1 EDUNIVERSAL BEST MASTERS RANKING

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Supply Chain and Logistics

Logistics and supply chain management are at the heart of the megatrends that influence today’s firms and hence their success and performance. First, due to global demographic changes, goods must be increasingly produced and sold in growth markets, and new products must be created to increase the offerings in traditional markets. The ongoing rise of the BRIC countries will lead to new market and trade structures. Therefore, existing supply chain networks have to be thoroughly overhauled. Second, mass customization and individualization create tremendous challenges for the production and distribution of products and the delivery of services. Here, logistics and supply chain management must offer solutions. Third, the digitization of business models shape digital enterprises. Digital end-to-end supply chains that offer agility, high speed and full transparency in real time are needed. Logistics and supply chain management are enablers and drivers of digitization. Fourth, applying sustainability principles in logistics and supply chain networks is inevitable in order to reduce waste, resource consumption and emissions. These are only some examples that underline how critical it is to actively develop logistics and supply chain management competencies. Supply chain management has become a profession!

Following the increasing value of Big Data and Internet of Things, fantastic new challenges, issues and opportunities arise for our global supply chains. Data-driven supply chain and logistics research is becoming more and more important following these ever growing rich datasets. Specifically, this real and high-volume data should be used to improve forecasting quality, efficiency in transport and inventory, customer service, leading to proven ROI. However, more needs to be done to effectively reap the benefits of this new commodity. It seems that most of the supply chains are still working on descriptive analytics (what happened?) and predictive analytics (what will happen?), rather than prescriptive analytics (going to data-driven optimization). The understanding, application and optimization of the interface between data/information and decision making is a challenge to be faced in the near future. It is on this cutting-edge interface (prescriptive analytics) where our supply chains of the future will benefit and create new value for our customers. Several new domains related to inventory, forecasting, production, logistics and transportation are expected to see great progress following this evolution.

Companies today operate within complex networks of customers and suppliers, which are involved in transforming raw materials into finished products and delivering them to the final customers, often a global scale. As a consequence, companies from all over the world spend up to 80% of their revenues for procuring goods and services, which are key part of their value creation. Supply Chain and Purchasing Management means managing the flows of goods, services, information and money that take place across such a complex network, pursuing the goals of serving customers while controlling costs, and improving the overall sustainability in terms of both economic, environmental and social impact. Digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, and Big Data analytics are crucial to achieve such goals. At the same time, multi-cultural and cross-disciplinary relationship management becomes imperative to interact within this context.

Companies are constantly looking for young graduates who have the skills and competences needed to face such challenges, combining managerial, analytical and relational skills, with an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset. Such people will be able not only to find interesting and challenging jobs, but also to make a difference to improve the world we live in.