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Rico Merkert · Kai Hoberg Editors
Global Logistics
and Supply Chain
Strategies
for the 2020s
Vital Skills for the Next Generation
Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies
for the 2020s
Rico Merkert • Kai Hoberg
Editors
Global Logistics
and Supply Chain
Strategies for the 2020s
Vital Skills for the Next Generation
Editors
Rico Merkert Kai Hoberg
Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies Supply Chain and Operations Strategy
The University of Sydney Business School Kühne Logistics University
Sydney, NSW, Australia Hamburg, Germany
# The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland
AG 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
We dedicate this book to
Prof. Dr. h.c. Klaus-Michael Kühne,
in celebration of his 85th birthday and in
recognition of his lifetime contribution to the
global logistics industry. With over 60 years
as a champion of his field, he is a role model
as an exceptional benefactor who has
furthered the cause of academia to enrich
practice in supply chain management and
logistics.
—Prof Rico Merkert and Prof Kai Hoberg
Foreword
Business schools around the world have long known the value of teaching global
logistics and supply chain management (GL&SCM). This is both a sector and a field
of study with an exciting and challenging international management dimension.
While it is true that freight moves the world, it is also the case that the GL&SCM
sector has evolved dramatically in recent decades. It has experienced both disruption
and groundbreaking innovation—the latter often arising from the sector’s partner-
ship with universities like ours. Logistics and supply chain management has tradi-
tionally focused primarily on transportation and warehousing, but today
encompasses many different activities that enable the seamless orchestration of
material, financial, and information flows. Companies combine their own resources
with those of partners and third parties and leverage complex networks to produce,
ship, and distribute their goods across the globe in ways unimaginable just twenty
years ago.
The past decade has seen continuous progress and dramatic improvements in
global supply chains and logistics that have benefited all stakeholders. End
customers can take advantage of new innovative products that are offered at high
service levels and low lead times. Companies can draw from a huge portfolio of
suppliers across the globe to leverage their specific skills and benefit from low costs.
Suppliers can better align their manufacturing schedules with the actual needs of
their direct customers based on just-in-time and just-in-sequence principles. Logis-
tics service providers can use their end-to-end visibility in shipping schedules and
capacities to select the most appropriate carriers.
Efforts to optimize supply chain processes continued to bear fruit until the early
2020. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, changed all our lives:
personally and professionally. The pandemic had dramatic consequences for global
supply chains. It also underlined the fact that global supply chains are the backbone
of many industries and economies. Suddenly, supply chains were in turmoil. We saw
unprecedented stockouts and delays everywhere—in Sydney, in Hamburg, and
across the globe. Consumers had to confront the reality of empty toilet paper or
pasta shelves in supermarkets. Automotive plants were shut down due to a lack of
parts. Ports were congested and overwhelmed due to the backlog of containers
arriving at the same time.
vii
viii Foreword
What is now evident is that there is still much work to be done by companies to
optimize their logistics and supply chain activities. It is also clear that this will not
occur without the right logistics and supply chain skills. But that only begs the
question: what are the “right” skills? From a business school perspective, this
question can be reframed in these terms: in a world of increasing automation, rising
concern about sustainability, and rapidly changing ecosystems, what are the skills
and qualities that business schools should seek to instill in their graduates wanting to
pursue careers in global logistics and supply management?
One of the many contributions of this book is that it helps to address this question.
In addition, for those who are seeking to become the next generation of leaders in
global logistics and supply chain management, this book draws on the accumulated
wisdom of the most renowned scholars in the field to provide insights into the sorts
of strategies that future talent might employ.
This book, then, is timely. It is a must-read for anyone interested in a career in this
sector. We are very proud that Professors Rico Merkert and Kai Hoberg brought
together such a large and impressive international team of globally recognized
academics and leading senior managers to contribute to this book. What could be
better for graduates and young professionals than hearing from the horse’s mouth or,
in other words, experts in all the different disciplines that today are considered global
logistics and supply chain management?
Of course, it is not just the academics who have contributed to this book but also
the ecosystems that business schools, such as KLU and the University of Sydney
Business School, provide. We train talent to unlearn old habits, to think strategically,
and to turn challenges on the horizon into opportunities that will result in value for
businesses and wider communities and, of course, a successful career for those who
are brave enough to set out on one of the most exciting industries of this and future
decades. The first step into that successful future is to read this important book.
