Challenge for Excellence Chair in Supply Chain Management
College of Business
Richard N. Germain, Ph.D., is professor of marketing in the College of Business and the Associate Director of the Logistics and Distribution Institute. His research interests center on the management of supply chains and business logistics.
Germain is involved in several ongoing studies. One examines the precursors and outcomes of supply-chain collaboration, a process that entails the sharing of sensitive information across firms. His research seeks to establish a link between supply-chain collaboration and performance, including market share, profitability and logistical performance in terms of inventory levels and availability. It also seeks to understand whether specific conditions affect a firm's ability to leverage performance gains from adopting supply-chain collaboration.
Another of his projects focuses on supply-chain knowledge management, which plays an important role in determining organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The research examines knowledge management in the United States and in state-owned enterprises in the People's Republic of China. He also conducts research in international business and marketing history.
Germain is on the Executive Board of the Louisville Logistics Network, a Greater Louisville, Inc. special interest network, and chairs the organization's research and public policy committee.
Germain has earned many awards for teaching and research. He also is the author of several books on marketing and logistics and has published more than 50 peer reviewed articles in scholarly journals. He has been a presenter at numerous conferences and is a member of the American Marketing Association and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Business Logistics and the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management.
Before coming to U of L Germain was on the faculty at Oklahoma State University. He also has worked in freight forward and customs brokerage industries. Germain earned his bachelor's degree at Concordia University and his master's from McGill University, both in Montreal. He earned a doctorate from Michigan State.