This section will contain summaries of very interesting books that I have used during my courses. I pretend to develop very much this section; right now I am including a summary of the first chapters of the Martin Christopher's book "Logistics and Supply Chain Management". The book is a complete introduction to supply chain management; it is very easy to read, actual and interesting: A must if you are studying business.

1. Logistics and competitive strategy

• Competitive advantage
  
• Gaining competitive advantage through logistics
  
• The mission of logistics management
  
• The supply chain and competitive performance
  
• The changing logistics environment
  

2. The customer service dimension

• The marketing and logistics interface
  
• What is customer service?
  
• Customer service and customer retention
  
• Service-driven logistics systems
  
• Setting customer service priorities
  
• Setting service standards
  

3. Measuring logistics costs and performance

• The concept of total cost analysis
  
• Principles of logistics costing
  
• Logistics and the bottom line
  
• Logistics and shareholder value
  
• Customer profitability analysis
  
• Direct product profitability
  
• Cost drivers and activity-based costing
  

4. Bench marking the supply chain

• What to benchmark?
  
• Benchmarking the logistics process
  
• Mapping supply chain processes
  
• Supplier and distributor benchmarking
  
• Setting benchmarking priorities
  
• Identifying logistics performance indicators
  

5. Managing the global pipeline

• The trend towards globalization in the supply chain
  
• The challenge of global logistics
  
• Organizing for global logistics
  
• The future
  

6. Strategic lead-time management

• Time-based competition
  
• The concept of lead time
  
• Logistics pipeline management
  
• Logistics value engineering
  
• The lead-time gap
  

7. Just-in-time and `quick response' logistics

• The Japanese philosophy
  
• Implications for logistics
  
• `Quick response' logistics
  
• Vendor managed inventory
  
• Logistics information systems
  
• Logistics systems dynamics
  
• Production strategies for quick response
  

8. Managing the supply chain

• Creating the logistics vision
  
• The problems with conventional organizations
  
• Developing the logistics organization
  
• Logistics as the vehicle for change
  
• The need for integration
  
• Managing the supply chain as a network
  
• Process integration and ECR
  
• Co-makership and logistics partnerships
  
• Supplier development
  

9. Leading-edge logistics

• The new organizational paradigm
  
• Managing the supply chain of the future
  
• The role of information in the virtual supply chain
  
• Making change happen