Global logistics and supply chain management have evolved in the past few decades
from an unpopular and often neglected area to a field that is widely seen as a key
enabler of business success. Especially, during the COVID-19 pandemic but also
due to disruptions and rising costs in many supply chains, global logistics and supply
chain management have not only been rediscovered as a vital sector for many
industries and entire economies but also as an industry that is fun and financially
worthwhile to start a career in.
In the next decade, it will become even more critical to design the right logistics
and supply chain strategies given potential challenging and disruptive economic,
technological (i.e. automation), and sustainability developments. Economic
developments such as the further growth of Asian markets increased political friction
across the globe leading to a reversal of globalization (on- and sure-shoring) and
strong interest in omnichannel retailing will all require managers to re-shape,
refocus, and potentially re-invent their entire supply chains. New technologies
such as the Internet of Things, digital manufacturing, or blockchain are emerging
quickly and could provide competitive advantage to those companies that leverage
the technologies smartly while managers that do not adopt and embrace change
could be left behind. Last but perhaps most important for mankind, sustainability
aspects such as low-carbon transportation, closed-loop supply chains, or socially
responsible supply chain set-ups will become essential to operate successful in the
future.
All these aspects will affect global logistics and supply chains as a whole and also
in different functional areas, such as air cargo, maritime logistics, or sourcing/
procurement. This book aims to dive into several of these functional topics to
highlight the key developments in the next decade predicted by leading global
experts in the field. Supply chains will be managed by a new generation of leaders
that will need to be equipped with different skills and an innovative mindset that not
only embraces but also works hand in hand with technology and algorithms. To
prepare this next generation of supply chain leaders in a business school/university
environment (produce future proof graduates) as well as in the context of continuing
professional development (enhance skill sets of current leaders), this book features
contributions and key insights of globally leading scholars and senior industry
ix
x Preface
xi
Contents
xix
xx Editors and Contributors
Contributors
1 Introduction
R. Merkert (*)
Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, Sydney,
NSW, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]
K. Hoberg
Supply Chain and Operations Strategy, Kühne Logistics University, Hamburg, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
believed to be secure is becoming unstable and prices are under severe pressure
given inflationary pressure unseen in decades. And then, there are innovations and
technological advancements that enable change but also require vision, agility, and
strategic investments (not just in tech but also in talent) to manage the resulting need
for digital transformation and adaptation to changing environments. All this means
that individuals seeking a career in this industry need to be aware of the opportunities
and challenges that the future of logistics and supply chain holds in order to be
prepared, to adapt and to make smart career choices.
That said, Tzu’s wise words on the importance of logistics were lost in many
businesses for a long period of time: Logistics was considered a necessary evil,
required to carry goods from origin to destination, typically at the lowest cost
possible. Accordingly, it was not considered as the function in businesses that was
attracting the best talents, and neither was it promising enhancements in individuals’
reputation or career opportunities within firms. Way too often, it was seen as not
visionary or strategic at all but rather as a lot of operational work geared toward
solving problems—yet often involving firefighting with heroic effort that enabled
top management to keep the business afloat.
However, across most industries, the term logistics has evolved over the last decade
as its focus has been typically extended to supply chain management (SCM).1 Today,
SCM with the aspiration to manage and orchestrate material, information, and financial
flows across transnational networks of suppliers and customers is typically seen as a
key success factor in many firms. Companies compete for the best supply chain setups
and get awarded for their innovative solutions. Increasingly, advanced supply chain
management capabilities as evidenced by firms such as Apple, Amazon, Cisco, or
Procter & Gamble have been shown to enable outperformance of peers through supply
chains that achieve cost advantages, better service or product quality and faster
innovation. It has been widely established that firms with superior supply chain
competencies can benefit in terms of both customer satisfaction and shareholder
value (Ellinger et al., 2012). Accordingly, firms’ rankings in business awards, such
as the annual Gartner top-25 supply chain list (Gartner, 2022), are carefully observed
and celebrated. In parallel, the presence of Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCO) at
board and c-suite level has increased over time ensuring the required executive support
to better position and negotiate the complex topics around SCM in firms (Hoberg et al.,
2015). In addition, other top managers—including the CEO—have increasingly
gained SCM experience in former positions (Wagner & Kemmerling, 2014;
Bloomberg, 2021). As a consequence, logistics and SCM are today perceived as a
topic and business function with high strategic relevance.
