Whitman School honors Nike at 59th Salzberg Program

Whitman School honors Nike at 59th Salzberg ProgramSeptember 22, 2008Amy Schmitzaemehrin@syr.edu

The Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University will host the 59th anniversary of the Harry E. Salzberg Memorial Program on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 2:30 p.m. in Lender Auditorium in the Whitman School building. Each year, the Salzberg program celebrates achievements in supply chain management; this year’s recipient of the Salzberg Medallion is Nike, the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes, apparel and sports equipment.

Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports and renamed Nike Inc. in 1972, the company has demonstrated leadership and innovation in the areas of supply chain management using a highly efficient network of outsourced factory partners and efforts in corporate responsibility. Nike has also excelled in demand management, working to support the company’s world-class demand creation model. Nike employed these practices long before other global companies recognized the strategic advantage of driving supply chain innovation in conjunction with product, demand creation and corporate responsibility strategies. These innovative strategies have forced many companies to redefine their core competencies and shifted the emphasis of supply chain from the back room to the boardroom.

“Each year, the Whitman School is honored to present an eminent person or company from the field of supply chain with the Salzberg Medallion,” says Melvin T. Stith, dean of the Whitman School of Management. “This year, we honor the quintessential company in supply chain management excellence-Nike. Nike exemplifies the best about supply chain management practices, and we are so pleased that our students have the opportunity to learn from the best of the best during the 59th anniversary of the Salzberg program.”

Accepting the award on behalf of Nike is John Springer ’79, chief operating officer of Nike Golf. He will offer a lecture titled “NIKE, Inc.: Driven by Innovation and Inspiration.” Following his keynote address, the Salzberg program will include a panel discussion on “Dealing with Supply Chain Complexity,” including discussants Tim Archer from Accenture and Nick Pinchuk from Snap-On. The panel discussion will be moderated by Jeffrey Karrenbauer, president and founding director of Insight Inc. In addition, the presentation of the Zinszmeister Award will be made to Whitman senior Matthew Agnello.

The 59th Annual Salzberg Memorial Program will kick off with a Supply Chain Career Fair, starting at 9:30 a.m. in the Flaum Grand Hall in the Whitman School building. More than 40 companies are scheduled to attend; the Supply Chain Career Fair is open to all students interested in careers in supply chain management.

For more information, contact Shannon Hiemstra at (315) 443-3549 or srhiemst@syr.edu.