Statement of Objectives

Throughout my major in Industrial Engineering I had the opportunity to acquire valuable experiences in multiple industries that not only enriched my understanding in Supply Chain Management (SCM) but also provoked my interest in pursuing my development on this field. I came to realize that Supply Chains have become more complex and globalized, expanding rapidly over the decades, aiming to gain productivity, lower costs and fulfill demands. Consequently, companies are pushing Supply Chain over its limits and at the same time are increasing more risks.

As stated by Simchi-Levi (2010), “With the increasing level of volatility, the days of static supply chain strategies are over.” This translates into the notion that while some of the best strategies such as lean manufacturing, outsourcing and just-in-time inventory have brought more competitiveness to the business world, they also have introduced new challenges and uncertainties to common occurrences as raw materials price variation, shifting demand or uncontrollable events (i.e. natural disasters). Correspondingly, recent surveys from McKinsey and Delloite have shown that among executives more than 70 percent reported the increase of risk in their companies and emphasized how Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) became extremely important in strategic decision making, but only a minority of companies have implemented adequate methods. That been said, I have observed in the literature that there is still a deficiency of empirical studies in this field that needs to be considered.

Following my graduation in Industrial Engineering, I started my Master in SCM at PUC-RJ, which allowed me to explore in my dissertation the empirical aspects in SCRM for large and complex industries, such as the shipbuilding industry. During this time, I have also concluded the GCLOG certificate at MIT which was crucial to expand the view in my studies. As a result, I have submitted a Paper to Journal Risk and Research as an initial step towards investigating the SCRM techniques, offering academics a novel empirical study as a systematic risk management tool.