how to optimize and automate the internal operations of
manufacturing facilities. It was a natural progression to take
those skills and apply them to the operations that connect
those manufacturing operations: the total supply chain. I
continue to be excited about this field—the problems are
significant and difficult to solve, and the impact to the corporation is huge. It can be the difference between success
and failure for a company.
Q
If you could give one piece of advice to a young person considering a career in supply chain manage-
ment, what would it be?
A Find your passion and operate there. I have a daughter who dances [a lot]. When I asked her one day if she
was dancing too much, she looked at me as if I had grown
a third eye and said: “But Dad, I’m only who I really am
when I’m dancing.” That made me ponder what it is I do
that makes me feel that way. Each of us needs to find that
thing which creates passion in our lives, makes us feel like
who we really are, and do that. First, find your passion, and
then find job opportunities that allow you to operate in that
passion.
Douglas M. Lambert
PROFESSOR DOUGLAS M. LAMBERT HAS
earned a reputation as both a supply chain
educator and an author. He is currently the
Raymond E. Mason Chair in Transportation and Logistics and director of the
Global Supply Chain Forum in The Ohio
State University’s Fisher College of
Business. He’s also served as a faculty member for more than 500 executive development programs offered in locations around
the world.
Besides teaching, he has written books on supply chain
management. He edited the text Supply Chain Management:
Processes, Partnerships, Performance, now in its third edition, and wrote The Development of an Inventory Costing
Methodology, The Distribution Channels Decision, and The
Product Abandonment Decision. He is co-author of
Management in Marketing Channels, Fundamentals of
Logistics Management, and Strategic Logistics Management.
In 1986, Dr. Lambert received the
CSCMP (CLM) Distinguished
Service Award for his contributions
to the logistics management field.
and I conti
chain is a network of companies, and a net-
work of companies cannot be managed with
fewer functions than one company. We
believe that supply chain management
involves the implementation of eight cross-
functional, cross-firm business processes and
that every business function needs to be rep-
resented on these cross-functional teams. We
have been working on this supply chain
management framework since the Global
Supply Chain Forum was founded in 1992,
nue to work with Forum companies on implementation of the framework.
n
“The supply chain is a
etwork of companies, and
a network of companies
cannot be managed
with fewer functions
than one company.”
How did you end up in academia? Q
A A professor whom I admired asked me to work with him
writing cases for a year. That led to
an M.B.A. and a two-year teaching
appointment at the Ivey School in Ontario, Canada, followed by a Ph.D. at Ohio State University. I am fortunate to
have picked a career that has been extraordinarily enjoyable
and rewarding.
tive development
What’s your greatest personal accomplishment to
date in the field of supply chain and logistics? Q
A It’s been establishing the Global Supply Chain Forum. It has resulted in the development, over 16
years of research, of a cross-functional, cross-firm framework for managing relationships
with key customers and suppliers in
the supply chain. In 2008, we published the third edition of Supply
Chain Management: Processes,
Partnerships, Performance, which is
based on this research. The book is
used for undergraduate and masters
courses at Ohio State University and
at other universities around the
world, as well as week-long execu-programs offered in North and South
America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia.
Describe your current research focus. Q
A At Fisher College of Business, we have a holistic view of supply chain management. In our view, the supply
Q
A
How can colleges and universities foster a closer relationship with supply chain practitioners?
Collaborate on research that solves business problems.
It leads to the development of materials for degree
programs and executive programs, and it provides value to
industry.
