Hofer received his Ph.D. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at The University of Maryland. His research focuses on inventory management and firm rivalry in supply chain management. The former research stream mainly deals with inventory leanness and how it relates to firm performance. In the latter stream, his research examines how firms go through cycles of innovation and imitation in terms of operational practices to gain and erode competitive advantage. Hofer’s work has been published in: Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Retailing, International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, Transportation Research Part E, International Journal of Logistics Management, Transportation Journal, Transportation Research Part D and Journal of the Transportation Research Forum.