OIM / OTM & Supply Chain Resources

Engaging with different types of resources will help you understand your industry on a deeper level.

Caution

When using resources on this guide, continue to evaluate credibility and relevance for your audience. A resource can be considered credible in one situation but questionable in another, or its quality can suddenly degrade. Additionally, credible resources can still contain problematic content like content marketing, inaccurate opinion pieces, flawed research, or misrepresented evidence.

Professional Organizations

Professional organizations and trade associations promote their industries and provide networking opportunities to members. Their websites offer information and educational materials for professionals in the industry.

The following examples are professional organizations for professionals in OIM/OTM and supply chain:

Trade Publications

Trade journals or trade magazines provide industry-specific insights, giving prospective professionals an insider’s view of the field.

The following examples are trade publications with a focus on operations and supply chain:

Popular Magazines

Popular magazines, although aimed at a general audience, can be useful for understanding an industry in a larger context or from a consumer’s point of view.

Popular magazines that could be useful to professionals in operations and supply chain include:

Barron’s
Bloomberg Businessweek
Economist
Foreign Affairs
Harper’s Bazaar
Harvard Business Review Digital
Harvard Business Review Print
Inc.
Kellogg Insight
MIT Sloan Management Review (converting to website & newsletters)
MIT Technology Review
Mother Jones
New Yorker
Psychology Today
Wired

Newspapers

Newspapers cover current events relevant to professionals in all fields.

Newspapers with useful coverage include:

New York Times

UW-Madison students can create a free personal account through the library

Wall Street Journal

UW-Madison students can create a free personal account through the library

Podcasts

Most industries have reputable experts who podcast about their chosen field, providing an insider’s look. These types of information resources vary widely and require vetting, but can be credible.

The following resources might offer useful perspectives for operations and supply chain:

Websites

You can find information from resources that don’t fall into a particular category of publication, though many of the most influential websites started as blogs.

The following resources cover topics that may be useful for operations and supply chain:

TechRepublic

Newsletters

Newsletters have become an increasingly popular way to follow specific topics or industries.

Here are some examples of newsletters that might be useful for operations and supply chain professionals:

Quick Manufacturing News
Supply Lines (Bloomberg)

Books

Most industries have notable books that insiders find useful or that have had an influence on that industry. Asking insiders is the best way to find out which books are considered essential in your field.

Here are a few examples of influential books that could be relevant for operations and supply chain:

Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company (Patrick McGee)
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger (Marc Levinson)
Demand Forecasting Best Practices (Nicolas Vandeput)
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement (Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox)
The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Clayton M. Christensen)
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs (John Doerr)
The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win (Gene Kim, Kevin Behr & George Spafford)
The Supply Chain Revolution: Innovative Sourcing and Logistics for a Fiercely Competitive World (Suman Sarkar)
The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer (Jeffrey K. Liker)

Scholarly Journals

Scholarly journals publish in depth research, usually conducted by professors.

The following resources offer academic perspectives on OIM/OTM and supply chain: