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In recent years, technology diffusion, globalization and the Internet revolution have accelerated the growth of online transactions and altered corporate operations systems. The emergence of computer technology and the Internet have changed the way businesses work. The purpose of this study is to find and identify any common patterns in the logistics and supply chain industries for job requirements using job posting content in Malaysia.

This study provides an exploratory assessment of the employability skill set required using online job posting advertisements. Online job posting advertising, also known as e-recruiting, is one field that has been significantly influenced by information technology. In addition, the current Covid-19 outbreak has created a new need for a long-term contactless talent acquisition process in the organization's operating systems.

Based on this study's findings, the top ten skills required by employers for logistics and supply chain positions are (1) supply chain analytics, (2) technological aptitude, (3) teamwork skills, (4) customer focus, (5) leadership skills, (6) interpersonal skills, (7) people skills, (8) creativity and resilience, (9) demand and supply forecasting ability, and (10) project management skills. Overall, the findings provide a road map for practitioners and academics interested in developing supply chain managers' necessary skills and competencies to manage current and future supply networks. It also allows companies to adjust their supply chain management hiring, training and retention methods.

Although the study was done in Malaysia, the supply chain skills and competencies stated in this study, as well as their categorization, can be applied in other developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current profile of skills and knowledge of Australian logistics professionals and identify important requirements for the future.

The study targeted the population of 1,300 professional members of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Australia, employing the triangulation of both mail survey and in‐depth interview techniques. A total of 147 usable questionnaires were returned and seven interviews conducted. Data were analysed using the SPSS 13.0 software and thematic analysis technique.

It is found that all proposed business‐, logistics‐ and management‐related skills and knowledge are important for logistics professionals. Logistics‐related skill and knowledge set was found to be the area that educational and training institution in Australia should particularly aim at to further equip local logistics workforce with substantial skills and knowledge to perform their job successfully. In addition, universities and other training institutions should focus on developing and providing specific courses, especially professional development courses, to prepare logistics professionals with a broader skill set for the future.

The major limitation of this research is that the revised BLM framework has just been tested only in Australia. Future research direction is desired, e.g. conducting the study using the same instruments in other countries to increase the reliability and validity of the proposed revised framework.

Although this study was designed on the BLM framework, it has gone further to elaborate the framework and incorporated a number of additional skills and knowledge which are considered to be critical in the contemporary business environment, and thus it helps to enrich the contemporary literature on logistics knowledge and skill set for logistics professionals. This study is also of benefit to managers in logistics firms as they can identify important skills and knowledge to improve on, while policy makers and educational and training bodies can also use the findings from this research to design and implement courses which are necessary to facilitate skill and knowledge development for logistics workforce.

The purpose of this study is to identify specific qualifications and competences required within the field of logistics and supply chain management from the perspective of lifelong learning and hierarchical level. It also reveals a hierarchy level-specific job profile for logistics and supply chain management jobs based on the European Framework for Key Competences and the German Federal Employment Agency.

A review of the literature on competences and skills in the field of logistics is combined with an analysis of 832 job postings by means of content analyses and thematic mapping.

The academic literature discusses more than 280 skills and competences related to the job profile of logistics and supply chain managers. The majority of these skills represent social skills. Analyses of job postings show significant differences in the required portfolio of skills and competences depending on the hierarchical level of the position. Contrary to the literature, job postings include more cognitive competences and meta-competences than social skills.

The first contribution of this research is that competences were examined from the perspective of lifelong learning, revealing how this is applied in the field of logistics. The second is that this conceptual framework can be utilised to compare skills and competences between different hierarchical levels. The third contribution refers to identifying a set of skills and competences different to what had been presented in the literature.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate job profiles in humanitarian logistics, and assess current task priorities in light of further training and educational needs.

The paper presents findings from a survey among humanitarian logistics practitioners and compares these to other studies in this area. It uses econometric models to evaluate the impact of managerial responsibilities in training needs, usage of time and previous training.

The results show that the skills required in humanitarian logistics seem to follow the T-shaped skills model from Mangan and Christopher when looking at training wanted and time usage.

Survey respondents being members of the Humanitarian Logistics Association (HLA) may be more interested in developing the humanitarian logistics profession than other populations.

This paper offers an insight in the specific skill requirements of humanitarian logisticians from members of the HLA and allows to understand which type of skills are linked to managerial responsibilities. The paper also establishes a link between logistics skill models and career progressions overall.

This study attempts to list and rank the necessary skills required of a global logistics professional based on objective evaluations from industry.

This paper adopts a novel mixed‐methods approach using elements of concept mapping (brainstorming, multi‐dimensional scaling, cluster analysis), and link analysis. Concept mapping through repeated brainstorming by industry practitioners helps to summarize the key skill required of an effective global logistician. The multidimensional scaling method and cluster analysis support the classification and weighting of the capabilities into nine clusters. Link analysis helps to evaluate the significance of the results and addresses the gap between industry and academic perceptions of the existing global logistics curriculum in Taiwan.

In dealing with globalization, a logistician needs to be able to integrate, communicate, and analyze from an international perspective, perform financial analysis, maintain good industry and customer relations, exhibit strong people skills, stay healthy, and understand laws and regulations. Significant differences exist between industry practitioners and educators. The former believe that cross‐functional marketing skills are critical and emphasize the importance of risk and financial management. In contrast, logistics educators consider the traditional logistics management skills, such as demand forecasting, sourcing, planning, and system integration, as key priorities.

