Course Title: GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES

I. TO THE STUDENT:

The main objective of this course plan, the syllabus, is to assist student, the student, in preparing the student before coming to a class presentation, in being able to follow a lecture and participate in class, and in doing the adequate work after class.  Student will be required to participate in a variety of formal and informal, graded and ungraded assignments, found in and out of the classroom that allow student to understand the basic theory behind supply chain management and the quantitative skills used to make decisions in operations related to global supply chains. These assignments will prepare for more formal, graded assignments where students are evaluated on their mastery of these skills.

That is the reason, that the instructor has prepared this syllabus with as much detail as possible. It is actually a tool that will enable student to get the most out of this course.

II. COURSE DESCRIPTION:

SCM (supply chain management) represents a philosophy of doing business that stresses an in-depth understanding of processes and integration.  Businesses typically compete via their proper management of their supply chains, which are increasingly becoming more global in nature.  The course offers a managerial guide to the concepts, processes, and strategies used in the development and management of global supply chains.  Supply-chain management (SCM) is a systems approach to managing the entire flow of information, materials, and services from raw material suppliers through factories and warehouses to the final end-customer.  Specific topics include global supply chain management, strategies, procurement, electronic commerce, information technologies, and logistics activities.  This course will be taught through the use of textbook materials, outside readings, and case analysis.

III. COURSE BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE:

It is hoped that this course should provide students with a practical, stimulating learning experience on strategic insights and tactical skills for designing and improving global supply chains, with an emphasis on problem-solving skills and global perspectives.  Since SCM involves the flows of materials and information among all of the firms that contribute value to a product, from the source of raw materials to end customers, it is important that competitive businesses send considerable time and resources in understanding the various elements of SCM.  These SCM elements have a relatively rich history of practice in marketing, logistics, and operations management.  The course is an attempt to integrate these different perspectives to develop a broad understanding of how to manage a global supply chain.  The most important concepts, methods, and techniques of managing global supply chains will be discussed in the course using examples, cases, numerical illustrations and problems.  Hopefully, by the end of the course, the student should have developed an appreciation for the challenges in managing a global supply chain and the ability to apply analytical tools and conceptual frameworks for solving real supply chain problems.

Part of the operations management (OM) goals within the course is to discuss the concern the human resources function and their apparent role in defining and using appropriate terminology to describe a particular job design to attract candidates possessing the necessary skills for which the hiring company is wishing to add to their workforce.  Rossetti and Dooley (2010) have identified that there are many variants of job types and definitions used within the SCM field between the academic community and the manner in which the SCM field is perceived in practice.  If the practice of SCM is comprised of the three functions of sourcing, operations, and logistics, then the resonance among the functions would be evident in the job postings in SCM.  Rossetti and Dooley concluded that SCM is somehow different from the other job types. And as a result their analysis support the conclusion that SCM is not comprised of a more diverse set of responsibilities than the other three job types but that each of the job categories overlapped with one another depending on the specific position that the hiring firm was looking to fulfill.  Hence, the field of SCM is neither an independent activity nor is it a combination of sourcing, operations, and logistics activities but rather the entire field is comprised of three different and distinct job types: sourcing, operations consultant, and supply chain information management.  The focus of SCM appears to be on process analysis and management activities, which could have implications for the way in which academic institutions address and approach the field of SCM. Even after much acceptance and active practice of SCM in the business world, one thing is clear, that SCM is not easily defined in concept or in practice and additional work should be done on how companies are organizing and practicing within the discipline of SCM.

Many authors of textbooks have traditionally defined SCM as “Management activities that procure materials and services, transforming them into intermediate goods and final products, and delivering the products through a distribution system” (Heizer, 2008, p. 434). This describes a very important element of the way modern day business is conducted. It is interesting, in fact, that over the course of only ten years, the authors, Rossetti and Dooley, identified eleven significant variants of the definition of supply chain management. Clearly, this is an important area of business operations and therefore presents relevance in the need to further examine and study the field in both an academic setting as well as from a practitioner perspective.