At the same time, logistics and SCM have also come a long way in terms of
innovation and technological advancements. The advent of containers was the first
technological game changer in logistics in the twentieth century that enabled cheap
mass transportation across continents and paved the path toward globalization (see
Levinson, 2016, 2021 for the impact of “the box”), and many more innovations have
1
See four perspectives on logistics and supply chain management in Larson and
Halldorsson (2004).
The Future of Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Changing Skill. . . 3
transformed global supply chains since then. Today, logistics and supply chain
managers use the latest disruptive Supply Chain 4.0 technologies that leverage big
data, advanced robotics, or Internet of things (IoT) sensors to optimize the orches-
tration of the different physical, financial, and information flows. For example,
online retailer Zalando is using weather forecasts to anticipate customer orders and
schedule warehouse workers to avoid lengthy delays in order fulfillment (Steinker
et al., 2017). Amazon is leveraging Kiva robots in warehouses to minimize the
pickers’ walking distances and has long been experimenting with automated picking
solutions. IoT sensors offered by startups such as Tive or Trackster Global, allow
tracking locations of parcels or temperature-sensitive goods and record the unautho-
rized opening of containers by measuring the incidence of light. These innovative
digital technologies can help companies boost sales, cut transportation and
warehousing costs and allow for further significant inventory reductions. However,
in most companies mastering and implementing these technologies will still require
time, talent, and investment. Integrating data, technology, and advanced decision
making across many partners is certainly a challenge but also a welcome opportunity
for many years to come.
While we are super bullish about career opportunities in logistics and supply
chain management in the 2020s, this decade started with an unprecedented challenge
for many companies: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted economies all
over the world but also heavily affected many supply chains. The pandemic trig-
gered unprecedented demand and supply shocks and amplified volatility across
many industries. Initially, many industries were hit by lockdowns—first in China
and later across the globe—which forced many manufacturers to shut down their
operations. Soon after, end consumers started panic buying and emptying shelves in
supermarkets for goods like toilet paper, canned food, pasta, or painkillers (Alicke &
Hoberg, 2020). In 2021, many companies observed the consequences of the mas-
sively increased volatility, as car manufacturers were not able to source sufficient
semiconductors and had to idle assembly plants (Ewing, 2021) or long lines of
container ships were queuing outside major ports triggering huge delays for domes-
tic customers (Financial Times, 2021) or retailers running low on pallets due to
lumber shortages and price hikes. Consequently, logistics and SCM have triggered
global public interest never observed before. Importantly, firms that prepared their
supply chains well with advanced strategies, superior processes, and enhanced
visibility were those that outperformed their peers while maneuvering through the
storm.
As a result, it is not only our latest research findings and employment data coming
out of the industry but also the compounding expert evidence presented in the
chapters of this book that let us confidently predict logistics and supply chain
management to be a smart career choice for the next generation. As Bloomberg
(2021) has put it nicely, “the twenty-first century should be about supply chains.” To
feel the pulse of this generation, over the period of two years, we engaged with the
students in our programs—both at Kuehne Logistics University (KLU) in Germany
and at the University of Sydney Business School in Australia to reveal what they
think about the future of the industry that they have devoted their studies to. In fact, a
key motivation for writing this chapter and for putting the effort into recruiting
4 R. Merkert and K. Hoberg
It is clear that adaptation will have to happen and that skill sets will change.
However, the following selection of questions from our students points to a substan-
tial need for logistics and supply chain talent in the future:
• Supply chains need to prepare for the new realities of geopolitical conflicts,
constrained commodity supplies and rising prices. How can companies adopt
their supply chains to this new volatility and align their shoring decisions (e.g.
nearshoring, friendshoring, reshoring), partner relationships and contract types?
• Technology and data enable smarter choices and new business models, e.g., by
increasing visibility on supply chain partners, it allows businesses to directly
interact with end customers or customize services to the actual needs. Is that not a
huge opportunity for startups and a career in that industry more generally?
• Many repetitive and boring tasks can be automated based on smart technologies.
Does that not mean no more endless standard planning, routing, or customs
declaration activities, but rather creating new roles to advance processes and
make them more efficient, which could be quite career rewarding?
