Dr. Johannes Kern is an Affiliated Professor of Supply Chain Management at Tongji University, China, and General Manager of Xiezhi Consulting. His research focuses on logistics, purchasing, and supply chain management, particularly on buyer-supplier relationships and the digital transformation of logistics. He supports international companies in China to optimize the whole supply chain, including sourcing, transportation, warehousing, and production. Before that he worked in various functions in purchasing and logistics at the Bosch Group in Asia-Pacific where he led teams and managed strategic projects in China, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, and India. Johannes holds master’s degrees from the University of Munich, Germany, Emlyon Business School, France, Aston University, UK, and conducted his Ph.D. studies at Technical University Darmstadt in Germany.