IBM And Penn State Renew Supply Chain Research Partnership

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA—Leading companies like IBM recognize that universities are a valuable source of R&D;, executive development, and management talent that helps grow their business. IBM, Smeal, and its Center for Supply Chain Research have announced the renewal of the company's Corporate Sponsorship Research Partnership. Smeal is only one of three business schools in the country selected by IBM as a supply chain research partner.

The partnership benefits IBM by providing access to the resources of Smeal's renown research center, its leading research faculty in its Department of Supply Chain Management and Information Systems, and one of the world's largest academic programs from which to recruit supply chain and information systems talent. The Smeal College benefits from access to some of the leading business thinkers in supply chain management, research funding, and student recruitment.

"This partnership allows us to work directly with faculty and students to help develop a curriculum that promotes supply chain skills that are essential to our business. It provides and important bridge between theory and practical implementation of supply chain processes and gives us access to world-class talent," says IBM's Stu Reed, vice president of integrated supply chain development and deployment.

"We are very pleased that our research relationship with IBM continues to expand with an increased financial support in 2003," says Dr. William L. (Skip) Grenoble, Executive Director of the Center for Supply Chain Research. He further adds, "This increased support will help fund two major research projects on inventory control responses to fluctuating market demand and information sharing in supply networks."

Smeal College's Center for Supply Chain Research adopts a multidisciplinary approach to advance research and promote industry best practices. 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 many different academic disciplines as well as from other universities. Corporate Sponsors from leading companies are recruited to sit on Center's Research Board. This board identifies key issues in supply chain management and decides which topics are of immediate concern, thereby determining the research agenda for the Center.

For more information about the center, contact Ms. Susan Purdum, administrative director at (814) 865-0585 or visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/cscr .

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