Celebrate CSCMP's 50th Anniversary at the 2013 Annual Global Conference
If ever there was a year to attend the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' Annual Global Conference, it's this one. At the 2013 conference, CSCMP will be celebrating 50 years of providing leading-edge education and resources to supply chain management professionals (even before they were known as supply chain management professionals).
From October 20 to 23, some 3,000 practitioners, academics, and other professionals from around the world will arrive in Denver, Colorado, USA for the annual event, which will include 26 educational tracks, two pre-conference workshops, facility tours, an exhibit hall, and countless networking opportunities. That's a long way from the very first meeting, which brought together 100 "physical distribution" professionals at the Kellogg Center at Michigan State College (back before it was a university) in October 1963.
Certainly in 1963 it would have been hard to imagine the kinds of educational sessions to be found at CSCMP's annual conference today—sessions investigating topics like the viability of alternative fuels, product lifecycle management, global procurement, and sales and operations planning (S&OP), to name just a few. Nor would it have been imaginable that the opening keynote speaker would be former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón, discussing how to continue and expand economic cooperation within North America. Moreover, the technologies and solutions that will be on display in the Supply Chain Exchange would have been beyond most people's wildest imagining 50 years ago.
Past or present, what remains constant is the importance of learning best practices from globally recognized industry experts and from your peers. The conference will also feature numerous opportunities for networking at receptions as well as at breakfast and lunch events to allow you to meet new people or catch up with old colleagues.
For more information about CSCMP's 2013 Annual Global Conference and all it has to offer, click here.
Fifty years of pioneering ideas
Through all of its 50 years and all of its incarnations—originally as the National Council of Physical Distribution Management (NCPDM), then as the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), and finally as the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals—CSCMP has been committed to bringing together innovative thinkers to share best practices and move the discipline forward.
It's fitting, then, that as part of its 50th anniversary festivities, CSCMP will release a series of videos that document conversations with these supply chain pioneers about where the profession has been and where it is heading.
Titled "Supply Chain Pioneers," this 11-part video history will debut October 20 at CSCMP's Annual Global Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA. All conference attendees will receive DVDs of the series in their registration packets. The videos will also be shown in the Supply Chain Exchange exhibit area. Those who can't make it to this year's conference will be able to watch the interviews on Supply Chain Quarterly's website.
The videos document a series of panel discussions among industry luminaries that was organized by CSCMP in November 2012. Each segment covers such topics as the growth of the profession over the past 50 years, where it stands today, and the outlook for the future.
Doctoral Dissertation Award turns 40
In another significant anniversary, CSCMP's Doctoral Dissertation Award is marking 40 years of recognizing outstanding supply chain research.
In 1973, CSCMP (at that time NCPDM) established the Doctoral Dissertation Award to honor and promote excellence in research undertaken by doctoral students. Since then, the award has been presented to up-and-coming academics, many of whom have gone on to become influential supply chain thought leaders and educators around the world—people like Douglas M. Lambert, Martha C. Cooper, Christopher G. Caplice, Edward H. Frazelle, Julie Gentry, and Remko I. van Hoek, to name just a few.
Each dissertation is evaluated on three characteristics: significance of the topic to the advancement of the theory and practice of supply chain management; appropriate research design, methodology, and research execution; and implications for managerial practice in the field and for future research.
Because the award is meant to recognize research that has practical applications, the selection committee comprises both academics and practitioners. This year's committee is chaired by Alexander Trautrims, a supply chain and operations lecturer at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
The award is presented each year at CSCMP's Annual Global Conference, where the author of the winning research presents his or her findings. Winners receive US $5,000 and a complimentary conference registration.
Find the job (or job seeker) you're looking for
Finding the right job in this tough hiring market can be difficult. But it can be just as difficult for companies to find people who have the supply chain skills they are looking for. CSCMP's online Career Center can help both job seekers and employers make the right match.
The Career Center brings together more than 3,000 registered executive recruiters, human resources professionals, and academic recruiters, and 8,000-plus active registered candidates.
Job candidates can upload their résumés or search job postings for free. They can choose to make their résumés "public," which means they can be searched by companies using the Career Center, or they can make their information "private," thereby controlling who can view their information. One valuable tool is "Job Alerts," which alerts registered job seekers when new opportunities that match their job search criteria have been posted. Candidates can also track applications and follow up on jobs they applied for using the Center's dashboard.
Registered employers and recruiters pay a fee to post jobs or search CSCMP's database of résumés. Companies can choose to post a single job or select from a variety of packages for multiple job postings. Packages are good for 60 days to one year from date of purchase, depending on the service selected.
For more information, go to careers.cscmp.org or contact Patricia O'Rourke at +1 630.645.3479 or porourke@cscmp.org.
