Erasmus University ranked 1st for supply chain management research
Erasmus University was recently ranked 1st for supply chain management research across all European universities, based on aggregate research output over the past five years in supply chain management journals encompassed within the SCM Journal List. A great result for all LIS researchers!
External validation reflecting high quality
“It’s a welcome external validation of the significant emphasis we at Erasmus place on research in operations and supply management,” says Finn Wynstra, Professor of Purchasing and Supply Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and ERIM Fellow. He adds that this “Supply Chain Management Journal List” ranking only considers output and not impact, but still is a relevant list for the university, because it encompasses top-tier journals that publish research across a broad spectrum of operations and supply management topics, in both the analytical and empirical arenas. “Besides, the list includes the journals from the Financial Times and UT-Dallas as well as journals from the leading (North-American) supply chain management professional associations. That makes a good mix.”
Morteza Pourakbar, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and ERIM Member, notes it is definitely a great achievement as the ranking only considers high quality journals in both analytically and empirically focused journals. “It reflects the high quality of SCM related research at Erasmus university,” he adds.
Focus and practically relevant
Prof. Wynstra explains that regarding the subfield purchasing and supply management, the group has consistently focused on a specific set of research themes. “For example, we have been studying buyer-supplier collaboration in product innovation, and the development and implementation of performance-based contracts – in a variety of sectors such as infrastructure construction and maintenance, and healthcare,” he says. Wynstra adds that this focus, which creates internal synergies but also helps in engaging with practitioners to collect data, probably also has affected the result of this ranking.
Dr. Pourakbar mentions that a huge emphasis on practically relevant research is definitely one of the factors playing a big role here. “One definitely cannot find any PhD research not motivated by practical examples and cases. Interestingly, Erasmus scored nicely on the analytically focused journals,“ he says. Pourakbar thinks the result of this ranking has to do with the strong background of the faculty in the analytical methodologies. “When this is exploited to address practically relevant and interesting problems then the output can definitely end up in high quality journals,’ tells Pourakbar.
Actionable insights and innovative methods
Wynstra and Pourakbar both emphasise they are working in close collaboration with various companies, often around internships. “We conduct context-specific research and develop actionable insights and recommendations, for instance on when and how to implement performance-based contracts. Sometimes, performance-based contracts in themselves will not work,” says Prof. Wynstra.
Dr. Pourakbar says “Over years a close partnership with companies have been established and companies also rely on innovative methods provided to them through the output of the research.”
SCM Journal List
The SCM Journal List ranking is an annual ranking of universities’ supply chain management research output in the leading supply chain management journals. The ranking is based on publications during the prior five years (non-peer reviewed manuscripts, such as book reviews and editorials, are omitted). University output is based on the proportion of authorship for each article (1/n, where n=the number of authors for an article). In cases where an author lists multiple affiliations, the first listed university affiliation is credited.
The journals encompassed within the SCM Journal List were selected based on existing lists such as the Financial Times and UT-Dallas journal lists, as well as a recognition that those lists included a set of journals that predominantly focused on analytical methodologies and also underrepresented journals that encompassed logistics and supply management. The eight journals encompassed within the SCM Journal List ranking include the journals from the Financial Times and UT-Dallas lists (Management Science, Operations Research, MSOM, and POMJ) as well as journals from the leading supply chain management professional associations: APICS (Journal of Operations Management), CSCMP (Journal of Business Logistics), Decision Sciences Institute (Decision Sciences Journal), and ISM (Journal of Supply Chain Management). Unlike existing lists, the SCM Journal List ranking uses output from the top-tier journals which publish research across a broad spectrum of areas across the supply chain, in both the analytical and empirical arenas.