• There is still a significant skills shortage for logistics and supply chain talents
(McKinnon et al., 2017) which was amplified since the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic. Therefore, aren’t supply chain graduates and experts more sought after
and could the L&SCM manager be the new sexiest job of the decade?
While each of these questions is fascinating in their own right, in sum we see
many more pros than cons for a career choice in logistics and supply chain manage-
ment. This chapter aims to summarize the key points and also how this book looks at
all these aspects in greater detail.
2 Global Trends
All in all, we have been seeing highly efficient and well-orchestrated flows in many
supply chains that maximize the value for the parties involved. However, in addition
to opportunities, we also see current challenges such as disruption and rising costs in
supply chains and emerging challenges that need to be addressed in the next wave of
optimization. In line with other research (Utomo et al., 2020), in this section, we
focus on four key trends that will affect logistics and supply chain management in
the 2020 decade (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Key trends affecting logistics and supply chain management in the 2020 decade
6 R. Merkert and K. Hoberg
With the immense increases in computing power, the availability of cheap sensor
technology, and the advancements in Internet communication, there are many
technological breakthroughs that affect our everyday lives: We are getting used to
new tools such as voice-enabled smart assistants like Amazon Alexa, Netflix
recommendations for new streaming shows, or driver support systems in cars such
as Tesla’s autopilot. While many of these technologies are aimed at the end con-
sumer, many more technologies do provide benefits in a logistics and supply chain
management context. We are seeing new warehouse technologies deployed that
fundamentally change the traditional man-to-goods design principles, truck routes
can be optimized in real time based on traffic conditions, and latest pick-up and
delivery requests and data on orders and invoices are exchanged contactless between
supply chain partners, thus avoiding new lengthy and error-prone data entry. Using
blockchain technology in those processes will add additional value to the process in
the form of authentication and verification. However, this is only the very tip of the
iceberg and is what is possible today rather than what we may see emerging in the
not-so-distant future.
Many new supply chain 4.0 technologies are currently piloted and tested and
those will enable a whole new level of optimization. Table 1 provides an overview of
ten technology clusters that will more fundamentally affect supply chains in this
decade. They promise to collectively substantially increase the efficiency, resilience,
agility, and customer orientation of many supply chain processes. Some of these
technologies are already relatively mature and have the potential for widespread
adoption in the near future (e.g., advanced robotics in warehousing, IoT/smart sensor
technology, or core SC analytics), while others need certainly more time for valida-
tion and testing (e.g., autonomous transport and delivery technologies or collabora-
tion and crowd platforms). While technology is not the silver bullet to all problems,
if many technologies come together, they can enable significant productivity boosts
and innovative disruptions, such as the idea of the physical Internet or the promise of
lights-out warehouses. While technology appears to be net-advantageous to future
supply chains, it is worth mentioning that Internet security and a potential loss of
human capabilities/experience could be potential risk factors in the transition process
to a more autonomous and smart logistics and supply chain future.
In the past years, there has been a notable increase in public awareness about the
consequences of climate change and the scarcity of resources. Climate change has
been driven throughout the twentieth century due to industrialization and emissions,
in particular carbon dioxide that create a greenhouse effect. The twenty-fist century
saw a considerable acceleration of greenhouse gas emission. As a consequence,
nations across the globe collectively agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 C under
the 2015 Paris Agreement . This effort requires a significant reduction of carbon
The Future of Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Changing Skill. . . 7
5 Core SC analytics Standard tool set of big data and machine learning techniques
technologies providing support for SC decision making
6 Analytics for Big data and machine learning techniques focusing on automated
end-to-end SC planning end-to-end supply chain planning in real time
7 Analytics for transport Big data and machine learning techniques focusing on
and warehousing optimization of transport and warehouse processes
emissions by 2030 and achieving near-zero emissions by 2050. While logistics and
transportation are directly only responsible for around one-fifth of global CO2
emissions, manufacturing and shipping all types of products fall clearly into the
scope of supply chain management. Companies and governments have recognized
that CO2 emissions can be reduced by superior supply chain management practices.
On a global level, the planetary boundaries are a limiting factor for economic
growth: For many commodities and raw materials, humankind is consuming
resources at a staggering speed that is exhausting the planet. On a firm level, it
becomes much more difficult to acquire the required raw materials at reasonable
prices and at steady rates, not to mention the race of China and other countries to
secure future rights for most of the key commodities they need for their growth. In
the past years, rare earth metals have been the most pressing case of such supply
constraints (Rauer & Kaufmann, 2015), but with the increase in demand for electric
vehicles, other metals such as lithium or cobalt are now on the radar of governments
and investors too. As such, it is likely that in the future ensuring access to raw
materials will become a much more widespread challenge.
