Hofer Receives Best Study Award

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Adriana Hofer

Adriana Hofer, an assistant professor in the Sam M. Walton College of Business supply chain management department, received the Bernard J. LaLonde Award at the annual Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals in Denver. The award recognized her paper as the best study published in the Journal of Business Logistics during 2012.

Hofer's paper, "The Roles of Procedural and Distributive Justice in Logistics Outsourcing Relationships," discussed relationships between companies and their third-party logistics providers, or 3PLs. "Often times, these companies demand innovative operational solutions from their 3PLs while still reluctant to share strategic information or truly collaborate," the paper said.

When third-party logistics providers work with their customers, Hofer advised that they should take the time to carefully explain the policies and respective responsibilities in their relationships to customers. The results of her study indicated that customers that found the guidelines and providers' actions to be fair shared more information with the third-party logistics providers and exhibited a stronger cooperative behavior. "Such conditions have allowed 3PLs to become more innovative in strategic ways that benefited both companies," the paper said.

"This award is very rewarding and humbling because the Journal of Business Logistics is highly regarded within the supply chain management community," Hofer said. "It gives a lot of visibility to our supply chain management department and the University of Arkansas as an institution that develops award winning research."

Receiving her bachelor's degree in civil engineering and her master's degree in transportation engineering in Brazil, Hofer went on to work for a consulting company developing transportation design and concession projects for the Brazilian government. She later received her Ph.D. in business logistics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Since 2008, she has worked as an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas.

"I love working here. All my colleagues and my department chair are extremely supportive. They all want to help me become the scholar I envision to be in the future," she said. "As well, by being at the Walton College, you are part of an active group as you experience connectivity to the academic and industry communities. There are just so many opportunities. These are very exciting times for all of us."