Educating entry, mid-level and high-potential transportation executives is a requirement of 2016. Transportation companies, and those in logistics and supply chain management, will need to rely on a deep bench of skilled employees at all levels, especially as seasoned baby boomers retire from the industry.
Forward-thinking companies are looking to education to reduce the time and cost of training managers and executives who can quickly contribute to the bottom line. That education in 2016 will need to be reconfigured to be shorter and highly targeted to fill specific knowledge gaps, to be distance focused to lessen time away from the job, and to enable the education of international hires in companies working in a global environment.
Given the challenges such as shifts in global trade patterns, infrastructure, weather patterns, and increasing congestion, there are no simple solutions. Transportation executives will need to be educated and trained to problem-solve both within their own firms and across the multiple modes and interconnections of wider transportation solutions.
A wider, holistic approach as seen, for example, in a new Master’s of Science in Transportation Management at Denver and a new Master’s of Science in Supply Chain Management at Maryland, brings real-world experience and solutions directly into the classroom through seasoned participants and instructors. Corporations and human resource officers will be increasingly convinced in 2016 to invest more in a new approach to employee education for future successes and profitability, for collegial networks, and for the successful future of transportation in the global supply chain.
In addition to formal degrees, companies will be using short courses, two days to two weeks, tailored to their specific needs. The transportation and logistics industry will continue to rely on smart, educated personnel.
William J. DeWitt III, Executive Director, Professor of the Practice of Transportation, University of Denver Intermodal Transportation Institute