Skill profile of logistics professionals and implications for educational providers

This paper aims to investigate the set of skills, knowledge and traits that are important for logistics professionals to be effective in facing the challenges in the globalised market. The HNV framework will be used to illustrate the skill profile of logistics professionals. The logistics industry is always evolving and has gone through significant changes over the years. Logistics have evolved from its functional role to become part of operational decisions and now, it is a vital component in strategic decision-making in companies across all industries. A skilled logistics workforce is needed to contribute to the success of the logistics sector. As the sector evolved, the skills needed by entry and senior level logistics professionals have also evolved accordingly to meet the needs of the market. Generally, logistics professionals require three different types of skills – Business, Logistics and Management and this report thoroughly investigates which are most important in the functions of logistics professionals at the entry and senior management positions. With the awareness that education is essential in the support and growth of the logistics industry, this report also aims to compare the gap in perception between the industry and the education sector. The perspectives of the industry and the education sectors were gathered through interviews and surveys with logistics professionals and logistics educators in Singapore. Case studies were also done to gain a first hand experience on the functions of logistics professionals at entry level and to investigate the role of logistics educators. Differences in perspective have caused a time lag between what the industry needs and what the education sector provides. Some plausible solutions are provided to reduce this gap to hopefully enable the educational providers to produce future logistics professionals who are competent in meeting the challenges of the future.Bachelor of Science (Maritime Studies