Highly Ranked Supply Chain Management Department Thrives

The pandemic put the supply chain in the global spotlight. As shortages loomed, the topic quickly became a household name. But it wasn’t always this way. When Assistant Chair and Principal Lecturer Eddie Davila started teaching at W. P. Carey more than 20 years ago, convincing students to major in the subject was tough.

“I was trying to sway people into supply chain and tell them that it was a viable option—that it was a real thing with real jobs that pay pretty well,” he says. “Nowadays, I don’t have to worry about that.”

A lot has changed since the early 2000s. Not only has supply chain become a hot topic, but the W. P. Carey Department of Supply Chain Management consistently ranks in the top three nationally for undergraduate and graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report. Faculty members are globally recognized for their expertise, and the department’s research is crucial in advancing global supply chain management.

While many factors have played into the department’s record of success, Davila begins by crediting its students.

“Companies come here because we’re putting out great students,” he says. “Word has gotten out that our students understand supply chain well.”

Students have many engagement opportunities, including participating in the Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA), which Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor Gopalakrishnan Mohan calls the “envy of many schools.” The SCMA hosts a student-run career fair at W. P. Carey, welcoming 200 major employers, which Mohan says are “gobbling up our students.”

Helping to bolster the department is top-tier talent joining its faculty, many of whom have taken a significant pay cut to teach a subject they are passionate about.

“Having folks who have been in the industry—who like students, who want to be here, who are not here for the money, but who are giving in so many other ways—that’s been a huge help to us,” Davila says.

Mohan says innovation has also accelerated the department’s success. It was an early adopter of technology-based games to teach supply chain concepts in the classroom. Additionally, Professor of Supply Chain Management Thomas Kull has built supply chain learning apps used worldwide, including by Ghana farmers.

“These games and how they have evolved to have a global reach are a great example of our innovation,” Mohan says.

In the mid-2010s, the department produced a 12-part series of videos hosted by Davila. What began as an attempt to explain supply chain to young people resulted in a viral series used as a tool for universities and Fortune 500 companies. And the proof is in its four million-plus views on YouTube.

“We wanted to show, ‘Hey, we think supply chain is important. We think other schools should teach supply chain. We think companies should care more about supply chain. We want kids to be thinking about supply chain.’ And incredibly, it worked,” Davila says. Helping to cement its legacy, the department has also produced what Mohan calls “stalwarts” in three significant areas of research: procurement, logistics, and operations. Among its highly cited professors are Dale Rogers, John Fowler, Hongmin Li, Thomas Choi, and Craig Carter.

The department has expanded its degree options over the past two decades, including multiple options at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In fall 2024, the department will welcome students to a new Master of Science in Supply Chain Management (MS-SCM) program on ASU’s West campus.

Visit wpcarey.asu.edu/SCM to learn more.