There is room for research and theory on how to narrow the mismatch between the current logistics curricula in academia and practical requirements. Different pedagogical strategies and techniques can be further investigated to orchestrate an effective and balanced global logistics management course. One research limitation arises from the sample which is confined to Taiwan. Thus, the authors' findings may be constrained by local and cultural influences. Future research could extend to a large‐scale multi‐country data collection and analysis to reduce the possibility of cultural and context bias.

Arming students with such important but diverse global logistics skills presents a challenge for logistics educators who need to find the right balance between breadth and depth of the modules. Educators and practitioners need to work closely together to co‐design and adapt the logistics curricula for a rapidly changing global environment. This will help to shorten the last stage from the classroom to the workplace by keeping abreast of the changes in industry and produce relevant logisticians without compromising on rigour.

The results provide a reference for educators keen on blending logistics education course design with practitioner inputs, to better develop global logistics capabilities. It also provides a reference to help prioritize what skills are important to be taught jointly in a module.

With logistics increasingly adopting a strategic orientation in many firms, senior‐level logisticians must possess certain skills in order to successfully manage the logistics function. This article argues that the contemporary senior‐level logistics manager needs to be proficient in three categories namely: business, logistics and management skills. The purpose of this research is to report the results of a survey of US logistics managers designed to assess the importance of business, logistics, and management skills. Management skills emerged as the most important of the three, followed by logistics and business skills. These findings suggest that contemporary senior‐level logistics executives must be managers first and logisticians second. In addition, the emphasis on management skills suggests that high‐ranking logistics executives may have the opportunity of rising to top management positions such as the Chief Executive Officer – a career path unheard of two decades ago.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key logistics related skills required at the various levels of management logistics from the licensing certification perspective.

This exploratory study utilizes the concept mapping methodology to combine the qualitative expert data with quantitative multivariate statistical analysis.

The research results suggest that certain components of logistics skills are more important than others depending on the level of management. Assessment format preferences also differ at each assessment level.

This paper is not designed to produce a high level of precision in the output. Instead, this study is structured to explore the possibility of building a licensing/certification framework in Taiwan.

This study serves as a “blueprint” of the logistics certification program in Taiwan and provides a practical reference list for logistics‐related firms for the purpose of training and recruiting. Another implication is that the logistics certification program for the middle‐level logisticians deserves the highest priority over the operational and strategic levels.

This study offers an important first step to establishing an executable logistics licensing/certification program/system.

Reports the findings of a cross‐cultural survey on the skill requirements of senior‐level logistics executives as perceived by the logistics practitioners themselves from two developing South‐east Asian nations, namely, Singapore and Malaysia. The study reveals that in the sampled nations, logistics has emerged as a discipline by itself and that the logisticians in these countries are aware that to succeed as logistics executives in the complex business environment of today, they need to be multi‐skilled generalists rather than technically‐oriented specialists.

The study provides an evaluation of the knowledge and skills importance covered in the degree of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) as well as the knowledge and skills gap of graduates entry-level.

The study used both descriptive and exploratory research designs. The study adopted a self-administered questionnaire. The sample size is 41 logistics industry mid-managers of six organizations selected from the main operators of Sohar Port in Oman.

The findings reveal that logistics professionals agree on the importance of all the learner attributes, knowledge and cognitive skills, and general competencies identified in a university degree with a major in LSCM. Furthermore, the results identified moderate levels of gaps in five knowledge areas and six soft and hard skills of graduates at the entry level.

Further research can be built on this study findings by evaluating the perception of logistics and supply chain industry professionals in different global contexts and investigate the effectiveness of different training and educational programs in enhancing the knowledge and skills of logistics professionals in various regions.

This study may extend beyond Oman and have important implications for LSCM practices in other developing countries. Universities' management in developing countries can use this study findings to identify the key skills required by entry-level logistics professionals and incorporate them into their curricula to better prepare graduates for the workforce. In addition, the skills identified in our study, such as decision-making skills, managing stress, negotiation skills and critical thinking, are relevant to logistics professionals in other developing countries with similar socio-economic and industry characteristics.

Unlike the prior studies that focused on the mismatch between educational degrees and job requirements without considering study specializations and industry, this paper lays a nuanced understanding of the knowledge and skills gap associated with entry-level graduates of the logistics and supply chain industry. As such, the paper offers inputs for the LSCM academic degree related to knowledge and skills needed by logistics and supply chain industry.

The logistics discipline has been characterized by tremendous change since the early 1990s. One result is that the logistician's relevant skill set has likely changed as well. To this end, the present paper aims both to update, and to provide a longitudinal perspective of, a 1991 study that investigated the skill requirements of senior‐level logistics managers using the business, logistics, management (BLM) framework.

Both studies used survey research of executive search firms to collect the relevant data. The surveys were transmitted via postal mail in the 1991 study and were transmitted electronically in the present study.

The results from the current study reinforce the 1991 study, which suggested that logisticians should be managers first and logisticians second. Comparison between the earlier and current study suggest a high degree of similarity in terms of the most important logistics skills, with less similarity in terms of business and management skills. The comparison also suggests that the contemporary logistician has more of a supply chain orientation than was the case in the early 1990s.

The manuscript discusses implications for various logistical constituencies. For example, educators could use the findings to plan and design continuing education programs.

The update to the original study should prove valuable by highlighting the relevant skills associated with successful logisticians in the contemporary business environment. The longitudinal comparison provides insights into the logistician's skill set in the early 1990s and today.