Logistics skills and competencies for supply chain managment

Journal of Business Logistics, 2001 by Gammelgaard, Britta, Larson, Paul D

Logistics managers need a new skill set. Sheffi and Klaus (1997, p. 17) argue that "the skills required by a modem logistician are no longer restricted to the understanding of how to operate a warehouse or how to reduce the rate per mile charged on a particular lane." They also state: "logisticians should be equipped to set up supply chains that not only respond to existing situations but also are able to change and adapt" (p. 18) and "Coordination services require a higher degree of managerial talent than basic operational services and are also more situation-special, and therefore more difficult to find or cultivate in the short run" (p. 23). Recently, the former editor of this journal made the following observation: "senior supply chain managers... state that one of the major challenges to management in the next decade is the scarcity of trained supply chain managers. To meet these challenges, substantial change in logistics and supply chain education is necessary" (Closs 2000, p. i).

One way to classify current educational requirements of logisticians and supply chain managers is with the following two terms: skills and competencies (Bramming 1998). Skills cover general, context-independent knowledge; competencies refer to experience-based and context-dependent knowledge. Skills are general tools and rules taught in most logistics classes, which are vital for the practitioner. However, to reach a competence level in the logistics discipline, practitioners acquire context-dependent knowledge through organizational experience. Witt (1999) suggests workers must remain on the job to become competent. Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) argue that a competent practitioner makes decisions based upon rules and analysis, but with organizational experience can depart from rule-based analysis and make synchronic, intuitive, and holistic decisions.

The complete practitioner of business logistics and SCM needs skills and competencies, as SCM requires coordination skills-and ability to adapt to special situations (Sheffi and Klaus 1997). However, little has been written on these new logistics skills and competencies. Thus, this paper reports results of recent research on skills logisticians need for SCM. The next section presents a review of selected relevant literature. In the third section, the two research methods used in this study-- survey and case study/interview-are briefly compared and contrasted. Then, the fourth section describes survey design and presents survey results. Case study design and results are presented in section five. The sixth and final section summarizes the results and discusses implications for SCM practice, research, and education.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Major market trends, involving SCM, outsourcing, and information technology (IT), are changing the way logistics is practiced and taught (Mark and Young 1998). These trends are also changing the critical skill set needed by logistics managers. According to Aron (1999), supply chain managers need a team orientation, people and technology skills, cross-functional skills, and a supply chain mindset. Cooke (2000) echoes the need for technological know-how and solid people skills. While certain competencies may be unique to given organizations or industries, Bowman (1999) observes that many "logistics management skills are transferable" across organizations.

The logistics discipline is evolving with the SCM concept (Bechtel and Jayaram 1997; Cooper, Lambert, and Pagh 1997). The Council of Logistics Management (CLM) recently revised its definition of logistics as: "that part of the supply chain process that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption in order to meet customers' requirements" (see www.clml.org). This requires coordination of activities both within and between companies in the supply chain. In this paper, the authors adopt Christopher's (1998, p. 18) definition of SCM as: "the management of upstream and downstream relationships with suppliers and customers to deliver superior customer value at less cost to the supply chain as a whole." Thus, conceptually, the supply chain manager faces a broad job description, including concern with both inbound and outbound flows of material and information.

Trunick (1998) in reporting the views of William Copacino, recipient of the Council of Logistics Management (CLM) 1998 Distinguished Service Award, notes that since SCM increases logistical complexity, analytical skills are in greater demand. There is also a heightened need for logistics professionals to develop cross-functional awareness. Logistics managers need broad (integrated cross-functional) and deep (logistics focused) knowledge and abilities. Furthermore, SCM implies greater need for people with IT capabilities. Handheld and Nichols (1999) suggest that supply chain managers need strong technological and/or functional knowledge, good people skills, and common sense.