Supply Chain Frontiers Issue #28. Read all articles in this issue
Supply chain talent is in short supply, particularly in areas such as planning and strategic management, according to Dr. Chris Caplice, Executive Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL). Caplice participated in a recent webinar on recruitment challenges in the industry, and introduced the results of an international survey on supply chain skills gaps.
The “Developing and Recruiting Today’s Supply Chain and Procurement Talent” webinar was presented by Kennedy Information andIOMA, publisher of the monthly publication MIT CTL Supply Chain Strategy. The event also included speakers from global recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International and buying consortium Prime Advantage.
Caplice talked about the industry’s skills requirements from an educational perspective, drawing on his experience as head of the MIT CTL Master of Engineering in Logistics (MLOG) program. He presented some results from a survey on recruitment challenges completed recently by the Global Supply Chain Professional Development Committee, a group of leading companies that are concerned about shortfalls in key supply chain skills.
More than 200 companies in North America, Europe, and the Asia/Pacific region responded to the survey. The findings reaffirm worries that finding the talent needed to fill important supply chain positions is becoming increasingly difficult. For example, half of the companies indicated that they anticipate a critical need for supply chain talent in the strategic and change management process area. The survey defined seven functional and four enabling process areas.
For more information on the survey and supply chain skills issues, contact Chris Caplice.