Supply Chain Management

BUS 174a

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

COURSE SYLLABUS

Spring 2016

Class Hours: TBD

Location: TBD

Anita L. Tucker, DBA

Associate Professor of Operations Management

Office Hours: TBD

I am happy to meet with you at your convenience, just send me an email request.

Sachar 215

781-736-8542 (office phone)

Revision date September 26, 2015

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

Overview

As studies of Dell, Apple, Zara and Wal-Mart have shown, well-run supply chains create competitive advantages for firms. The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals defines supply chain management as all of the activities related to planning and managing the sourcing of materials, converting those materials into finished goods and services, and transporting those materials and goods to customers. Successful supply chain management requires coordination and collaboration among internal functions (e.g. marketing, product design, sales, finance, operations) and channel partners (e.g. suppliers, third-party service providers, customers).

In this class, we will learn how to optimize supply chain processes so that they achieve a company’s strategic goals. The course is organized into the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model of supply chains, which is Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, and Return. By the end of the course, you should understand the basic activities in an organization’s supply chain, such as planning, the selection of suppliers, negotiations and coordination with suppliers, production and inventory decisions, and logistics. You will learn how to use analytical tools and conceptual frameworks to make effective decisions about supply chains, and understand the major strategic issues and trade-offs that arise in supply chain management.

This course is designed for undergraduate business students who would like to pursue a career in consulting or take a position in operations, marketing or finance functions in a manufacturing, retail or distribution firm.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course you should be able to:

1. Understand the key drivers of supply chain performance.

2. Describe the main supply chain processes and how they link to an organization’s competitive advantage in its industry.

3. Analyze supply chain-related data to diagnosis problems and develop solutions to optimize performance.

4. Articulate and select among a variety of strategies that reduce supply chain costs or increase responsiveness.

Teaching Methods

The focus of the course will be on learning and applying fundamental principles and techniques for managing supply chains. In our classes, we will use a variety of formats to deepen our understanding including lectures, case study discussions, hands on exercises and simulations. We will apply what we learned in homework assignments, case write ups and exams.

Course Prerequisite:

Students should have taken Bus 172a, Operations Management.

Workload Expectation:

You are expected to spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for classes (readings, paper, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.).

Materials

Textbook. The following books are required for the course, and may be purchased from the Brandeis bookstore, Amazon.com or any other bookseller that carry them.

·  Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning and Operation, 5th edition (2012) by Sunil Chopra and Peter Meindl, ISBN 9780132743952, Publisher: Pearson. I will refer to this textbook as “CM”. To save money, you may purchase the 4th edition of the textbook, but check to make sure you are doing the right homework problems and readings.

·  Supply Chain and Logistics Management Made Easy: Methods and Applications for Planning, Operations and Integration, 1st edition (2015) by Paul Myerson, ISBN 978-0133993349, Publisher: Pearson. I will refer to this book as “Myerson”.

·  Getting to Yes, updated edition (2011) by Roger Fisher and William Ury, ISBN 978-0143118756, Publisher: Penguin Book.

Case Materials:

The case materials for the first week of class are available from the course pack link below. Each student should purchase his or her own materials. I have separated out these materials to make it cheaper for students to be able to participate in our class discussions, particular students who are uncertain about whether or not they are going to enroll in the course.

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/41146491

The remaining cases for the rest of the semester are available from the link below. Every student should purchase these materials once they have determined they are going to take the course.

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/41345595

Finally, you will be doing the Global Supply Chain Simulation in groups of three. The coursepack link for the simulation is below. You may decide to purchase only one copy for your team ($15) and split the costs among the three of you. Alternatively, if you want to be able to play around with the simulation software on your own, you might wish to purchase your own copy.

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/41321161

Resources:

There are many excellent sources of further information about supply chains.

·  API is the premier association (over 43,000 members) of supply chain and operations management professionals. As a full-time student, you can join, for free! APICS runs conferences, provides educational seminars, has a website with job postings for members, and offers a certification exam to become a Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP). You are eligible to take the exam when you have your undergraduate degree. After two years of supply-chain work experience, you are qualified to take the exam for Certification in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM). You will notice that many job posting related to supply chain say that they prefer CSCP/CPIM.

http://www.apics.org/community/membership/benefits/student-membership

·  CSCMP: Another professional supply chain organization is the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), which boasts 9,000 members worldwide.

https://cscmp.org.

Student membership is $40/ year. Members can view job postings on their website. They have helpful career website www.careersinsupplychain.org. Job titles for people with 0-4 years of experience include consultant, customer service manager, fulfillment manager, and supply chain analyst. CSCMP also has a certification program SCPro™, which has three levels. People with a bachelor’s degree can eligible to take the Level One exam. Finally, CSCMP offers educational seminars, publications, and an annual conference.

Grading:

Grades are based on the following components:

Class Participation / 20%
Homework/ Assignments (4) / 16%
Performance on the Global Supply Chain Simulation / 15%
Exam / 24%
Paper / 25% (20% paper, 5% presentation)
Total / 100%

Class Participation Class participation is determined by your preparation and active engagement during class. Class attendance is required. Please be courteous to your fellow students by arriving on time and refraining from leaving in the middle of class. If you are unable to attend class, please let me know in advance, if possible. You will not be penalized for one absence, but absences beyond that will hurt your grade.

