Learn Russian: Сам директор изучает логистику в связи со сбоем. - The director himself is studying the logistics due to the disruption.

The compound preposition в связи с requires the Instrumental case, so сбой (glitch or disruption) becomes сбоем. Because сбой begins with the consonant cluster сб-, the preposition с adds an 'о' and becomes со to make pronunciation easier.

Could we just use из-за here instead of в связи с?

Yes, but it changes the tone. В связи с (due to / in connection with) is slightly more formal and frequently used in business, news, and official contexts. Using из-за сбоя (because of the disruption) is grammatically correct but sounds more casual, whereas a director dealing with logistics perfectly fits the professional tone of в связи с.

Why do we use сам директор instead of себя or самый?

Сам is an emphatic pronoun used to stress that the director himself (personally) is doing it, rather than delegating it. Себя is a reflexive pronoun (used when the action reflects back onto the subject), and самый is mostly used for superlatives (the most) or to pinpoint an exact noun (that very one).

Why does изучает take the direct object логистику without a preposition, unlike the English phrase 'is looking into'?