Every day, logistics professionals learn on the job. The mix of challenges they face managing extended global supply chains ensures that. But, attaining a more formal education — through classroom work, workshops, or study courses — presents a different set of challenges.
The economic downturn has affected program enrollment at universities and logistics/supply chain management professional associations. In difficult times, companies cut travel and education budgets.
Some logistics professionals feel strongly enough about boosting their knowledge and skills that they pursue learning opportunities on their own. Technology has been a boon in allowing many educational programs to be packaged electronically and operated either as one-way communication, such as Webcasts, or as full-fledged, accredited academic courses conducted online.
Choosing the best education/career path can be daunting in the face of the myriad options: Workshops? Webinars? Executive education? Certification? Academic certificate? Degree? What type and which concentrations?
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), even MBA students are enrolling in a degree program that focuses on supply chain management, says Jim Rice, deputy director, MIT center for transportation and logistics. And professionals from other diverse fields are realizing the need to concentrate, and identifying supply chain management as that opportunity.
The MIT program recruits corporate sponsors who are involved with the students. “In fact, each student’s thesis is a direct response to a problem that has been presented by a corporate partner/sponsor,” Rice adds.
The degree involves attending a full-time program, but in nine months, students receive a Masters of Engineering in Logistics. The MIT program is designed for professionals who are at least five to seven years into their careers and looking to take that next step.
“Employers aren’t just looking for a person who can develop and operate a model,” Rice notes. “They’re looking for graduates with the ability to manage across disciplines and globally.”
MIT offers a certificate program through its Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence Centers in Zaragoza, Spain; Bogota, Colombia; and its newest site in Malaysia. Bogota offers a certificate to students who take a certain number of credits and attend MIT for a few weeks. “In Zaragoza we also offer a certificate from MIT if students complete the master’s course that we co-designed,” says Chris Caplice, executive director, Center for Transport and Logistics, MIT.