Dr. Barry Lawrence

Dr. Barry Lawrence is the Program Coordinator of the Industrial Distribution Program, Director of the Thomas and Joan Read Center for Distribution Research and Education, and Director of the Global Supply Chain Laboratory (GSCL) at Texas A&M University. He is also a Fellow of the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence. Lawrence holds the Leonard and Valerie Bruce Endowed Chair as a Professor in the Industrial Distribution Program at Texas A&M, and he is involved in graduate, undergraduate, and professional continuing education teaching activities; funded research projects; journal publications; and industry presentations. His teaching activities focus on lean distribution, supply-chain management, and optimizing profitability. Lawrence is a frequent speaker for distribution associations and private firms on a wide range of topics, including inventory asset management, best practices, pricing, sales and marketing, and optimizing distributor profitability.

Lawrence has worked on many large industry projects, generating millions of dollars in funding for the university and its students. Some of his major research consortia include Information Systems for Supply Chain Integration, ERP Benchmarking and Standardization, Pricing Optimization, Optimizing Distributor Profitability, Sales and Marketing Optimization, México-Texas Trade Corridor, Optimizing Growth and Market Share, Optimizing Channel Compensation, and Value Added Services. His other important initiatives include the GSCL, Council for Research on Distributor Best Practices, and the Talent Incubator Program.

Lawrence holds a Ph.D. in Information and Operations Management from Texas A&M University, an MBA from Southwest Texas State University, and a BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He has more than 25 years of industry experience in sales and distribution. He has written eight books on distributor competitiveness and is a co-author of four best-selling NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence books: Sales and Marketing Optimization: Developing Competitive Value Propositions in Distribution, Customer Stratification: Best Practices for Boosting Profitability, Optimizing Distributor Profitability: Best Practices to a Stronger Bottom Line, and Pricing Optimization: Striking the Right Balance for Margin Advantage, which detail wholesale distribution best practices, implementation, and return-on-investment.