Skills for the post-COVID era of supply chain management education in South Africa: A review

Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study was to document and review the supply chain management skills that are required for supply chain management education in the post-COVID-19 era.Design/methodology/approach: We opted to use the qualitative method and employed a systematic literature review design. The collected data were analysed by means of content analysis, and each selected article was coded using a qualitative data analysis software known as ATLAS.ti 8.Findings: The identified skills were grouped under eight umbrella dimensions: management; total concept; negotiating; time and diversity management; software knowledge; demand forecasting; transport; and warehousing skills. These skills relate to soft and hard skills.Recommendations/value: In the future, industry experts and academics need to collaborate so as to develop programmes collectively which include business needs that can be adapted into the university curriculum, thereby creating a link between academic and industry learning. Such collaborations will also assist in exploring new ways of working. The value of these findings revealed that these identified skills could be a catalyst for supply chain management practitioners and academicians to focus on a possibility-based approach to understanding the skills required for the post-COVID-19 era.Managerial implications: The shift which the pandemic introduced has altered the pedagogic landscape in terms of the need for more specific and relevant skills. Thus, supply chain educators need to continually develop their skills in order to remain relevant in their field.