Revised edition of the authors' Global logistics and supply chain management, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface
Semper Discens-Always Learning
We are delighted to present the fourth edition of our textbook which builds upon our first edition(published in 2008), second edition (published in 2012) and third edition (published in 2016)and to welcome Dr Agustina Calatayud to the author team. We acknowledge the contributionsof Dr Tim Butcher (University of Tasmania)who was co-author on the first and second editionsand Dr Roya Javadpour (California Polytechnic State University) who was also co-author on thesecond edition.We acknowledge too the contributions of the following colleagues who pro-vided various chapters in previous editions:Dr Peter Baker, Professor Chuda Basnet,ProfessorPaul Childerhouse, Mr Noel McGlynn, Mr Martin Murphy, Dr Helen Peck, Professor ShamsRahman, Dr Risto Talas and Professor Mike Tayles.This book traces its origins to the Universityof Hull Logistics Institute in the UK where Mangan, Lalwani and Butcher worked togetherbetween 2005 and 2008. It was during this time that we recognised the need for this textbookwhich we are glad to say has been very well received by students, practitioners and lecturers.Inthis fourth edition,we have endeavoured to again produce a comprehensive book with the fol-lowing key characteristics:
·Be concise- logistics is a very pragmatic subject, and it has been our intentionthroughout to 'stick to the point'. We hope that you, the reader, will appreciate this.Notwithstanding such intended brevity, we have endeavoured to cover both practical andstrategic aspects of the subject matter.The book is neither a 'how to' cook book, nor is ita high-level strategy book with little relevance to practice. The aim of the book is toconvey to both advanced students and practitioners the diverse operational and strategiccontent of the subjects of logistics and supply chain management.
·Truly global,up-to-date perspective-the world is changing daily, and the typical'Western' worldview no longer dominates. As we will see in the book, logistics is a keydriver of globalisation and a facilitator of international trade and development. We havethus endeavoured to reflect these characteristics by adopting a truly global perspectiveand hope that the book will appeal to students regardless of where they are located.Thecontext of logistics is constantly shaped by emerging trends and new technologies,andwe have tried to ensure that the book is as up to date as possible and takes cognisance ofthese trends and technologies. As we note above semper discens- we too are alwayslearning in this fascinating and fast moving subject.
Sadly,despite much progress, today's world still contains many divisions,conflicts,tensions and inequalities.We have attempted to be aware of these while fully embracinga neutral and non-political perspective.