Logistics Continuing Education: “Berufswertigkeit” and the Duisburg Model

Matthias Klumpp¹, Stephan Zelewski², Rolf Dobischat³, Hella Abidi¹, Martin Kowalski², Johannes Reidel^4
(1. Institute for Logistics and Service Management, FOM University of Applied Sciences, 45141 Essen, Germany;
2. Institute of Production and Industrial Information Management, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany;
3. Institute for Vocational and Further Education, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany;
4. Formerly Centre for Responsibility Research, Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities, 45128 Essen, Germany)

Abstract: The increasingly complex models and processes in logistics require more and more knowledge and competences by personnel in industry and retail companies as well as with logistics service providers. Within the largest European research endeavor in logistics, the “EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr”, funded by German logistics companies and the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), several individual research projects address the field of logistics knowledge and education management. Three of them form a close cooperation in order to support the innovative continuing education office “DIALOGistik Duisburg” in Europe’s largest inland port of Duisburg, counselling and supporting all personnel from different logistics companies in the area. Based on an analysis part (“Berufswertigkeit” survey) several content and innovation models were developed addressing intermodal transport, sustainability in logistics as well as case-based reasoning in knowledge management. These are bundled to be disseminated in industry and retail by software tools and consulting services. The 2012 empirical study “Berufswertigkeit” in logistics with 1,068 participants and the subsequent development of a qualifications framework derived from EQF structures open a new field for logistics continuing education. The research results presented here will help researchers and practitioners alike in structuring and defining continuing education gaps and efforts in logistics competence fields.

Key words: case-based reasoning; continuing education; corporate social responsibility; human resource management; logistics

JEL codes: A2, C8, L9, M5