"Home Alone: New Normal in Supply Chains": The 15th annual Supply Chain Leaders Forum at CBS
On 17 September 2026, around 300 participants gathered at Copenhagen Business School for the 15th annual Supply Chain Leaders Forum (SCLF) under the theme "Home Alone: New Normal in Supply Chains".
Supply chains in a new geopolitical reality
The forum brought together researchers, students and supply chain professionals to discuss how geopolitical disruptions are reshaping global supply chains.
As global trade faces increasing uncertainty, companies can no longer take the conditions that have underpinned international supply chains for granted. The title was chosen deliberately: with tariff wars, export restrictions on critical materials and growing pressure on key trade routes, European companies risk finding themselves “home alone” as the safety nets of global cooperation fall away. At the forum, researchers and practitioners shared insights into how organisations are responding to changing dependencies, increasing fragmentation and the need for greater resilience.
Bringing research and practice together
The programme combined research perspectives with insights from industry and presentations of student projects. Together, these contributions highlighted the complex challenges facing supply chains today, and the importance of bringing different perspectives together to understand and address them.
For students, the forum offered an opportunity to engage directly with supply chain leaders and gain insight into the challenges they will encounter in their future careers. For practitioners, it provided access to new research and perspectives from the next generation of supply chain professionals.
“This was the 15th time we have run the forum, and year after year it proves the same point: put students, the supply chain executives of tomorrow, in the same room as today's supply chain leaders and researchers, and something happens that none of us could create alone,” says Professor Kim Sundtoft Hald, Department of Operations Management, CBS, co-founder and chair of SCLF.
15 years of the Supply Chain Leaders Forum
The 2026 forum marked the 15th edition of SCLF. Since its establishment, the forum has provided a platform for dialogue between academia and industry on the challenges and opportunities shaping supply chains.
This year’s discussions reflected a supply chain landscape in transition, where geopolitical developments, shifting dependencies and questions of resilience are increasingly influencing how companies design and manage their supply chains.
CBS would like to thank this year’s speakers, student presenters, partners and participants, and looks forward to welcoming everyone again at next year’s forum.
About the Supply Chain Leaders Forum
The Supply Chain Leaders Forum is an annual event at Copenhagen Business School that brings together supply chain researchers, students and industry professionals to exchange knowledge, discuss current challenges and explore the future of supply chain management. The forum is organised in collaboration with DTU, IDA Supply Chain and AAASCM.