8 R. Merkert and K. Hoberg
The implications for SCM and logistics are becoming clearer every day:
Managers need to review their transportation and manufacturing networks much
more frequently to deal with higher energy costs, local environmental requirements,
and possibly the limited availability of important resources. Companies need to form
new alliances and find partners that help them collaboratively reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. This is particularly important as scope 3 emissions are increasingly
becoming the gold standard for measuring emissions and those also include all
indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain. New technologies need
to be reviewed and tested that can reduce a company’s footprint—technologies that
could become game changers or entirely fail despite huge investments. And ulti-
mately, trade-offs need to be reviewed and defined once it comes to agility and
responsiveness on the one hand and environmental responsibility on the one hand.
Accordingly, it will become a much more complex question if Apple should
continue to ship “empty iPad boxes halfway across the world and back” (Lovejoy,
2021) to avoid unhappy customers. While under the current economics, this might
be feasible the decision could change with a much stronger focus on greenhouse gas
emissions and different ethical guidance.
Customer centricity, i.e., delivery products in line with customer expectation, has
always been the overarching objective of logistics and supply chain management
practices: getting the right product at the right time to the right location at the right
price. However, the complexity of all these activities has grown exponentially since
the days when Henry Ford declared to offer the Ford Model T in “any color so long
as it is black.” Today, customers of most product categories expect a myriad of
options or straight customization which increases the complexity in design, sourc-
ing, and manufacturing. And customers are now used to getting the ordered product
the next day, if not the same day and if possible within an hour time frame in the last
mile delivery context (Merkert et al., 2023). This challenge drives the complexity
and efforts in warehousing and transportation for many retailers and logistics service
providers alike. Due to this so-called Amazon effect, customers are accustomed to a
world where individual needs are met with one-click ordering, fast delivery, and
instant gratification (Forbes, 2020). This also affects B2B customers who are getting
used to these extraordinary customer services from their private lives (as the new
normal). In future, this may well lead to hyper-expectations everywhere and
companies in fierce competition are often not able to charge for the value add of
these costly expectations. As a result of supply chain operations and their models
becoming more complex, the (B2B) customers need to be segmented (Protopappa-
Sieke and Thonemann 2017) to avoid being overwhelmed by the many differing
operational requirements and demands. As observed during the COVID-19-related
lockdowns, markets can quickly shift with customers now engaging much more with
e-commerce platforms. Companies that can adjust their supply chains quickly in
periods like this increase their market shares, while others suffer. In addition, an
The Future of Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Changing Skill. . . 9
agile supply chain also supports entirely new business models that are very
customer-centric. For example, ultra-fast textile retailers such as Shein or Fashion
Nova launch up to 1000 new styles per week and benefit from regional supply chains
that can react to the latest Instagram trends. In this way, the time from design and
prototype to production and sales is reduced by up to three days. Accordingly, these
firms can offer an agility and resulting resilience many established retailers with
much longer planning cycles can only dream of.
of a golden decade for that industry (Merkert, 2023, Chapter “Air Cargo Logistics:
The Dawning of a Golden Decade?” of this book), which has started and will
continue to create career opportunities in this space. We would like to think that
those opportunities go far beyond air cargo extending to all parts of logistics and
supply chain management.
After the record year of 2021, which has proven how critical global logistics are to
the performance of almost any commercial industry and even entire economies, we
predict the logistics and supply chain sector to continue to grow significantly. As
such, it is unsurprising that globally both private and public sectors are currently
expecting skill shortages in logistics and supply chain management in the future. In
the Australian context that translates into predicted job growth in logistics of 7% in
2022 alone with 60% of logistics employers indicating that they will increase salaries
again for the 2021/22 financial year (Hays, 2021). It is, therefore, argued that there
has never been a better time to enter the logistics and supply chain management
industry and build knowledge and skills for a career in this sector.
