Developing joint logisticians, industry supply chain managers, and executives.

USTRANSCOM has developed a Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise (JDDE) competency model and has asked NDTA to provide ideas/options for ensuring employee competency. I want to share those ideas with you. NDTA gathered information from universities with strong supply chain management programs and from NDTA Corporate members. The results of our efforts are summarized below.

UNIVERSITIES

1. The 10 colleges/universities with top quality logistics/transportation/supply chain management UNDERGRADUATE programs are:

a. Penn State

b. Syracuse

c. Tennessee

d. Arkansas

e. Michigan State

f. Iowa State

g. Ohio State

h. Arizona State

i. Maryland

j. Indiana

2. The 10 colleges/universities with top quality logistics/transportation/supply chain management GRADUATE programs are:

a. Penn State

b. Northwestern

c. Tennessee

d. Wisconsin

e. Michigan State

f. MIT 

g. Ohio State

h. Maryland

i. Georgia Tech

j. Syracuse

3. Comments on the value of additional in-residence academic courses designed specifically for a functional area for expertise/responsibility but not leading to an advance degree follow:

Short, nondegree supply chain education courses offer an excellent opportunity for practitioners--military and civilian--to extend their perspectives, close skill gaps, and enhance technical expertise. Development of supply chain talent is, in fact, an essential building block for business success, and executive education is a critical part of this development effort. The number and nature of educational opportunities for supply chain professionals is rapidly expanding. A large number of diverse programs offered by academic institutions, professional organizations, and for-profit firms are available. The residence academic programs are most valuable when taught by a mixture of instructors in academics and industry.

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Example: Penn State has developed programs in partnership with the US Marine Corps, the US Army, the US Navy, and the Defense Logistics Agency. The programs present an in-depth overview of ongoing logistics transformation activities focusing on management, transportation, distribution, order management, and maintenance within effective logistics chain management strategies.

The learning objectives of programs run with DOD organizations are as follows:

a. Present overview of important current issues, opportunities, and challenges in logistics and supply chain management.

b. Familiarize participants with "cutting edge" commercial best practices that might have high applicability to DOD logistics.

c. Provide opportunities to improve managerial skills.

d. Learn from each other--practice teamwork.

4. Comments on the value of certification in a functional area of expertise/responsibility and relationship to demonstrated competency follow:

There are importance differences between a "certificate program" and a "certification program."

A certificate program usually acknowledges that the recipient of the certificate has completed a course or program of education. An example would be that the Center for Supply Chain Research at Penn State offers a Certificate of Supply Chain Management to practitioners that complete three of its supply chain executive education courses. As there is usually no testing or assessment involved, the certificate does not indicate that the recipient has demonstrated competency. It does acknowledge that he or she has completed the course of instruction indicated.

A certification program is usually longer and more rigorous and does entail an examination or other means to assess that the individual receiving the certification has demonstrated competency and mastery with the "body of knowledge" being studied. Select programs affiliated with accredited colleges and universities, for example, American Association of Collegiate School of Business (AACSB), which assures the quality of the faculty and a program consistent with MBA Curriculum. St. Louis University has a successful supply chain management certification program managed by the consortium for supply chain management studies under the auspicious of St. Louis University School of Business. There are several other certifying organizations in supply chain management: APICS, ISM, SOLE, and AST & L.

5. Comments on the value of offering specific courses "online" for employees to ensure competency follow:

Distance education (online courses) can be a good delivery option for supply chain practitioners to learn and improve competency. There are some key trade-offs to consider when evaluating whether to select an online option versus a classroom experience. On the positive side of the ledger, distance education offers both place and time flexibility. Courses and programs are easier to fit into busy schedules and do not require travel or relocation to attend. On the negative side, quality is often an issue, and ancillary benefits--such as networking with fellow students, learning teamwork, and group projects--are often not available. Education is a learning process of not only knowledge in specific areas but more importantly human interaction among participants. If this dimension is removed from the learning process, we do not create/produce a complete "package of knowledge" in the person. It is more significant in logistics and supply chain management since building long-term relationships is an important part of industry.

