1) Demonstrate a critical understanding of the role of global supply chain management in today’s business environment.
2) Develop theoretical knowledge in global supply chain and apply these to practical case problems and problem-based situations.
3) Evaluate theories and models to inform own understanding of gaps and opportunities in global supply chain strategies.
Explore current global supply chain management trends and challenges and recommend effective management strategies applicable to different contexts
Reading and directed study
Students should endeavour to read each week`s directed reading as a minimum. If the key textbooks are not available, the topics covered may be found in other textbooks in the supplementary and alternative reading list. Additional reading will provide further background to the topic for those students who wish to explore it in more depth.
Critically analyse three challenges that TWO multinational manufacturing companies operating in a single industry face when managing their global supply chains. Based on your critical analysis, provide recommendations for global supply chain management of firms in the selected industry
- Select two international companies from a single industry of your choice, through which you provide a critical analysis of three supply chain challenges which these companies face. Provide recommendations that would apply to most companies within the chosen industry.
- Answer the task below by writing a 4,000-word business report (+ or - 10%). Ensure your answer adheres to the academic conventions in terms of the use of citations, references and bibliography. Also ensure you have referred to the relevant Assessment Criteria as shown in the Module Guide. This assignment should follow an essay format (comprising an introduction, literature review (evaluation of relevant supply chain theories and frameworks), application of these theories and frameworks to the company, recommendations, and conclusions).
- Select and apply appropriate relevant concepts, frameworks, and theories from three topics learned on the module, through which you provide your critical analysis. Assignments that cover issues from only one part of the module would be considered inadequate*
- There is no need to justify the selected companies and/or industry. You only need to demonstrate global supply chain activities of your selected companies by including company illustrations from a diverse range of international markets (not just a single market/region).
In answering the question, you should aim to achieve a well-balanced assignment in terms of the application of academic literature and inclusion of practical company examples. A brief introduction at the start of your essay, as well as a conclusion and final recommendations, should also be included. All diagrams, figures, statistical data etc. may be cited in the Appendix section and the word count should be clearly noted at the end of the essay (i.e., immediately after the conclusion). Please note, Bibliography and Appendix are not included in the word count, however, in-text citations are included.
Further requirements and tips:
- The first page of your assignment should include the following information:
- Your name and student number; name of your seminar tutor; and an accurate word count.
- The title of the assignment.
- Interweave insights from academic theory to explain and critique real-world practice.
- The information and analysis contained within your report must be sufficiently grounded in academic literature. This is really important. There must be a significant volume of academic citations within your assignment.
- Draw on relevant real-world examples relating to your chosen company to illustrate your arguments. This is really important.
- Proof-read your work. Ensure that you carefully examine your work for typos and grammatical errors. Utilise the capabilities within Microsoft Word to check spelling and enhancements as you type.
Presentation guidelines: (all assignments must conform to these)
- Your assignment should be presented to a high standard. Take pride in your work!
- You are strongly advised to organise your answer into sections and use numbered headings and sub-headings
- Use a clear, plain font such as Arial, Calibri or Verdana (at least 12pt font).
- Use double line-spacing (not single or 1.5). This makes it easier to read and mark!
- Include page numbers.
- Present any figures and tables correctly (e.g., numbered consecutively, given a meaningful title, and with the source clearly identified).
