People tend to see birthdays as an excuse to dwell over the meaning(lessness) of life, age, or experience. Funny that we rarely see the age of people the same way we see e.g. reserve wine, cured cheese, antique furniture, relicts, glaciers… Journals, on the other hand – can be outdated, change direction and name (who recalls titles such as the Journal of Purchasing, Integrated Manufacturing Systems, or the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Materials Management?) – or continue to set the agenda. Funnily enough, IJPDLM’s 40th anniversary issue is more of an outlook to the future than a recall of history. IJOPM did not celebrate its 30th this year, nor JOM last year, though who knows, there may be a celebration of “30 years of SCM” in 2012, marking the anniversary of Oliver and Webber coining the term (allegedly in 1982 though I am yet to come across the original). Or then enter SCM 2.0, at least according to Christopher and Holweg (2011), and with that, enter an embracing of volatility and turbulence, and a move from dynamic to structural flexibility. Setting the agenda, as always.
Gyöngyi
