Supply Chain Strategy & Processes : Summative assessment

There will be one summative assessment which involves a comprehensive analysis of any operations performance objectives either a) cost, b) dependability, c) flexibility, d) speed, e)quality of a company (of your choice) . Only focus on one of these objectives. Compare the chosen company’s performance with the one of acompetitor.This is an individual report and should be 3,000 words (10% tolerance) excluding references, tables, figures, and appendix, and to be submitted via Moodle Turnitin.

Steps to be followed:

1.Choose a well-known company (e.g. Unilever, Zara, Mc Donald’s, Amazon) (or a company for whichyou can easily access relevant information) and choose one product group of it.

2.Choose one of the operations performance objectives: a) cost, b) dependability, c) flexibility, d)speed, e)quality

3.Describe the global supply chainof your chosen company by identifying its supply chain members(upstream (e.g. suppliers) and downstream (e.g. intermediaries)). You can use online sources such aswww.bloomberg.comto identify upstream and downstream players in your chosen company’ssupply chain.

4.Critically analyse its operations performance objective (of your choice)and compare it with one ofits competitor.

Recommended journal articles

Aitken J., Childerhouse, P., Christopher, M., & Towill D. (2005) Designing and managing multiple pipelines. Journal of Business Logistics 26(2) pp. 73–96.

Andic E., Yurt, O., & Baltacioglu, T. (2012) Green supply chains: Efforts and potential applications for the Turkish market. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 58 pp. 50–68.

Baltacioglu T., Ada E., Kaplan, M.D., Yurt, O., & Kaplan, C. (2007) A new framework for service supply chains. Service Industries Journal 27(2) pp. 105–124.

Bourne, M., Kennerley, M., & Franco-Santos, M. (2005) Managing through measures: A study of impact on performance. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 16(4) pp. 373–395.

Chavez, R., Gimenez, C., Fynes, B., Wiengarten, F.,& Yu, W.(2013) Internal lean practices and operational performance: The contingency perspective of industry clockspeed.International Journal of Operations & Production Management 33(5) pp. 562–588.

Relevant academic journals

  • Journal of Supply Chain Management
  • Journal of Operations Management
  • Supply Chain Management: An International Journal
  • International Journal of Operations & Production Management
  • International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management
  • Industrial Marketing Management
  • Production and Operations Management (POM)
  • Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

Referencing

You must use the Harvard System.