NITL, as part of its ongoing investigation into the Supply Chain Management practices of Irish firms, is engaged in empirical research into current supply chain capability. The academic integrity of this work is reflected in the recent publication of “Supply Chain Management Diffusion Among Firms in the Republic of Ireland” (by Sweeney, E., Wagner, C. and Huber, B.) in the prestigious International Journal of Logistics: Research and Applications. The paper, which was initially presented at the Logistics Research Network (LRN) Conference in 2007, was judged among the 5 best papers presented and selected for publication in this special issue of the journal. As noted by the Guest Editors of the special issue, Prof John Mangan and Dr Adrian E Coronado Mondragon ‘It was indeed an onerous task to distil 5 papers from the 122 papers presented at the conference.’

The paper focuses on the changing business environment, which has sharpened the focus on the need for robust approaches to supply chain management (SCM) and the improvement of supply chain capability and performance. This is particularly the case in Ireland, which has the natural disadvantage of a location peripheral to significant markets and sources of raw materials, which results in relatively high transport and distribution costs. Thus, in order to gain insights into current levels of diffusion of SCM, NITL conducted a survey among 776 firms in the Republic of Ireland. The empirical results suggest that there is a need for more widespread adoption of SCM among Irish firms. This is particularly the case in relation to the four main elements of SCM excellence, which are:

1. Identification and measurement of customer service;
2. Integration of supply chain activities;
3. SCM as a senior management function; and
4. Establishment and measurement of supply chain key performance indicators (KPIs).

The design of supply chain solutions is a highly skilled, knowledge-intensive and complex activity, reflected in a shift from “box moving” to the design and implementation of customised supply chain solutions. As a consequence, education and training needs to be addressed by stimulating the development of industry-relevant logistics and SCM resources and skills. By continuously monitoring the Supply Chain arena in Ireland through ongoing empirical research efforts, NITL is able to pass on and integrate the knowledge gained into its own MSc and Certificate/ Diploma programmes in Supply Chain Management.