David J. Closs is the John H. McConnell Chair Emeritus of Business Administration and former Chairperson in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. He received his Ph.D. in marketing and logistics from Michigan State. Dr. Closs is the author and coauthor of many books and publications in journals, proceedings, and industry reports. He was also a principal researcher for World Class Logistics: The Challenge of Managing Continuous Change and 21st Century Logistics: Making Supply Chain Integration a Reality. Dr. Closs is a frequent speaker at industry and academic conferences and presenter at executive education programs throughout the world. Dr. Closs formerly served as the editor of the Journal of Business Logistics. M. Bixby Cooper is an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. He is coauthor of three texts on distribution and logistics, including World Class Logistics: The Challenge of Managing Continuous Change and Strategic Marketing Channel Management. He is also coauthor of Managing Operations Across the Supply Chain published by McGraw Hill. He served for four years on the Executive Board of the International Customer Service Association as head of the Research and Education Committee.