Book excerpt: Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management is a comprehensive, fully up-to-date introduction to the subject. Addressing both practical and strategic perspectives, this revised and updated fourth edition offers readers a balanced and integrated presentation of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM)concepts, practices, technologies, and applications. Contributions from experts in specific areas of LSCM provide readers with real-world insights on supply chain relationships, transport security, inventory management, supply chain designs, the challenges inherent to globalization and international trade, and more. The text examines how information, materials, products, and services flow across the public and private sectors and around the world. Detailed case studies highlight LSCM practices and strategies in a wide range of contexts, from humanitarian aid and pharmaceutical supply chains to semi-automated distribution centers and port and air cargo logistics. Examples of LSCM in global corporations such as Dell Computer and Jaguar Land Rover highlight the role of new and emerging technologies. This edition features new and expanded discussion of contemporary topics including sustainability, supply chain vulnerability, and reverse logistics, and places greater emphasis on operations management.