thoughtleaders
this business?
A Collaborative social enterprise systems, transparency, and the ability to harness “big data” will disrupt current operations. The days of transportation being an “old
school, antiquated industry” are over.
group heavily reliant on their mobile devices, it will be
interesting to see how Gen M (Mobile) influences our space
in the coming years.
QYou have about 10 years on today’s college grad. Is there a difference in attitude between someone like
yourself and someone just leaving college today?
A There has been a shift in the mindset of today’s col- lege graduate. We are working with a generation
that is more concerned with immediate results versus
more long-term, project-oriented work. Gen Y, the
“microwave generation” as I call them, is impatient, and
the work they engage in has to yield the same speedy
results.
I also believe Gen Y is more concerned with learning
about the multiple facets of each enterprise and with having a range of roles within each organization. And as a
QYou have years ahead of you in the industry. What is your outlook for it? What are the biggest opportunities and the biggest challenges?
A As world population continues to increase, climate change takes its toll, and natural resources become
limited, we will need to create smarter supply chain solutions. Alternative means of transporting goods will be
developed, and the need to maximize efficiency in the
workforce will be met with automation.
The development of unmanned transportation appears
to be one way to address some of these issues. Freight
drones and robot-operated trucks may be common modes
of delivering goods. I also do not believe we are far away
from discussing the use of underground railroads to mitigate congestion.
James B. Rice Jr.
Jim Rice wears a multitude of hats at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s
(MIT) Center for Transportation and
Logistics (CTL). As deputy director, he
oversees research, industry outreach, and
CTL’s executive education courses. He also
teaches a course on the interaction between
business functions and supply chain management in MIT’s master of engineering in
logistics program.
When Rice ventures off campus, it’s often
to teach at CTL’s SCALE research and education centers in
Spain, Colombia, and Malaysia, or to speak at conferences
on supply chain resilience, a subject he’s been studying for
more than a decade. An appointment as a visiting faculty
member periodically takes him to the Politecnico di Milano
M.B.A. School in Milan, Italy, where he teaches in the supply chain management program.
Prior to joining MIT, Rice managed manufacturing and
distribution operations at Procter & Gamble, and was a
sales and market manager at General Electric. He earned his
M.B.A. in operations and finance from the Harvard
Business School and holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
the field. It’s more oriented toward developing leaders in logistics and supply chain
management, as opposed to developing
model builders.
The second is the development of the
SCALE education and research network—
SCALE stands for “supply chain and logistics
excellence.” First, we created the SCALE center in Zaragoza, Spain, then in Bogotá,
Colombia, and most recently in Kuala
Lumpur in Malaysia.
The third is the Supply Chain Exchange outreach program, which I direct. Through that program, companies
exchange information with us and with each other. When I
began, there were maybe 20 companies participating. Since
then, it has grown to 45 sponsoring companies, all of them
shippers, carriers, and third-party logistics companies, and
we now have a pretty broad research agenda. It’s the foundation of how CTL works with industry.
QWhat have been the most important growth areas for CTL during your tenure?
A There are several, but three stand out in particular. One is the master of engineering in logistics degree
developed by [CTL Director] Yossi Sheffi. It was the first
graduate degree program aimed at practitioners already in
QTell us about the SCALE centers in Colombia, Spain, and Malaysia.
A SCALE provides CTL with the opportunity to con- duct research around the world and to cultivate students who will be global leaders. We integrate the SCALE
programs into ours. We hire the faculty, and they mostly
copy what we do, but there are regional enhancements.
Zaragoza and Malaysia have a business outreach program,
they offer executive education programs, and they offer the
master of engineering in logistics graduate degree. They
also have a research agenda they pursue. So they’re tracking
