CSCMP’s Doctoral Dissertation Award Marks 40 Years of Recognizing Excellence in Research

The Doctoral Dissertation Award is open to all individuals who have completed their doctoral work no earlier than one year prior to submission deadlines. Each year, qualified candidates are invited to submit research that demonstrates originality and technical competence in a supply chain function.

The award is presented annually at CSCMP’s Educators’ Conference where the author of the winning research presents his or her findings. The event is held each year in conjunction with the organization’s annual global conference. Award recipients receive $5,000 US and a complimentary annual conference registration. Their travel and hotel expenses are also paid for by CSCMP.

The research is judged by a selection committee that is comprised of 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. Submissions are evaluated through a double-blind review process, and they must not contain any references to an author’s name or institution.

Each dissertation’s evaluation is based on three categories: 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 to managerial practice in the field and to future research. Practical application of the research is key, and manuscripts are often reviewed to evaluate their impact on the practice of the discipline.

“The Doctoral Dissertation Award was created to not only encourage excellence in the work completed by young researchers, but also to support CSCMP’s mission of developing tools and disseminating knowledge for the advancement of the profession,” said Kathleen Hedland, CSCMP’s director of education and research. “The research from winning dissertations provides practitioners with fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to meet real world supply chain challenges.”

The list of past award recipients is comprised of noted industry leaders whose doctoral research has addressed critical topics and contributed to the advancement and practice of the supply chain management and logistics professions. Recipients include:

• Douglas M. Lambert, The Ohio State University, whose work, “The Development of a Methodology for Calculating the Costs Associated with Holding Inventory (1975),” provided a model and findings for accurately assessing inventory-carrying costs that contributed to an organization’s ability to control total costs and increase return on investment.
• Martha C. Cooper, The Ohio State University, whose work, “An Investigation of Freight Consolidation and Warehouse Strategies for Industrial Systems (1981),” outlined a process for determining what the most effective and efficient distribution system design would look like.
• Christopher Caplice, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), authored “An Optimization-Based Bidding Process: A New Framework or Shipper-Carrier Relationships (1997),” that redesigned the way in which shippers and carriers interacted to remove costs from the transportation process.

A call for papers was recently sent out to global institutions inviting candidates to submit their work for the 2013 Doctoral Dissertation Award. For more information or to submit a manuscript, visit

Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)

333 East Butterfield Road, Suite 140

Lombard, Illinois 60148-5617 USA

[email protected]

SOURCE: Submitted by CSCMP