Walton College Responds to Market, Adding New Supply Chain Management Department

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Matthew A. Waller will lead the Walton College’s new supply chain management department.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has established the supply chain management department to strengthen its educational and research resources in this financially critical field of business, effective July 1.

“As the United States moves toward a more competitive global economy, there will be an increasing demand for more efficient logistics systems and highly qualified people to manage them,” said Walton College Dean Dan Worrell. “Logistics costs continue to rise, even as attention to the need for sharper cost reductions increases for business.”

Matthew A. Waller, professor and holder of the Garrison Chair in Supply Chain Management, has been appointed to be department chair. He said, “This new department represents the strategic leadership of the Walton College and the University of Arkansas in this growing field. The mission is to train future leaders, both practitioners and academics, by offering a broad array of courses that are aligned with the needs of companies operating in a global economy and reflect the breadth and complexity of logistics and supply chain management. In addition, the department strives to further strengthen the research profile of the Walton College by providing academic thought leadership in this dynamic discipline.”

Despite widespread recognition of the need for qualified supply chain managers, only about 60 of the nearly 500 accredited business programs in the United States offer relevant degrees. Craig Harper, the chief operations officer and executive vice president of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., said, “There are very few programs in supply chain management from which to recruit qualified students, even as the company’s need keeps growing for managers with a better understanding of the supply chain to help more adequately assess the value of our services.”

The Walton College’s existing supply chain management program consistently has ranked among the top 20 in the nation. The U.S. News & World Report 2011 America’s Best Colleges, ranked the college’s supply chain management/logistics specialty in 10^th place among the public undergraduate schools offering that specialty and in 13^th place among both the public and private business schools.

The Walton College has had strong success in placing graduates in top management positions. Pat Reed, executive vice president and chief operating officer for FedEx Freight, said, “FedEx has been hiring transportation and logistics graduates from the Walton College for a number of years so we know firsthand the quality of the program.”

Waller said, “The designation of the new department reflects growth in the field and has received widespread industry support, from firms as varied as Walmart, Tyson Foods Inc., J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., FedEx Freight and ABF Freight System Inc.”

Johnnie Dobbs, executive vice president of Walmart, said, “The creation of the department of supply chain management in the Walton College is a key strategic move.”   

Gary Maxwell, senior vice president of Walmart, said, “One of the challenges we (and our suppliers) have had is a scarcity of eligible managers who have a supply chain management education.”

Waller received a doctoral degree in business logistics from Pennsylvania State University in 1993 and joined the University of Arkansas in 1994. In 2010, he was appointed as co-editor of the Journal of Business Logistics, which is published semi-annually by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, a top destination for submissions from leaders in the supply chain profession.

Waller is ranked among the most productive and frequently published researchers in top logistics journals, including 10 articles published in Journal of Business Logistics, one of which is the second most-cited in the history of the journal. He also earned a patent for a System, Method and Article of Manufacture to Optimize Inventory and Merchandising Shelf Space Utilization.