The Nation's First Supply Chain And Information Systems Business School Program Created At Penn State

The Nation's First Supply Chain And Information Systems Business School Program Created At Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA—The Board of Trustees of The Pennsylvania State University approved, on November 22, the merger of the Department of Business Logistics and the Department of Management Science and Information Systems to form the nation's first Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems in the Smeal College of Business. This action creates a new program that combines the strengths of these established distinctions within Smeal.

"The new department will be, undoubtedly, among the most prominent and productive departments of its kind, and one of the very few that represents convergence across the functional disciplines relevant to supply chain management," says Dr. Judy Olian, dean of Penn State's Smeal College of Business.

The new department fills the void in traditional supply chain management education by adding the integrative role of information systems throughout the research, curricula, and instructional agenda of the new department. Companies like Wal-Mart and Dell are famous for integrating information technologies into their supply chains to achieve lower inventories and working capital, increased asset utilization, faster response to demand to achieve superior performance, profitability, and competitive advantage. Firms can become more efficient in their purchasing, production, and distribution of goods and services by producing to demand. Market demand data need to be collected at point of sale and made transparent across both vendor and customer supply chains through integrated information systems.

"The new Supply Chain and Information Systems Program at Penn State's Smeal College of Business reflects the important role that information technology plays in supply chain management for a retailer like Wal-Mart," says Linda Dillman senior vice president and CIO for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

The new department will consist of 22 faculty and over 800 students making it one of the largest programs of its kind. The program will be multidisciplinary and cover purchasing, production, logistics, and information systems. The established faculty are leaders in publishing in a broad range of academic journals that advance the field of supply chain management.

"Our goal is to be known as a leader in teaching and research in both business and academic communities. The new department will position Smeal as a major source of talent for corporate recruiters, universities, and graduate schools in supply chain management," says Dr. John Tyworth, professor of Supply Chain Management and chair of the new Department of Supply Chain Management and Information Systems. Recently, IBM and the U.S. Department of Defense have selected the Smeal College of Business as one of their top academic supply chain partners in the country.

The new department works closely with the Smeal College's Center for Supply Chain Research in adopting a multidisciplinary approach to advance research and promote industry best practices. The Center for Supply Chain Research (CSCR) is organized within Smeal College's Division of Research. Founded in 1989, the center is a pre-eminent research community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to shaping practice in supply chain management in today's converging economies. The center draws upon faculty members from several academic areas as well as from other universities. Faculty affiliates are involved in several disciplines besides supply chain management, including management science, information systems, marketing, business law, geography, agricultural economics, and industrial engineering.

Editors: For more information about the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems, contact John (Gene) Tyworth at (814) 865-1866 or visit online at www.smeal.psu.edu/scis/index.html .