However, the current generation of supply chain talents we see in our classrooms
at both KLU and the University of Sydney Business School is very different from
early logistics and supply chain managers that started their careers ten to twenty
years ago. In contrast to their predecessors who were often autodidacts or received
their first relevant training on the job, the new generation benefits from comprehen-
sive training programs and formal education. As such, much of the current talent
pool will hold bachelor and master degrees in relevant fields or have had access to
professional training courses and certificate programs. As a result, they are able to
understand and apply the latest tools and technologies and—perhaps even more
important—take a cross-functional end-to-end perspective on many supply chain-
related processes to address challenges across silos.
This siloed perspective has been a severe challenge for supply chain managers for
a long time: functions aimed to optimize themselves without considering the effects
on other functions and overall firm profitability (Hoberg et al., 2015). For example,
logistics departments have often minimized transportation costs by booking slow
and unreliable carriers, while sourcing/procurement departments have unisono
identified the cheapest suppliers possible by not considering any volume flexibility
and manufacturing minimized unit production cost by increasing production batch
sizes for fixed cost degression. Having instead a cross-functional perspective to
achieve the best possible outcome for the company is something where today’s and
future graduates can add value. To align all these perspectives has become an
important task for supply chain managers in the past few years and will remain a
key skill in the future.
What that tells us is that supply chain talents will be required in a large variety of
industries and not only in the logistics sector. Naturally, the manufacturing and retail
sectors offer very attractive entry and career opportunities for supply chain
The Future of Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Changing Skill. . . 11
professionals. Importantly, supply chain talents with the required analytical, cross-
functional, and communication skills are now also highly sought after in other
sectors such as consulting and banking. Nevertheless, the areas of logistics versus
supply chain management specialization do differ and will become more important
in the future as we outline in the next section.
A very important aspect when identifying the graduate qualities and required skills
for logisticians and supply chain managers is the very heterogeneous landscape of
job profiles in this industry. As such, we usually advise our graduates to decide to
what extent they would like to become specialists or generalists. For example, do
they want to take an end-to-end perspective on supply chain process improvement or
do they prefer to focus on applying in-depth expertise and improving optimization
tasks like demand forecasting, production planning, or truck routing. Based on this
intended focus, the skills requirements differ markedly. While specialized knowl-
edge will become more important as complexity increases in the future, so will
generalized knowledge such as finance or consumer research.
Figure 2 illustrates how a future digital supply chain organization could look.
Many very specialized roles will be created—for example, a predictive demand
management unit that might evolve from the current demand planning teams. The
demand management unit of the future will have professionals with a very qualita-
tive skill set on the one hand and professionals requiring state-of-the-art data science
expertise on the other hand. As market experts align with the sales team, they need to
understand processes in both functions, must be able to communicate with the sales
team, and must judge the impact of promotions or the timing and effect of new
product introductions. Market experts need to have commercial expertise and are
highly skilled in applying market intelligence and understanding competitor
Fig. 2 Outlook at future digital supply chain organization. Source: adapted from Alicke et al. 2022
12 R. Merkert and K. Hoberg
dynamics (Alicke et al., 2022). On the other end of the spectrum, the demand
planning data scientists use all types of data inputs to build machine learning and
AI models that enable them to accurately forecast sales. Skills for data scientists in
demand planning build on training and expertise in statistics, machine learning, and
languages such as Python or SQL. Demand managers again have a different role as
they manage exceptions and provide human input if the systems do not perform
sufficiently or are disrupted (in crisis). Skills are most similar to the historical
demand planner role that mixes different commercial and supply chain knowledge
as well as problem-solving and communication skills. As illustrated in this
simplified example, there will be a role for every talent but the required skills will
ultimately be very different in the future. For some roles, a more cross-functional
career might be helpful, while for others a very focused approach seems to be more
effective. Likewise, education and training to get there will differ very much and
should remain open-minded and as flexible as possible.
In the midst of the pandemic, Forbes published a lead article entitled “Forget
Finance. Supply-Chain Management Is the Pandemic Era’s Must-Have MBA
Degree,” which highlights the notable shift in the public perception of university
degree programs: Studying logistics and SCM is now considered something very
valuable that prepares talents for a successful and financially attractive career. This
does apply not only to MBAs but also to master and bachelor students. Supply chain
talent is in high demand, and related expertise is seen as a potential success factor for
both gaining employment and making it to the top. In addition, in contrast to
20 years ago, students today have the advantage of having access to many
specialized degree programs that prepare them for a career in logistics and supply
chain. We can speak with authority about such programs being offered at the
University of Sydney Business School and Kühne Logistics University and are
aware of many other interesting degree opportunities around the globe that have
been started in the past years. However, while students need to be aware of the
choices they make at the beginning of their career, it does not stop there as key skills
now not only include empathy but also agility, which involves continuous learning
and adapting to constantly changing environments.