For case discussions, you are expected to actively listen, respond to questions, express your viewpoints, and respond to comments from your fellow students. I will keep a record of class participation for each student and assign a grade based on the quality of your in-class comments. One or two high quality comments during class is preferred over frequent, low-quality participation. Participation is necessary, as attendance without participation will result in a C participation grade (assuming there are no more than the allowed number of absences). High quality (e.g., contributing analysis, synthesis) participation for most classes will be an A. Consistent, although not always breakthrough participation will be a B. Extra weight will be given to participation during classes which are case study discussions. Around the middle of the semester, I will provide each student with individual written feedback on participation, and encourage you to meet with me after receiving this feedback to discuss your participation.

Homework/Assignments

Homework is graded and points assigned based on showing your work, effort, and the correctness of that work. Assignments will be handed in through Latte. Your submission must be your own, but you may work with other students to discuss the homework.

Simulation

Global Supply Chain: As a capstone experience for the class, we will play the global supply chain simulation game. This interactive online simulation allows students to try their hands at managing the complexities of a global supply chain by putting them in the shoes of the supply chain manager of a mobile phone manufacturer. The game is developed to simulate the more complex (thus more realistic) decision setting. You will be working in a group of three to do the simulation. It is a difficult simulation, so please make sure you do the preparation analysis. To reward those who put in the effort, your team’s performance on the simulation will count toward your grade, and your individual grade on the simulation will be determined in part by your team members’ ratings of your contribution to the team’s efforts.

Exam

For the exam, you should create and bring with you a double-sided sheet of paper with formulas and notes for your use during the exam. You should bring a calculator to the exam. Other books, notes, or electronic devices (e.g. smart phones) are not allowed. To do well in the class, you will need to work through all of the relevant end-of-chapter problems until you are able to get them right. Please note that only doing the assigned homework problems is insufficient preparation for the exams. The homework problems are simply meant to check that you can work through at least one variant of the problems we discuss in class. However, as there are so many different variants of the problems, in order to be sure that you will be fast enough and versatile enough to solve these problems during the limited exam time, you should work through all of the end-of-chapter problems.

Paper

You will work in a group of three students to write one paper on a supply chain topic. The paper is due at the end of the semester. Your group will have 10 minutes to present the main findings of your paper to the class during the last two class sessions. Note the project proposal will be due in class 6. Please write no more than two pages as your proposal. Your individual grade on the paper will be influenced by your team members’ rating of your contribution to the effort.

Possible topics for the paper include: to analyze an existing logistics process and suggest any improvements that need to be made, or to study a supply chain research topic such as supply chain analysis of private branding at big box retailers, RFID and smart supply chain (Internet of Things, IoT), analysis of a real supply chain, your own ranking of the best supply chain in the world, or e-business trends in 21st century, etc. Examples include:

• To investigate the supply chain impact of one of the following emerging technologies: drones, finger printing technology of smart phone, self-driving vehicle technology, and big data

• An in-depth study of the distribution system and store deliveries at McDonalds or any other firm

• A design of a logistics system for a manufacturer of refrigeration equipment or any other goods

• A comprehensive analysis of the battle between e-business and traditional stores

• Empirical study on what supply chain management skills employers want

• A consulting type of project focusing on solving real supply chain issues

The project report should not be a detailed description of everything you have done/researched, but a specific set of observations, insights, and recommendations, together with supporting evidences. It should begin with an executive summary no longer than 250 words. If you study a real supply chain process, the following general guidelines can be used:

1. Executive summary

2. Define the process and the context (business unit) in which it operates.

3. What is the strategy / market of the business unit?

4. What does this imply in terms of the logistics process you are studying? What must this process be able to do particularly well in terms of cost, time, quality, and flexibility? The headings mentioned here are broad. You are expected to identify specific dimensions along which the process is expected to do particularly well.

5. Describe the current process structure in terms of information, inventory, transportation, and location.

6. Discuss the process capabilities, given the current structure, in terms of the specific dimensions identified by you in 4.

7. Discuss existing problems and weaknesses in the current process. What additional capabilities does the process need to develop?

8. How should the process be restructured to develop these capabilities? Discuss why the changes suggested by you will have the desired effect along the key dimensions identified by you.

9. Discuss how the suggested changes should be implemented with a time line. Explain any resistance you may face in implementing the changes.

Please note that these are general guidelines. I am not looking for a project report with nine points in the sequence listed above. Please feel free to add to or alter the above list as best fits your project.

Communication

Always refer to Latte for the most up-to-date class schedule, as well as for posting of course slides and class announcements. Assignments should also be submitted on Latte unless otherwise instructed. Email usually is the best way to reach me besides coming to my office hours.

Special Accommodation

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.

Academic Integrity

Academic honesty: You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. I consider submitting other’s work as your own to be a serious violation of personal honesty and the academic ideal that binds the university into a learning community. This includes submission of any of the following:
• material copied from a published source: print, Internet, CD-ROM, audio, video, etc. (This includes online solutions that may be available for the textbook’s problems and case-lets).
• another person's unpublished work or examination material
• a rewritten or paraphrased version of another person's work without proper citation
• allowing another or paying another to write or research a paper for one's own benefit
• purchasing, acquiring, and using for course credit a pre-written paper
Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS - Library guides.
Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University. You are encouraged to discuss problems with classmates on two conditions: (1) you cite the contributions of others clearly, (2) you write up the assignment on your own, alone! The use of case solution and homework solutions from previous students or found on the internet is strictly forbidden; I consider it as an act of cheating and plagiarism. Please be on time for class, prepared to participate, and with laptops and cell phones away. Professionalism in class elevates the quality of the experience for all.

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