This course is designed to deal with those changes within a global context and deal directly with the apparent disconnect that should be resolved between the perspectives of how the academic and the practicing worlds view the field of SCM.

Ultimately, the main program objective of this course is to enable students to become better managers, particularly if they find themselves working in either service and/or operations management.  A sizable part of the U.S. and international work force is employed in operations related jobs.  These jobs are important and challenging, and they can lead to rewarding and successful careers.  To achieve this objective, several goals were established and are presented in part IV.

IV. COURSE GOALS:

At the conclusion of the course the student should be able to comprehend, understand, and apply the following objectives tied to a graduate course in global supply chains and its effective management:

1.                  Comprehend, understand, and apply how to use the general concepts of process mapping and analysis.

2.                  Comprehend and understand the general concepts of SCM as applied in effective operating environments.

3.                  Comprehend and understand the processes involved in SCM.

4.                  Comprehend, understand, and to apply how to develop and manage efficient and effective global supply chains.

5.                  Comprehend and understand how technology and information systems work as enablers to provide leverage in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

6.                  Comprehend and understand how to develop decision-making skills using application-centric cases and exercises.

V. METHODS AND GRADING:

Teamwork:

In general, whether this course is offered face-to-face or online, to maximize learning, everyone is strongly encouraged to work in a study group or to engage in teamwork activities.  To maximize learning, everyone is strongly encouraged to work in a study group of no less that three, but no more than six students.  Please form groups in our first meeting and turn in the group list directly to the instructor.  Group members are encouraged to engage in class activities as a cohort group throughout the semester.  Please note that most of the required class work in this course can be completed in groups (except for the written midterm or final exam, depending on the course structure). Every team member is expected to make contributions on an equal basis.  Please note that peer evaluations will be conducted at the end of the semester and course points will be deducted for less than individual optimal work efforts.

Homework:

To facilitate student understanding on some of the analytical tools that we will be learning, there will be several homework (workout) problems for some classes.  Homework is individual-based and appropriately graded and credit given. 

Short-Answer Threaded Discussions (6 postings and 2 required replies) based on Readings and Case Studies:

Assorted articles, cases and videos from a variety of sources including Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, which are devoted to global supply chains (GSC) and SCM will be made available for review and comment via the group.  Please note that all articles will be posted on the course’s website.

Group Presentation:

Students will prepare and present a narrated PowerPoint slideshow lasting appropriately 10 to 15 minutes on topics related to GSC management. All topics will cover around 10 to 15 narrated PowerPoint slides (without any embedded videos) within the allotted time period.  All presentations must capture at least three to four advantages and disadvantages (each) of a particular topic and provide managerial recommendations at the end.

Please note that tutorials for narrated presentations can be found at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/CH006350068.aspx or http://www.studenttube.com/watch?v=QZp3jumnWUg.

A narrated presentation is a great training tool and students can use them in their own organizations and reduce variances in delivery and focus.  The following are suggested topics for narrated PowerPoint slideshows, although they are not limited to such topics:

