre for telling me this story of the railway gauge during one of my visits at BI, Norway, two years ago.
Posted in Innovation, Socks and sandals
This is the sustainability discourse entering the world of womens magazines: “green is the new black” (and we thought “black was the new black” a while ago; and yes, even your sanitary items might get affected by this fashion dictate).
Anyway, green is the new black (funnily one of the “eco-friendly” clothing lines being called Noir). As a difference to previous fashion statements, the reference is not to the colour but to “sustainable” clothing lines. Interestingly, instead of waste management and the end-of-pipe solutions of second hand clothing, this means that companies are either closing the loop of their supply chain (as in discovering the benefits of recycling), or go as far as to redesign their products and the choice of suppliers (see “organic jeans” etc.). Who says reading fashion magazines wouldn’t teach you a lesson in supply chain management?
Gyöngyi
Just as NOFOMA, CSCMP etc., the Logistics Research Network (LRN) also organises doctoral workshops. Here’s some info on the next one:
LOGISTICS RESEARCH NETWORK PhD STUDENT WORKSHOP
The University of Hull, UK
Wednesday 5th September 2007, 09.00 – 13.30
This event, which precedes the main LRN Annual Conference, is open to all students undertaking doctoral research in the field of logistics and supply-chain management.
Building on the success of previous events, this year’s workshop aims to
* bring together research students from different universities
* identify and discuss the common problems they face
* explore a range of research methodologies and their potential applications
* identify how students can obtain effective supervision
* work towards ‘best practice’ in research degree supervision
* encourage networking between research students from different institutions.
As in previous years, much of the workshop will be devoted to working in small groups. Participants will be expected to contribute positively to group discussions regarding identification of their research topic, selection of research methodology, identification of data sources, progress to date and the key problems anticipated or experienced in their research.
Academics from the Logistics Research Network who have experience of doctoral research as students, supervisors and examiners will facilitate the event. A buffet lunch will be provided. Booking details can be downloaded from the LRN conference website: www.lrn2007.com
There are up to six free places available, sponsored by the LRN, to include entrance into the main conference and accommodation. Travel costs are NOT covered. To be considered for one of these sponsored places, please send a CV and a brief statement (max. 1 side of A4) outlining your reasons for wanting to come to the conference and what you expect to gain from the experience, to Dr Tony Whiteing at the address shown below. The deadline for receipt of applications for the sponsored places is Friday 15th June 2007.
These sponsored places are only available to full-time, non-staff PhD students. Applicants must provide a letter from their supervisor confirming that they have full-time student PhD status.
For further information, please contact:
Dr Tony Whiteing
Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK, LS2 9JT
Tel. ++44 (0) 113 343 5359
or e-mail: a.e.whiteing@its.leeds.ac.uk
Gyöngyi
In 1969, Donald Bowersox wrote “Some Issues for Research” at the end of this paper: Physical Distribution Development, Current Status, and Potential (Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33, January, pp. 63-70). Here is the abstract:
Physical distribution, one of the oldest facets of commercial enterprise, has historically been one of the most neglected of business subjects. A flurry of attention has focused upon the concept of integrated physical distribution since the mid-1950s. In this article the where been, where now, and where going of physical distribution are examined. The author first reviews major developments which have served to establish the field of physical distribution. The second section provides a synthesis of developments into a summary statement of the existing state of physical distribution. The final section provides a review of research topics on the fore-front of development in 1969.
In particular, five issues were considered as “…areas and issues that appear most germane to subject matter expansion during the immediate future“. These five issues are listed in bold below. It is worth noting that they all do emphasise issues of interest for both researchers and practitioners within SCM. Below, I have selected few remarks from the article that relate to each of the five issues.
1. Some Remaining issues of Cost
“At the individual firm and channel level, traditional accounting does not generally provide the necessary information for physical distribution making“.
2. The International Arena
“…physical distribution may be a major factor toward helping emerging nations become tomorrow’s mass markets“.
3. The Channel – a Research Media
“In the years ahead, we can expect significant returns from channel-orientated physical distribution research“.
4. Issues of Time in Physical Distribution System
“The relevant concept in inventory models that embraces transportation is the order cycle“.
5. Some Final Issues
“As with any emerging field, physical distribution currently suffers from a lack of standardized definition of vocabulary“.
Some years ago I used this paper as one of the core texts in a course in Logistics Management, and found it very useful. This paper was also among the references we used in this paper on Research Methodologies in Supply Chain Management — What Do We Know? .
Árni
