Supply Chain Research Center Awards Doctoral Prize

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Dominik Riedl is the winner of the 2010 Supply Chain Management Research Center Doctoral Award.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Supply Chain Management Research Center in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, has awarded the 2010 Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Award to Dominik Riedl, doctoral candidate at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany. In the award’s 11 years, Riedl is the first international recipient of the prize.

“This award, which includes $5,000, recognizes hard work and dedication. The purpose of the award is to encourage and reward individuals who are pursuing a doctoral degree in supply chain management,” said Jim Crowell, director of the Supply Chain Management Research Center.

Riedl’s dissertation, Decomposing Supplier Selection Decisions – Its Antecedents and Effectiveness in Reducing Decision-Makers’ Uncertainty, integrates operations management with behavioral decision-making literature. In his proposal, uncertainty was found to be a major obstacle toward effective decision-making in industrial buying decisions in general, and in supplier selection decisions in particular.

The evaluation process for the Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Award consists of 15 to 20 faculty reviewers, from 12 different universities. The evaluation criteria include contribution to supply chain management, likelihood of completing dissertation, theoretical basis for research and appropriateness of research design. Past recipients include doctoral candidates from schools such as the University of Oklahoma, University of Tennessee and Ohio State University.

Riedl receives a $5,000 monetary grant in two equal installments. The first installment was provided when the award announcement was made in San Diego Sept. 29 at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Conference. The second installment will be made when Riedl’s completed dissertation has been approved by his dissertation committee. “Receiving this award represents the degree to which leading supply chain management academics felt Dominik’s dissertation was going to contribute to supply chain management,” adds Crowell.

The Supply Chain Management Research Center in the Walton College, established in 1996, is a direct link between the private sector and the University of Arkansas supply chain resources. It sponsors activities that promote both the academic and general body of knowledge encompassing supply chain management.

Current board members of the center include ABF Freight System Inc., BNSF Logistics/BNSF Railway, Campbell Soup Co., CHAINalytics, CHEP, Chiquita/Fresh Express, Clorox Co., Colgate-Palmolive, ConAgra Foods, Inc., Dean Foods, Entergy Services Inc., FedEx Freight, GENCO, General Mills, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., JDA Software Group Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg Co., Kimberly-Clark, Nestlé, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, Procter & Gamble, Sam's Club, SC Johnson & Son Inc., Transplace, Tyson Foods Inc., Unilever, and Walmart.