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6. In addition to the education options covered above, employees should be provided learning opportunities in their narrowly defined area of responsibility with specific goals and objectives in mind. These should become part of a long-term career development plan. If one sends employees to any learning environment without a long-term goal for his/her career path, the knowledge gained may be lost along with valuable resources. Once employees return from the knowledge learning expedition, let them explore their new knowledge freely, unconstrained by management, even if their ideas and experiments are a bit outside the ordinary. Organizations need innovative ideas to excel. The following are other avenues for supply chain practitioners to learn and improve competency.

a. Attend annual meetings and conferences of supply chain organizations or trade associations such as CSCMP, SOLE, NDTA, ISM, and APICS.

b. Attend regional (monthly) meetings of chapters or roundtables of some of these same organizations.

c. Participate in special topics workshops or conferences sponsored by universities or government agencies, eg, a university's semiannual "Supply Chain Leaders Forums."

d. Keep current through regular reading of supply chain periodicals, newsletters, books, and blogs.

e. Participate in Webinars on supply chain topics.

INDUSTRY

Someone once said that the best way to predict the future is to create it. Industry continues to adopt major changes designed to shape and drive that future design. Industry is expanding globally, providing for more markets and opportunities for growth. New technologies are continually developed and implemented, providing for increased capabilities and cost efficiencies.

The ability for any company to achieve its objectives is strongly contingent on one critical component: the development of a strong, competent workforce. Though each company has their own "company process" for hiring and developing their workforce, they generally follow one of two methods (typically both)--on-the-job experience and formal training. For non-management employees, this primarily consists of on-the-job training in the skills required to perform their jobs. For most positions this consists of some form of initial training, usually a formal, structured program with prescribed interventions and requirements, followed by on-the-job observations, evaluations, and feedback at selected intervals. Additional training may also be required as new skills or knowledge is required to perform a given job (eg, a new product or service offering may require training the employee who sells/provides the product/service to the customer). Annual certifications may be required to comply with government regulations. Remedial training is implemented as needed. Generally all of these interventions contain some form of evaluation both of the individual's knowledge and understanding as well as their ability to perform the required skills and/or meet any minimum standards. Job review discussions are also held on a periodic basis to ensure that employees know where they stand with respect to their performance relative to these job requirements/performance standards. This training and the evaluations serve as a predictor of potential for positions of broader responsibility and often for promotion into management positions.

Once promoted into management, hired as a manager, or selected as a management trainee, an individual embarks on a career-long path of learning and development, highlighted by a series of formal programs managed under the "umbrella" of the Department of Human Resources. While the exact career development path varies by individual company it is generally structured as follows: Individual hired/promoted [right arrow] Initial company orientation/instruction on the company culture [right arrow] In-house job-specific courses/training [right arrow] Supervisor/leadership course [right arrow] Manager leadership instruction [right arrow] Senior leadership instruction [right arrow] Executive-level Leadership Seminar. As an individual is promoted, they are rigorously evaluated, given rotational assignments, provided opportunities for additional education. (See the Professional (Competency) Development Process "Map" on page nine for industry managers/Leaders.) Industry repeatedly emphasized that the most important factor when considering an individual for a position is experience. In my view, the industry process is similar to the DOD's (Services) process--but much shorter, with each level of instruction measured in one to two weeks versus months for the military/government courses: Initial entry/basic officers course [right arrow] after 3 to 5 years another more functionally oriented "advanced course" [right arrow] at the 8 to 12 year mark a "mid-level course" [right arrow] at the 18 to 22 year mark "senior course" [right arrow] followed by "senior executive level courses," where appropriate. Throughout one's career in the military or government, there is opportunity for rotational assignments. While the military and government has an evaluation process, it appears that, at least in the large multinational/international corporations, their evaluation process is more rigorous and frequent. As an individual employee reading this article, focus on the career development and evaluation boxes--Have you and your supervisor written a career development plan and are you receiving frequent evaluations and feedback? As your career development plan is prepared, focus on the boxes at the bottom of the map to ensure that your plan is balanced and includes the critical elements. (Note that there are things you can do on your own under the "self development" box.)

NOTE: The ideas expressed in this article are not those on the author or any one individual. Rather it is a compilation of ideas and quotes from the many academicians who are members of NDTA and about 10 of our corporate members. My thanks to each of you for your candid comments and input as I prepared this paper.