SCM 7385

Supply Chain Corporate Projects

Course Purpose

Team-based analyses, management, and problem-solving within an external SCM corporate project at a Bauer Business Partner location. Students will experience being change agents in strategy, organization, process improvement, feasibility studies, quality certification, and many other kinds of Supply Chain related organizational challenges.

During this course, students will be part of a real consulting team satisfying the needs of a local corporate client. Your team will be working at the client location on problems that are real for them and for which they seek a real and useful solution. You are expected to actually solve this company problem utilizing all the knowledge you have learned within the MS-SCM Program.

The course provides an opportunity to understand, in meaningful ways, the linkage between a firm’s supply chain strategy and business strategy, understand how to utilize a firm’s resources more effectively, understand the impact of coordinating the movement of goods and services through different echelons of supply chains in order to create a competitive advantage in the global marketplace, and develop an awareness of the circular economy.

Expected Learning Objectives

During this course, students will explore:

  • Principles of Effective Consulting
  • Core Concepts of Project Management
  • Critical Business Success Factors
  • Business Metrics for outcomes and Results
  • Team management
  • Executive Presentation Skills
  • Supply and Demand uncertainty and their impacts on a supply network
  • Importance of supply chain strategy in relation to the overall business strategy
  • Financial measures of performance and key performance measures
  • The need for data to support the decision process for improving supply chain performance
  • Current trends and technologies utilized in industry today

Course Pedagogy and Immersive/Experiential Activities

Grades are primarily dependent on the project work with the client as determined by assessments with your client company’s executive management team within these three criteria:

  • Technical Merit: your work is evaluated on how well you achieve the deliverables required in this course. You must develop a quality solution to this problem. As relevant to each client problem or need, the correct and appropriate application of business metrics, process/workflow mapping, project management, and other tools will be evaluated. Quality of writing and clarity of the final report and final project deliverables is also a significant component.
  • Implementation Success Probability: This is based on an assessment of the real impact your effort will have on the client’s operations and success. The best assessments are possible with the best quality of analysis, development of solution, and final management report.
  • Professionalism: How well you communicate with your client, your teammates, and your faculty mentor(s). Submission of deliverables during the semester to the faculty mentor and client evaluation of each student’s work will be evaluated.
  • Team Deliverables include:
    • Team project proposal describing the precise consulting project and serves as a written contract between you and the client
    • Required contracts and non-disclosure agreements with the client
    • Regular progress reports including verbal and written reporting and progressive Gantt Chart tracking
    • Final report and presentation to the client detailing the project statement/problem, solution that your team has developed, and complete documentation for the implementation of the project solution.
    • Client evaluations and peer evaluations