Hi everyone,

In this post I would like to write about one of the most important skills people need in their lives and something that is especially vital for a manager: the ability to make the right decisions.

Master of Global Logistics: Becoming the best decision makers

Nowadays, decision-making can result in success or failure. It is based on having the right background, the technical knowledge as well as the logical ability to select the best path in a situation. Making a decision in our personal lives is often based on emotional reasons, but in our careers, we require data and the ability to process it in order to obtain information about our alternatives.
These abilities are what we strive for everyday when we study business. We learn the tools, processes and techniques in order to be able to be able to distinguish between right and wrong. If in my last post I was amazed by the people around me, now I am in awe of what we learn everyday. The courses of the KLU Master of Science Global Logistics are designed to make us the best decision makers.

Course: Managerial Economics

A first example would be Managerial Economics, a course that was taught by a very practice-oriented person, Prof. Wilhelm Pfähler. During this course we had the opportunity to understand what drives economic decisions and everything was explained from a managerial point of view. The emphasis was not only on the economic phenomena, but also on the effects that phenomena has on our company and the ways we could make better decisions that we could benefit from.

Course: Analysis and Decision Science

Another example of a course that helps us become better managers is Analysis and Decision Science, taught by Prof. Rod Franklin. One part of this course was concentrated on Critical Reasoning, where we learned how to objectively analyze any issue we might be presented with and to determine if what is presented to us is logically supported. In the Decision Science part of the course, we learned how to formulate any business problem into a model and to solve it using management science techniques. This was even expanded in another course, Operations Research, taught by Prof. Çerağ Pinçe, where the emphasis was placed on problem modeling.

Course: Global Logistics Networks

The Global Logistics Networks course is a prime example where decisions have a huge impact on business. The first part, Supply Chain Design, taught by Prof. Tobias Meyer, focused on the economic drivers of globalization, selection of production locations and what these decisions mean for our company from the transport point of view. In the second part, Procurement Networks, Prof. Ronald Bogaschewsky taught us ways in which we can coordinate the activities and roles of different members across the supply chain.

Other courses

There were naturally other courses where Decision Making in different domains of business management also played a big role, such as Supply Chain Management (taught by Prof. Stephan Wagner), Transportation and Distribution Systems (taught by Prof. Stefan Spinler) or Strategic Management (taught by Prof. Peter Witt).

Teaching styles

The teaching styles we experienced over the last months were diverse according to each professor, but what they all had in common was their commitment to make us understand the ways in which people have an impact on business success. All the case studies, analysis and problem solving are geared towards making us better at managing, coordinating and planning.

How much have I learnt?

As we move closer to the end of the second trimester, I realize how much we have learnt. If in the first months we were learning to work together, now we are making the most of every class and analyzing everything from our different points of view. The methods we are being taught are useful in real life; can be applied to any field we may choose to work in later, which helps us make valuable decisions in whatever position we may find ourselves in.

I hope that you will make the right decisions, everything else will follow!
Silvia

Master in Global Logistics - Class of 2013
Kuehne Logistics University