Entries from August 2008
For a variety of reasons, academics are always interested in journal rankings, so here is yet another one to add to the list of ranking articles we discussed on this blog, by Kovács, Spens and Vellenga (see the article here), published in the latest number of the International Journal of Logistics: Research and Applications. The take on ranking issues is a bit different, as the article discusses e.g. open access publishing, regional differences in rankings, as well as communities of logistics researchers and their rankings. Apart from the fact that it is IJPDLM that tops Nordic rankings (which has in fact been confirmed by Arlbjørn, Jonsson and Johansen), it is interesting to look at the correlations between particular communities (here the ones sticking out are transportation, ops mgmt, and logistics) across which researchers do not deem each other’s journals relevant and/or plainly do not know them. So much for the three amigos; though I do still hope Árni is right about SCM as a “discipline” may bridge the gap between them. It’s definitely time to break down the functional silos within our discipline, not just in companies!
Gyöngyi
PS. Once done, someone could actually answer the question of “what is a functional silo and why is it important” on WikiAnswers.
Categories: Journal ranking · Logistics · Operations management · Research & Methodology · Supply Chain Management
SCM courses have traditionally included simulation exercises – if nothing else, playing the beer game. There are lots of educational games on the market, and as we all know, our students are quite “game-literate”, having grown up with PlayStation, Nintendo, Second Life, you name it. Just, who trains the trainers, i.e. where do educators get a chance to develop their own gaming skills; what is more, skills to use simulation exercises in the classroom?
Considering this question, it came to me as a surprise that there are some free(!) train the trainer courses for SCM educators – see LINKS‘ simulation exercises. Sure it’s a free-bee for the company to get their simulation exercises being used, but in any case, we all need further training as SCM educators, don’t we?
Gyöngyi
PS. Having just participated in the International Teachers Programme, I can nothing but recommend taking some pedagogical courses – especially once ITP will be organised by nobody else than Sunil Chopra at Kellogg’s / Northwestern (in 2009/10 and 2010/11). At least you know what you’ll get for breakfast 
Categories: Education & Management Development · Supply Chain Management
Web 2.0 issues relate to all sorts of aspects of our lives, even as researchers and educators. Previously we’ve discussed the idea of publishing 2.0, faculty 2.0, and the vision students have of education. Similar stuff, including similar videos (again from TeacherTube, where one can also find SCM-related videos!), exist also for elementary schools and high schools; relating educational matters to globalisation in general and the one-laptop-per-child (OLPC) project in particular. What is most interesting, though, is the security aspect of educational shifts: one of the “hot topics” in the discussion forum of “shift happens” is how to create secure environments for school kids to connect to each other, blog, surf the web etc. While children are already “there” in terms of using new technology, educational platforms and technology plans are left behind. Dangerously irrelevant, some call it. I just wonder, while teaching issues related to material and information flows, just how trained are we to manage such information flows in the (virtual) classroom?
Gyöngyi
PS. Thanks to Pontus Cerin for making me aware of the video – even if for completely different reasons
Categories: Education & Management Development
Here is free access to a full text version of the article Supply chain management and hypercompetition by Kotzab, Grant, Teller and Halldorsson, published in Logistics Research.
In the abstracts, these guys state:
Firms nowadays face significant challenges in their operating environments, which have been characterised in two different ways. From a strategic management perspective these environments are in a state of hypercompetition while from a logistics or supply chain perspective these environments require market responsiveness predicated upon agile supply chains. However, firms must also rely on many inter-organisational relationships to ensure efficient and effective movements within their supply chains. This paper discusses the relationships among these concepts and proposes a research framework combining aspects of the hypercompetition and responsiveness and agility viewpoints.
Árni
Categories: Supply Chain Management
At times that we are talking about tracking and tracing, and different types of unique product ID:s (yes, mostly still RFID tags, just check out The Wall for all the RFID in the supply chain related CFPs, or CSCMP’s “connective technology” project that is calling for cases, white papers and academic papers*) it is almost a nostalgic issue to hear a “barcode beep”. So here it is. Let’s see at which point it will become almost-obsolete like old rotary landline telephones that one can nowadays see in design museums. But back to barcodes, if you come across one you want to check for its ownership and/or item description, here’s a website that does exactly that. Results can be quite surprising!
Gyöngyi
* Deadline for cases of 1-2 pages and “vision white papers” of 5-10 pages: Sep 30, 2008, to be sent to CSCMPResearch@cscmp.org
Academic papers should go to the Journal of Business Logistics directly
Categories: Call for papers · Socks and sandals
