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ASP, The Art and Science of Practice: What Employers Demand from Applicants for MBA-Level Supply Chain Jobs and the Coverage of Supply Chain Topics in MBA Courses

Author

Listed:
  • ManMohan S. Sodhi

    (Cass Business School, London EC1Y 8TZ, United Kingdom)

  • Byung-Gak Son

    (Cass Business School, London EC1Y 8TZ, United Kingdom)

  • Christopher S. Tang

    (Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1481)

Abstract

We analyzed the text of 704 online advertisements of supply chain management jobs for MBA graduates. The content analysis of these job advertisements provided us with a list of supply chain topics, such as inventory management and supply management, and general skills, such as communication and leadership; it also showed the proportion of advertisements requesting these skills. We measured the relative coverage of the same supply chain topics in MBA-level supply chain electives and operations management core courses in 21 of the top 50 business schools in the United States by analyzing the course descriptions and the cases used in these courses. This enabled us to compare the relative importance of supply chain topics to employers on the “demand” side with the relative importance of supply chain electives in MBA curricula on the “supply” side in these schools. Our analysis indicated that the supply usually matches demand; however, there may be an undersupply of practice- or process-oriented topics, such as forecasting, procurement, supplier and vendor management, and contracts and negotiation. In addition, there may be an oversupply of conceptual and strategy-oriented topics, such as product design, supply chain design, and emerging information technology and management information.

Suggested Citation

  • ManMohan S. Sodhi & Byung-Gak Son & Christopher S. Tang, 2008. "ASP, The Art and Science of Practice: What Employers Demand from Applicants for MBA-Level Supply Chain Jobs and the Coverage of Supply Chain Topics in MBA Courses," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 38(6), pages 469-484, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:38:y:2008:i:6:p:469-484
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1080.0377
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. David Osborne & Charles I. Stubbart & Arkalgud Ramaprasad, 2001. "Strategic groups and competitive enactment: a study of dynamic relationships between mental models and performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 435-454, May.
    2. C Mar Molinero & A Xie, 2007. "What do UK employers want from OR/MS?," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(12), pages 1543-1553, December.
    3. ManMohan S. Sodhi & Byung-Gak Son, 2008. "ASP, The Art and Science of Practice: Skills Employers Want from Operations Research Graduates," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 38(2), pages 140-146, April.
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    1. M S Sodhi & B-G Son, 2010. "Content analysis of OR job advertisements to infer required skills," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(9), pages 1315-1327, September.
    2. Kala C. Seal & Linda A. Leon & Zbigniew H. Przasnyski & Greg Lontok, 2020. "Delivering Business Analytics Competencies and Skills: A Supply Side Assessment," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 50(4), pages 239-254, July.

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