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me to retire from private industry and become a part of
URI’s faculty.
URI is a great institution. The supply chain management
(SCM) program started around 2007, and we have already
been recognized as having one of the top 25 supply chain
programs in the country. The SCM major is actually the
fastest-growing major within URI’s college of business.
Q How does your experience in private industry influ- ence what you teach and how you teach?
A At URI, we teach all the different theories and formulas that SCM students need to know and understand, but
the fact of the matter is, in the real world of business, it still
boils down to people executing their jobs properly. I try to
relate real-life experiences to the students with real-world
examples. A perfect example is economic order quantity
(EOQ). For EOQ to work properly, you want to minimize
your holding and ordering costs. You teach students the
EOQ formula, you give them a few problems, and they now
understand how to determine EOQ. But then I ask them
a simple question: If you’re working for a
large corporation, you may have 40,000 or
50,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs). Do you
really think you’re going to sit down and
go through this formula for 40,000 SKUs
every single week? No, you just don’t have
the time to do it, and that’s where software
comes into play. That kind of example resonates with students. The idea is that students have to understand the concept, but
how you actually use that concept is sometimes vastly different from what is taught.
Q How do you get students interested in logistics and supply chain management? I don’t imagine most kids come out of high school saying “I want to be
a logistician.”
A Supply chain is not something that’s at the top of any- one’s list just yet, certainly not when students come out
of high school. What we try to do, and we have been pretty
successful at it, is explain to students that supply chain is
the only discipline that interacts with every other discipline
in a corporation. I tell students that when you get into
supply chain, you’re going to be dealing with procurement,
inventory, marketing, advertising, legal, real estate, finance,
accounting, logistics, transportation, and distribution as
well as with other companies. Then, if students take a
course or two, it is not unusual for some of them to change
their majors to supply chain.
Q Do you send your students out into the field at any point in their undergraduate career?
A Yes. We emphasize internships to all our students. In fact, many of our students will do two or three
internships at the undergraduate level, and that serves a
couple of purposes. One, it obviously exposes students to
private industry, and two—and this happens more often
than not—students do such a great job at their internships
that they receive job offers from those same companies. In
fact, many of our students who are graduating in May have
already accepted positions with various corporations.
Q What are the business professionals you talk to looking for in graduates?
A They are looking for, first of all, students with some type of SCM certification. This is an area where URI
does an outstanding job, as many of our students will
graduate with a CTL [Certified in Transportation and
Logistics] certificate from the AST&L [American Society of
Transportation and Logistics]. In addition, we have a Lean
Six Sigma program, through which many of our students
will earn a yellow or even a green belt.
Obviously, technology plays a big role in supply chain
management. Business professionals want students who are
proficient in programs such as Excel, Access, and simulation
software. Our students have done extremely
well in the workplace in part because of their
knowledge as it relates to technology.
Q As your students go out the door, what is your advice to them about what they’re
going to face and what they need to do?
A We teach the same things I’m sure most universities do as it relates to what
students will face when they enter the work
force—things like the importance of collaboration, knocking down silos, trade-offs,
etc. But I also tell students that unfortunately, all of those things don’t happen. Many
companies will tell you that they collaborate with suppliers,
that they are knocking down silos, etc., when in reality, they
just don’t do it.
I also tell students they need to trust the people they work
with. Trust is something that I think is extremely important
in business. For instance, if you have suppliers that are cost
competitive, that perform well, and that you trust (and that
trust you), you now have a terrific business relationship
that will benefit all parties. Unfortunately, I think many
companies are so cost driven in the short term that they
actually spend more dollars in the long run by constantly changing suppliers who don’t perform as expected. In
addition, if they’re constantly changing suppliers, customer
service is impacted in a negative way.
I tell students that if they want to be successful, they are
going to work more than eight hours a day. Hard work has
always served people well. If you do those things and you
treat people right, you will be successful.
The one final thing I always preach is to be honest and
have integrity. I tell students there is nothing more important than being honest and having integrity.