1.      RFID in GSC: Problems, Prospects and Decisions

2.      Practicing Six-Sigma in GSC: Problems, Prospects and Decisions

3.      GSC Security and Risk Management: Problems, Prospects and Decisions

4.      Impact of Environmental Mandates on GSC: Problems, Prospects and Decisions

5.      Information Management in GSC: Problems, Prospects and Decisions

6.      Integration and ERP Systems in GSC: Problems, Prospects and Decisions

7.      Risk versus Uncertainty in GSC: Problems, Prospects and Decisions.

GRADED COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Global supply chain management and sustainability strategies occupy a unique role in the School of Business curriculum at KSU.  First, there are only 5 online weekly class sessions (with an extra week or so before grades are due).  Traditionally, most of these sessions will be led by students and augmented by your own individual work effects.  Lecture and homework will play a minor role in the traditional sense, but within the online format, extremely minor.  Secondly, a major part of the course is essentially an independent study mini-course. Creating an individual white paper is a demanding project, but you will have help in terms of literature assignments and peer-review evaluations that can be directly used in your project.  Students will develop one comprehensive white paper on a selected topic in global supply chain management and sustainability strategies within an e-commerce environment, which synthesizes the current state of practitioner literature using between 10 and 15 citations. The audience for this white paper is the executive decision-maker. The second requirement is to complete two peer-reviews of other projects under completion in the class.  Although this may seem difficult as the course is offered in an online format, being able to critically help other researchers in the class will prove to be a benefit in the writing of your white paper; regardless if the papers you review are on the same topic.  It is important that you have a theoretical framework derived from the business literature that focuses on specific aspects of your topic. That is why you will receive help on your research project, not only from the instructor, but from 2 fellow students that you select that will perform a peer-review process that will critically assess your progress and help make useful recommendations in order for you to complete your individual term project.  Other requirements include threaded discussions and literature review assignments.  There are numerous examples under Course Documents and Course Assignments folders in Blackboard.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS COURSE:

Each student will create a comprehensive white paper on a topic as part of your experience in this course (50% of your course grade). 

TOTAL 100 points

2.  A minimum 2-page peer evaluation of a fellow student’s project.  There are 2 of these reports required, so help each other and I expect that these comments will be incorporated directly in the final paper. (10% total, 5% each)

3. A total of 4 literature sets required in the course to acquire students to the business and academic literature in the field of Global supply chain management and sustainability strategies/E-commerce.  The last three sets will be of articles that you chose and directed related to your topic for the individual course project. (20%)

4.  A series of 6 weekly threaded discussion/assignments. (15%)

5.  Presentation of final project and related participation. (5%)     

Creating your global supply chain management and sustainability strategies/e-commerce topic:

Each student enrolled in this course will create a research project on a current topic for this course, with the final approve of your instructor.  What kind of topic should you pick?  One that:

1.      You care passionately about. If you truly enjoy the topic you have picked, it will be fun for you to spend time reading, thinking and writing about it.  Otherwise, this assignment will be drudgery.  Ideally, you should find your topic so interesting that you would be reading about it in your spare time.  It so happens that you can probably learn more about it and earn course credit for something that you take pleasure in doing.  Hot topics include P2P leading, virtual communities, social networking, medical self-help, industrial marketing, and mobile technologies, to name a few as related to global supply chain management and sustainability strategies.

2.      You have mastered or are committed to mastering.  The course plan is to provide you with a global forum for conveying your expertise on the topic you choose.

3.      Lies at the cutting edge of business thinking and is consistent with your career positioning. If your groupware topic is generic or if it has little to do with your career direction, it would not create as much value for you as it should.

The target audience for your global supply chain/e-commerce project will be busy executives, like yourself, who need to absorb and stay on top of cutting edge business topics as efficiently as possible.  You will attract a large global audience if the topic you pick is truly important to a variety of managers. Your core audience is someone who has just received an assignment that requires him or her to learn about your topic in a hurry.  If your topic is too narrow or too specialized, few will take an interest in it.  If it does not address an important problem area, it won't attract the attention of groupware readers.

What is the process for creating your groupware topic?

1. Pick a topic and submit it to me in writing via Blackboard. I will work with you to ensure that your topic is well positioned for the groupware audience.

2. Read via literature reviews, textbook, and other peer reviewed articles, other than non-peer reviewed periodicals. This will help guide you into topic areas that are of particular interest to business executives. Treat these readings as qualitative data that point to areas of interest. Do not simply restate these readings. Project the effects of change, come to conclusions. Support these conclusions with interviews with movers and shakers in the topic area.

3. Search both the printed literature using ProQuest Direct available on line through KSU website and the World Wide Web itself for articles and sites relating to your topic. Select as many as you think you need to read to get a handle on the current thinking in the area.

4. Examine the website you have selected, and read the articles you have chosen. Decide which are worthy of a review.  Most paper topics should contain 20-40 reviews. Why? Your busy readers are relying on you to choose the very best articles for them, so they can benefit from your information filtering.

