This course is targeted toward MBA students as well as managers in business consulting and industry interested in operations, supply chain management, and logistics. It covers not only high-level supply chain strategy and concepts, but also analytical tools necessary to solve supply chain problems. The course identifies facilities, inventory, transportation, information, sourcing, and pricing as key drivers of supply chain performance and sustainability, and discusses practical managerial levers and concepts that may be used during supply chain design, planning, and operations to create and improve supply chain value. The strategic frameworks and concepts discussed in this course are tied together through a variety of examples and case studies that show how a combination of approaches is needed to achieve significant increases in supply chain performance, value, and sustainability.

A major part of the course will discuss solution tools to supply chain problems. These tools comprise a varied assortment of quantitative methods that address problems in distribution, transportation, inventory management, purchasing, supply chain design, and customer service. Competency with these analytical tools provides students in this course value added beyond the knowledge that may be gained simply by reading various non-technical books on the subject that cover issues broadly but forgo the depth that quantitative analysis provides. Another portion of the course will address the strategic, integrative issues of the supply chain, like information exchange, buyer-supplier relationships, distribution strategies, outsourcing decisions, strategic alliances, and sustainable supply chain management initiatives.