A new educational alliance between the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, has produced three highly specialized educational sessions for the association's Global Education Conference, to be held in Washington, D.C,. 18-20 May 2008. According to Executive Director Susan Gurley, this level of professional education is but one of several enhancements built into the conference to mark ACTE's 20th Anniversary as a travel management industry innovator.

"ACTE chose to partner with Georgetown's McDonough School of Business because their mission is so closely aligned with that of ours — to provide an educational platform for executives of global organizations which leads to success across the enterprise and results in professional growth," Gurley said.  "Once ACTE recognized the increased focus on procurement discipline and supply chain management in the corporate travel industry, we felt it was necessary to reach out beyond our own collective wisdom to an institution which has a long history of executive education, like Georgetown's McDonough School of Business, to share its research-based knowledge."

"Georgetown's McDonough School of Business is excited about collaborating with ACTE, particularly at a time when the travel industry is undergoing such tumultuous change," Gordon Swartz, Associate Dean, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, said. "The consolidation of travel industry suppliers through mergers and acquisitions has far reaching implications on supply chain management, and ACTE is committed to ensuring their members are well educated on the risks presented. Georgetown is now pleased to be part of the education team at the 2008 Washington, D.C. Global Education Conference."
 
The three educational sessions will be conducted by Professor Ricardo Ernst, Ph.D., McDonough School of Business. Ernst holds an MBA from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración in Venezuela. He received an MA degree and his Ph.D. in Operations Management from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is currently the co-director of the Global Logistics Research Program at Georgetown University School of Business.

Slated for Tuesday, 20 May 2008, the sessions focus on supply chain strategies as they relate to financial performance, business competitiveness and demand management.

The first, titled "What the CEO Really Wants From Supply Chain Strategies," covers translating the overriding strategy and interest of top management, to operational focus on supply chain strategies and financial performance, and overall business competitiveness. Attendees will learn how to map popular initiatives in demand management, sourcing and logistics around key deliverables for the corporate strategy.

"Supply Chain Drivers of Financial Performance and Competitiveness" will map the connection between supply chain strategies and financial performance, and overall business competitiveness. Attendees will understand how to map popular initiatives in demand management and sourcing around key deliverables for the corporate strategy.

The third session in the series, "Alignment of Supply Chain Metrics and Business Impact Metrics," is for corporate buyers only, with enrollment limited to 60.  This session is based on the premise that operational supply chain metrics are typically structured around four types of indicators: financial, productivity, quality and velocity metrics. Attendees will discuss this framework within the sphere of service spend and how to link operational metrics to financial indicators via benchmarking and revenue-savings calculators.

ACTE leadership has been predicting that various market influences, coupled with the potential of a strong recession, will play a major role in shaping the immediate future of the business travel profession. In an effort to prepare its membership for the global changes to follow, the ACTE Washington conference agenda lists world renowned economist Dr. Kjell Nordstrom, diplomat Ambassador John Bruton, and President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) Marion C. Blakey, as keynote speakers. Twenty-six educational sessions – covering advanced business travel management techniques, corporate social responsibility, security, privacy, and burgeoning new markets – make this conference a significant travel industry event.