5. Your review will be inked to a more comprehensive 15-30 page white paper on the topic.  This white paper should include interview excerpts, charts, graphs, references, website, and bibliography. It will be designed for the executive that needs more information to make critical decisions.

COURSE MATERIALS:

Research readings for this course are available through the KSU website and the Web itself. Consequently, there is no course packet, except for the textbook.  This course presumes that you are basically familiar with the Web.

If you choose to conduct one or more interviews as part of maintaining your topic, you may be interested in two books on the art of interviewing people:

Brady, John Joseph. 1977. The Craft of Interviewing. This is a thin and inexpensive primer which has useful advice but is fairly general.

Metzler, Ken. 1997. Creative Interviewing: The Writer's Guide to Gathering Information by Asking Questions. This is more expensive, but is an outstanding guide to conducting really creative interviews.

Both books are optional. They are easily obtainable.

Grading Policies:

The grading for this course will be based on a contract approach. The student will be required to discus and report on various topics and prepare a course term paper and related assignments previously documented. 

Please note that student’s your overall score (OS) for the course is determined by the following equation:

OS = 0.10 (average of a minimum of a 2-page peer evaluation of a fellow student’s project) + 0.20 (average of 4 literature sets required in the course to acquire students to the business and academic literature in the field of global supply chain management and sustainability strategies/E-commerce) + 0.15 (average of series of 6 bi-weekly threaded discussion/assignments) + 0.05 (PP presentation of final individual project) + 0.50 (Final individual supply chain strategy project). 

2.  A minimum 2-page peer evaluation of a fellow student’s project.  There are 2 of these reports required, so help each other and I expect that these comments will be incorporated directly into the final paper. (10% total, 5% each)

3. A total of 4 literature sets required in the course to acquire students to the business and academic literature in the field of global supply chain management and sustainability strategies/E-commerce.  The last three sets will be of articles that you chose and directed related to your topic for the individual course project. (15%)

4.  A series of 6 weekly threaded discussion/assignments. (15%)

5.  Presentation of final project and related participation. (5%)     

TIMELY SUBMISSION OF WORK:

Please note that timely submission of work is required.  With the exception of emergency situations, which will need to be verified, homework assignments, research projects or presentations must be done by the assigned date.  Please note that the grades will not be curved and there are no extra credit opportunities.  All exams are mandatory.  Exams are related to lecture material and readings. All exams are available via Blackboard only on posted days.  If you fail to take these exams during the posted hours, there will be no second changes or retakes.  You are responsible for having your own calculator if you want to use one on an exam.  Make-up exams will not be offered except for excusable conflicts such as sick leave with doctor’s notes; religious observance and family emergencies.

Graded Activities % of Course Grade:

Numeric Grade Letter Grade Numeric Grade Letter Grade

Please note that timely submission of work is required.  With the exception of emergency situations, which will need to be verified, homework assignments, research projects or presentations must be done by the assigned date.

VI. COURSE MATERIALS:

This course on GSC will be delivered through a combination of lecture, cases, games and projects.

Recommended (not required) Textbook: C.M. Sunil Chopra and Peter Meindl (2009 or later).  Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning & Operation, Fourth Edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2009. (ISBN: 9780136080404)

Other reading materials:

Heizer, J. & Render, B. (2012). Principles of Operations Management. (9^th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Rossetti, C. & Dooley, K. (2010). “Job types in the supply chain management profession.” Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(3), 40-56.

Course Notes:

To support the lectures and case discussions, the course instructor will post notes on the Blackboard website.  These notes typically include lecture PowerPoint slides, homework problems and solutions, case questions, and related information.  However, they are not intended to be a substitute for completing course activities.  

VI. DETAILED COURSE SYLLABUS:

Please note that the online syllabus may have PowerPoint slides linked to each text chapter within an eight-week semester. 

