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Logistics companies are establishing a series of inhouse universities to increase the skills base of employees and provide a competitive advantage over rivals. The strategy has proved successful in other parts of the world, so can we expect similar results in the Middle East?

In an increasingly competitive logistics industry, the need for highly proficient and qualified workers has never been greater. What remains an issue of contention in the field, however, is the best way to train and equip logistics workers with the skills needed to progress in the logistics world.

Traditional university routes have met with criticism when it comes to these more application-based subjects, with the main compounding factor being the suitability of newly qualified graduates to quickly adapt, and contribute, to the logistics sector working environment.

For this reason, some of the leading logistics companies have taken up the gauntlet themselves, aiming to bridge the gap between theory and application and improve the standards of logistics education, and the industry as a whole.

"Logistics education is a recent phenomenon in the Middle East," admits Professor Philbert Suresh, founder of the Logistics Forum at Gulf University of Science & Technology (GUST).

"A decade ago, the corporations, governments and other stakeholders realised the vital shift of the logistics paradigm into business management. Consequently, it is no longer difficult to see a senior manager at the level of vice president or CEO coming from a logistics background. The function of logistics has today become a boardroom preoccupation."

Suresh himself ran short logistics courses under the banner of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in 2003 and since then, has witnessed a growing realisation of the crucial importance of logistics education in the region.

"The economy has become a knowledge economy where success goes to those who know how to leverage the wealth of the service sector of which logistics is a critical part," he maintains.

"Companies in the region have developed a more complex array of strategic capabilities that allow them to capture the competitive advantages that accrue to efficiency, responsiveness and learning."

As part of this change, Suresh applauds the current trend of logistics companies setting up their own learning centres, viewing it as a positive step forward. For the global shipping, logistics and marine services company, GAC, providing its own logistics learning facility is now a core part of its business strategy. Launched in February last year, the new GAC Corporate Academy (GCA) aims to provide learning opportunities for its employees throughout GAC's global businesses.

Tailored for personnel, a wide range of professional development courses are offered through a combination of predominantly e-learning technology and work-based learning.

"I am a very passionate advocate of e-learning and if done correctly, we can really make the learning experience very dynamic for people," enthuses Damien O'Donoghue, general manager of GCA.

The academy plans to gradually introduce more workshop type courses, to cover interactive subjects such as presentation skills, strategic management and the more advanced creative processes.

The investment behind the academy comes down to human resource development - how to harness the potential of personnel to the maximum effect for the good of the business overall.

At present, GAC employs around 7000 people around the world. This is expected to grow to 10,000 within the next three years. Alongside the growth of the company, the academy is also expected to grow at an impressive rate.

"In terms of global coverage, we are just starting," says O'Donoghue. "By the end of 2009, we plan to offer a complete range of programmes specific to our four core business areas, which are shipping, logistics, marine and solutions."

With such an impressive specification, the aim of the academy is to fulfil the perceived gap between the traditional educational route and the logistics industry itself.

"The difference that we want to create is very much process oriented learning where the participants take an active part of the learning, and where they are constructing knowledge in a context that is relevant to them, which is very different to the way universities do it today," explains O'Donoghue.

"We want people to learn about leadership through a GAC context. We want people to learn about freight forwarding through a GAC context. So we are not wasting any of
the knowledge being generated."

In other words, for GAC, it's all about providing a learning opportunity in a working context - in order to repay the investment back into the core business itself.

Tailor-made logistics learning also provides more flexibility for a global company, which employs over 40 different cultures and nationalities in terms of the differing learning styles.

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