Blog

Essential reading from leading researchers and scholars on the latest trends and topics relevant to global supply chain management.

Supply chain leader interacts during a meeting

Leadership Development for Supply Chain Planners

May 21, 2024
In most organizations, planning leaders have spent time reacting to their area’s operational realities, not occupying senior-level positions with responsibilities tied to strategic initiatives. Companies have failed to combine robust educational opportunities with processes, metrics, and incentives to create broad-based experiences for growth.
Mexico’s Port of Manzanillo

‘Keep Freight Flowing:’ New Logistics Networks Help to Manage Disruptions

May 21, 2024
Transportation and logistics professionals are continually reminded to diversify operations to lessen the negative impact of supply chain disruptions. Since the pandemic, resiliency has become the mantra of organizations. However, with the effects of global events, from the loss of the Keys Bridge to issues at the Red Sea and Panama Canal, longshore labor negotiations, and the 2021 Suez Canal closure, each link in the chain has had to operate under a new model
Ted Stank and Dave Clark address a crowd from a classroom in the Haslam College of Business.

Former Amazon CEO Dave Clark (’99) Holds Campus Fireside Chat with Ted Stank

May 13, 2024
Dave Clark (MBA, ’99), a longtime leader at the online retail and web services giant, Amazon, visited the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business in April for a fireside chat before a standing-room-only crowd of about 250 students, faculty and staff.
Business professionals collaborate during a meeting

Five Organizational Action Areas for Developing Supply Chain Talent

May 8, 2024
In addition to core competencies for individual planners, our research team identified five organizational action areas to support the development of the skills modern-day planners need. These five action areas are broad, mutually supportive, and simultaneously help develop a range of abilities.
UT supply chain professor Alex Rodrigues and undergraduate students at the Panama Canal.

Haslam Students Dive into Panama’s Bustling Global Supply Chain Microcosm

April 26, 2024
Students in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business have the opportunity to enroll in SCM 413 (Logistics Operations) as a two-week study abroad experience in Panama where they gain firsthand exposure to supply chain activities.
A supply chain professional works on his laptop.

11 Core Competencies Critical for Today’s Supply Chain Planners

April 26, 2024
Mindful of the five critical challenges facing the planning profession, supply chain decision-makers must ensure that when they hire, they develop their talent to be successful in their roles. These are the core competencies planning professionals must have to succeed for themselves and the business.
A Supply Chain Forum attendee poses for a photo with Smokey the mascot at a reception inside Neyland Stadium.

Everything You Need to Know from Spring 2024 Supply Chain Forum

April 22, 2024
From April 9–11, the Global Supply Chain Institute and the Department of Supply Chain Management welcomed hundreds of business professionals, industry leaders, and top students to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Michelle Dilley, CEO of AWESOME, speaks with moderator Nicole Carvagno at the Supply Chain Forum

In Conversation with Michelle Dilley, NeXxus Woman of the Year and CEO of AWESOME

April 22, 2024
In a fireside chat at the Spring 2024 Supply Chain Forum, UT senior Nicole Carvagno spoke with Michelle Dilley, CEO of AWESOME and recipient of the 2024 NeXxus Woman of the Year award, about the wisdom she’s gleaned during a 30-year career dedicated to mentoring supply chain professionals into leaders.
Graphic showing Jackson Frizzell and Russel Carey, UT supply chain grads named to the ISM's 30 under 30 list.

Alumni Named to Institute for Supply Chain Management’s International 30 Under 30 List

April 18, 2024
Two University of Tennessee, Knoxville graduates have been named to the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) international 30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars Recognition Program for 2023-2024, underscoring the college’s status as a premier supply chain education institution.
Supply chain planner in a virtual team meeting

Five Critical Challenges Facing Planning Talent & Leadership Development

April 16, 2024
This is the first in a series of blog posts based on the applied research report, “Developing the Next Generation of Supply Chain Planning Talent and Leadership,” by the research team of Dan Pellathy, Michael Burnette, and Ted Stank. It explores the challenges facing talent development for planning.