Readings and Video assignments:

Enhancing Security throughout the Supply Chain (https://www-304.ibm.com/jct03001c/procurement/proweb.nsf/objectdocswebview/filesupply+chain+security+white+paper+and+assessment+guide+april+2004/$file/supply+chain+security+white+paper+and+assessment+guide+april+2004.pdf)

A Supply Chain View of the Resilient Enterprise (http://web.mit.edu/scresponse/repository/Sheffi_Rice_SC_View_of_the_Resilient_Enterprise_Fall_2005.pdf)

E-Business and Supply Chain Integration (http://www-leland.stanford.edu/group/scforum/Welcome/White%20Papers/EB_SCI.pdf)

Project Guidelines:

Since there is no written examination (whether a midterm of final exam), but such demonstrated knowledge of global supply chain management through the completion of an approved practical project.  This is a project that must be done individually.  The possible outcomes from a project report are: 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 RFID, CPFR or e-business.  Examples include a study of the distribution system and store deliveries at McDonalds, design of a logistics system for a manufacturer of refrigeration equipment, and a comprehensive analysis of e-business or RFID technology.  The project report should not be a detailed description of everything student 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 student study a real-supply chain process, the following general guidelines may be used:

1. Executive summary

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

3. What are the strategy / market segments of the business unit?

4. What does this imply in terms of the logistics process student 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. Students 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 the student 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 student will have the desired effect along the key dimensions identified by student.

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

Please note that these are general guidelines.  As the instructor, 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 student’s project.

SUGGESTED READINGS IN GSC:

Michael Hugos. Essentials of Supply Chain Management (4th Edition), John Wiley & Sons. 2010.

David Blanchard. Supply Chain Management Best Practices. John Wiley & Sons. 2007.

Donald J. Bowersox, D.J. Closs and M.B. Cooper. Supply Chain Logistics Management (3rd Edition). Irwin.McGraw-Hill, 2009.

Professional journals such as Supply Chain Management Review; Journal of Supply Chain Management; Journal of Business Logistics; International Journal of Logistics and Supply Management, to name a few.

VII. GENERAL UNIVERSITY POLICIES: 

Academic Integrity:

We will follow the University Policy on Academic Integrity.  Academic honesty: Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit.   In addition, it is considered to be cheating when one cooperates with another in any such misrepresentation.  The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense.  It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course.  Repeat offenses may result in dismissal from the University.

Course Withdrawal:

For the Summer I Semester 2014, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, June 29, 2014.  Withdrawal before the deadline results in a “W” on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and reported.  The other withdrawal dates are as follows:

Intersession 2014 course withdrawal deadline is Friday, May 30, 2014.

Summer I   2014 course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, June 29, 2014.

Summer II 2014 course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, July 13, 2014.

Summer III 2014 course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, August 3, 2014.

Students with disabilities:

University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these accommodations through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration procedures).

Enrollment/official registration:

Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you need to correct the error with your advising office no later than Tuesday, May 20, 2014 for Intersession 2014 – Thursday, June 12 for Summer I – Sunday, June 15 for Summer II - and Thursday, July 17 for Summer III.  If registration errors are not corrected by these dates and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly registered.

Graduation Information for Juniors and Seniors:

If you are eligible to graduate, it is your responsibility to apply for graduation before the set deadline (May Graduation: Apply before September 15^th August Graduation: Apply before December 15^th December Graduation: Apply before March 15^th).  If you apply after the deadline you will be assessed a $200 late fee. Please see your academic advisor as soon as   possible if you are uncertain as to your progress toward graduation.  To apply for graduation complete the following steps: Log onto your Flashline account 1. Click on the Student Tools tab, 2. Look in the Graduation Planning Tool Box, 3. Click on Application for Graduation.  If an error message appears, you must contact your advisor.

May Graduation: Apply before September 15^th

August Graduation: Apply before December 15^th

December Graduation: Apply before March 15^th

To apply for graduation complete the following steps:

Log onto your Flashline account

1. Click on the Student Tools tab
2. Look in the Graduation Planning Tool Box
3. Click on Application for Graduation

**If an error message appears, you must contact your advisor.