With students from Grand Valley State University facing such a highly competitive job market after graduation, Lakers may want to consider a thriving business field and one of GVSU’s newest majors: supply chain management.

Introduced by the Seidman College of Business in June 2009, the major and its corresponding career paths are in high demand with many employers combing the college ranks for potential personnel. The success of the young program is already evident through GVSU’s high performance in competitions against other top supply chain management programs.

Though a marketing major, GVSU senior Jason Wilkie has already reaped the benefits of having that requisite skill set associated with supply chain management.

“I had a job before graduation as did most of my friends, which is rare right now,” Wilkie said. “It’s a rapidly evolving field. It’s really exciting, and there are endless opportunities for people who become actively engaged in it.”

“Actively engaged” is a fitting description for Wilkie; he and three other students – Kyle Koenigsknecht, Michael Hershfield and Paul Rahrig – from the Seidman College of Business competed in February and succeeded against representatives from 11 other schools at the Undergraduate Supply Chain Management Competition at Michigan State University.

Dean H. James Williams said the success of Wilkie and his teammates at the competition, which was developed and hosted by the Eli Broad College of Business, has raised GVSU’s supply chain management program to “national prominence.”

Management professor Ashok Kumar agreed, citing the supply chain management’s win over other top programs from Michigan State, Penn State, University of Kentucky and others.

“I think we need to highlight that even with a supply chain management program in infancy, its students are bringing extraordinary stature and visibility to Grand Valley,” Kumar said. “We have previously taken second place where 15 universities participated, some of them with strong name recognition. The competition is designed to truly simulate the real world of supply chain and required decision-making at the highest levels. By taking the top honors, Grand Valley has established the strength of its program nationwide.”

One of the faculty members behind the creation of the major, management department head professor Jaideep Motwani, said the need to outfit students with the skills to meet a flourishing field contributed to its development.

“We strongly believed and agreed that we needed a holistic program that provided the critical integrated-oriented skills for supply chain management graduates to be successful in today’s global, competitive marketplace,” Motwani said. “We wanted our graduates to develop in-depth knowledge of the entire flow of the end-to-end supply chain, from raw materials to finished products. Emphasis on real-world projects, case studies and supply chain networking are also critical ingredients of our program.”

GVSU’s program has also already begun to prove itself capable of preparing its students for their future roles in the business world.

“The business community often criticizes business schools for failing to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how organizations function in the real world and how integration is essential for success,” Motwani said. “The new (program) is designed to satisfy the above need.”

Williams said business faculty members worked diligently to create a major that would allow its Laker enrollees to take full advantage those opportunities.

“Seidman always strives to place its students in the most competitive positions through their educations,” Williams said. “This is just one example.”

As well, Williams pointed to the globalization of business as another contributing factor.

“Companies all over the world understand that they need professionals with even more expertise to maximize economies and efficiencies proper supply chain management can provide,” Williams said.

In addition to the business core, the major requires 21 credits, 18 of which are designated as well as an elective course. This brings a supply chain management major to a minimum of 122 credit hours for graduation.

Kumar said because of the specialized training the major provides – managerial and strategic competency in purchasing, transportation, distribution and location of facilities – many companies already contact Seidman to recruit.

“Indeed, it is already happening with companies like Amway, Padnos Steel, SCM solutions, Gordon Foods now courting Seidman students for jobs and internships in supply chain management areas,” Kumar said.

Wilkie, who encouraged prospective and undeclared students to give the program a glance, agreed with that notion.

“I think it’s a growing field, and it’s important to get out in front of it and have trained professionals coming out of our school,” Wilkie said. “Having supply chain as an option is critical to having a complete offering to business students.”

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