On behalf of the Supply Chain Management Institute, it is a great personal pleasure
for me to welcome you to the University of San Diego for Conference 2006, which brings together three exemplary events under one roof.
This year marks the 17th NARTS and 15th IPSERA annual events. It is also the occasion of the 4th Worldwide Research Symposium in Purchasing & Supply Chain Management. As one of the attendees at the 1st IPSERA conference in Glasgow, Scotland and the 1st Worldwide Symposium in Tempe, I feel fortunate to reflect for a moment upon the immense progress our field has made in establishing the foundations of a unique intellectual identity. I hope that over the next three days you too will feel equally proud of the progress we have made, but also find the stimulation to continue that progress towards the establishment of a distinct supply chain management discipline.
Please allow me to highlight what I see as our main aims for this conference:
Fostering collaboration and networking between academics, practitioners and thought leaders
Providing ample opportunity to disseminate and debate leading knowledge and research in the field
Making Conference 2006 a wonderful experience for all participants!
We have designed the program to include a number of distinctive elements that I hope will prove to be of considerable interest to you. Firstly, we are fortunate to have distinguished leaders in supply chain management, in both its practise and its philosophy, who you will be able to hear and question in both the Keynote and the Symposium sessions across all three days.
Secondly, the number and calibre of the competitive papers was astounding, with over 210 submissions to our initial call. As a result, in the main conference streams we have approximately 160 papers representing the most current research and practice in our field, from over 25 countries around the world. Although the choice is very wide, I know you will gain great insights to the ideas, concepts, theories and practices that are going to be influential in the supply chain arena over the next few years.
Thirdly, the conference provides a robust platform for young and new researchers in the field to gain exposure and develop their intellectual identity through both the pre-conference Doctoral Workshop on April 5 and the presentations in the full conference. We are pleased that along with ISM/CAPS and IPSERA bursaries, SCMI has, in its own small way, been able to provide the material support to young researchers who provide the promise of even greater progress in our field in the future.
All that remains is for you to engage, discuss, argue and challenge your colleagues in what we hope you will agree are truly wonderful conference facilities!
Again, on behalf of the faculty, staff and administration of the Supply Chain Management Institute, I hope you have a successful conference experience and enjoy your time at the University of San Diego.
Kind regards,
Simon R. Croom, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Supply Chain Management Institute
University of San Diego