We argue that students need to unlearn some old habits and to learn how to
constantly adapt to change (resilience) and to strive further (performance). As such,
university education is only partly about teaching theoretical knowledge and
providing insights into the latest logistics and supply chain management issues
such as understanding the different incoterms, learning the latest EDI standards for
data exchange or getting familiar with standard ERP planning software packages.
Such knowledge is nice to have (and useful in a job interview) but not only is this
knowledge outdated relatively quickly with today’s accelerated technical change, it
is also easily accessible online and can often be learned on the job in practice. To us,
a successful logistics/supply chain program, therefore, blends different aspects of
The Future of Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Changing Skill. . . 13
Fig. 3 Curriculum comparison MSc in logistics and supply chain management (2022). Source:
Kühne Logistics University and the University of Sydney Business School
Pietari oli siis hallitsija, mutta eipä hän itse nytkään vielä paljon
asioita johtanut. Hän oli vasta 17-vuotias, ja hallitustoimet eivät
häntä näkyneet tarpeeksi vielä huvittavan. Eikä hän saanut
tahtoansa määräämään sellaisissakaan asioissa, joissa hän olisi
hartaasti toivonut. Niinpä esim. v. 1690. jolloin vanha patriarkka
Joakim oli kuollut, tahtoi Pietari kohottaa Pihkoovan piispan
Marcelluksen patriarkaksi, koska hän oli sivistynyt ja vapaamielinen
mies, sekä oli matkustellut ulkomailla ja oppinut siellä monta kieltä.
Mutta Pietarin äiti Natalja sekä muut hengelliset pelkäsivät, että
tämä mies olisi liian suosiollinen katoolilaisille ja protestanteille;
häntä itseänsäkin syytettiin kerettiläisyydestä. He saivatkin aikaan
että Kasanin piispa Adrian tuli määrätyksi. Pietari oli tästä kyllä
pahoillaan ja vetäytyi maatilalleen vaalin jälkeen. Myöhemmin lausui
hän ivallisesti eräälle Kuurinmaan aatelismiehelle, että Venäläiset
eivät tahtoneet patriarkaksi Pihkoovan piispaa, koska hän puhui
barbaarisia kieliä (s.o. latinaa, italiaa ja ranskaa), koska hänen
partansa ei ollut kylliksi pitkä, koska hänen ajajansa ei istunut
hevosen selässä, niinkuin tapa vaati, vaan kuskinpenkillä.
Joulukuun 6 p:nä 1696 antoi Pietari virallisen tiedon siitä, että hän
tahtoi lähettää lähetyskunnan Saksan keisarin, Englannin ja Tanskan
kuninkaiden, paavin, Brandenburgin vaaliruhtinaan luo, Hollantiin,
sekä Venetian tasavallan hallitukselle. Tämän lähetyskunnan kautta
tahtoi Venäjä liittyä Euroopan länsivaltoihin ja tarkoitus olikin sangen
yleinen. Lähetyskunnan tuli näet valmistaa entistä ystävyyttä näiden
valtojen kanssa yleisiä kristikunnan asioiden edistämistä varten
Turkin sulttaania vastaan. Sotaa Turkkia vastaan kävivät tähän
aikaan sekä Venäjä että Itävalta. Sen ajan tapa hallituksien
esiintymisessä vaati sangen suurta loistoa ja komeutta, ja sitä täytyi
Venäjänkin osottaa varsinkin kun se nyt ensi kerran esiintyi
länsimaiden valtojen rinnalla.
Mutta olkoonpa niinkin, ettei kaikilla ollut yhtä suurta hyötyä, että
etupäässä käytännöllinen puoli Euroopan sivistyksestä tuli Venäjän
hyväksi, oli se kuitenkin tärkeä, se oli suuri askel lähentämään sitä
Euroopaan. Näiden tietojen kautta Venäjä saattoi käyttää edukseen
omia apulähteitään, hankkia aineellisia voimia, joiden avulla se voi
kohota suuruuteensa.
X. Ensimmäiset uudistustoimet.
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