This course serves as an introduction to the program, providing an overview of the fundamental concepts of supply chain and operations management. The course is taught as a cohort experience with opportunities to interact outside the classroom. Supply chain professionals from a variety of industries are featured throughout to highlight how the concepts apply in different contexts. Students learn methods and models for evaluating and improving end-to-end processes and gain an understanding of the operational challenges inherent in managing global supply chains. The course takes a strategic and cross-functional view of supply chains in both product and service based industries.

This course introduces quantitative and business statistics concepts for managerial decision making and problem solving. The course first focuses on the nature of statistical studies and the differences between observational and experimental studies. Methods for producing data, including sampling techniques, process monitoring, and designed experiments will be discussed. Students learn graphical and numerical methods for descriptive statistics. Foundations for statistical inference are covered, including basic probability, discrete and continuous probability distributions, and sampling distributions of statistics. Students then learn how to apply the two basic inferential methods of statistics, statistical estimation, and tests of statistical hypotheses. These methods are used to make inferences about population parameters including means, proportions, and standard deviations. The students also learn to identify sample size requirements.

With the advancement of digital technologies and networking capabilities, firms are actively engaged in capturing ?big? data related to their supply chains. Firms recognize the immense potential in mining big data for improving the quality and timeliness of decisions, and becoming proactive in sensing and responding to external and internal signals of threats and opportunities. The course develops the capability to analyze and interpret structured and unstructured data that is fundamental to managing supply. The data analytics methods covered in the course include statistical methods (e.g., multivariate regression, logistics regression, GLMM, LASSO), machine learning methods (e.g., support vector machine, ensemble methods ? random forest, gradient boosting model) and optimization methods (e.g., deterministic and stochastic methods). Through a combination of operations analysis case studies and hands-on exercises, students learn (i) various facets of data analytics: data access, data aggregation, data analysis and data visualization; (ii) appropriateness and inappropriateness of big data analytic methods; and (iii) big data based predictive analytics. The final course project involves designing and testing of prototype systems in supply chain and operations settings of companies.

This course introduces the concepts and theory of quality control, philosophical foundations of lean thinking, and technical concepts related to flow and pull, and tools such as value stream mapping, A3, and 5S. Students learn to identify, measure, and eliminate non-value added activities; process capability analysis; statistical process control; and acceptance sampling from extended value chains in manufacturing and service settings through hands-on exercises.

Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SI&OP) is an important business process for any firm and can provide significant payoffs through achieving a balance between supply and demand. Using analytical tools and field data, SI&OP links a company?s strategic goals at the high level with its production at the tactical level while coordinating different business elements including manufacturing, finance, operations, sales, marketing, HR, etc. The output of an SI&OP process serves as guidance for various production functions such as the master production schedule (MPS) as well as material requirements planning. SI&OP focuses on getting the big picture right via balancing demand and supply at the product family level. This 2-credit course is designed (1) to provide an overview of the entire SI&OP process, (2) to introduce the crucial inputs (i.e., forecasting and inventory management) to SI&OP, (3) to explain how the output of SI&OP (i.e., aggregate plan) is used as a guidance for planning production and material procurement, and (4) to expose students to several analytical tools used for the SI&OP process. To achieve these goals, the course covers a range of topics including forecasting, inventory management, aggregate planning, master production scheduling, and material requirements planning.

Course prepares students to develop capabilities for (i) making well-informed technology choice decisions; (ii) effectively managing the development and implementation of technologies; and (iii) collaboratively engaging in crisis management and problem solving during technology development and implementation. The central question around which the course is organized is: How can existing and emerging technologies (e.g., IoT, automation, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, block chains) and the related process and people issues be managed to design and sustain reliable, responsive, resilient, and responsible supply chains? Analytic methods covered in the course to inform decisions related to the development and implementation of technologies include statistical methods (e.g., multivariate regression, time-series analysis, hazard models), risk analysis methods (e.g., decision trees) and predictive analytic methods (e.g., random forest). Through a combination of operations analysis case studies and hands-on exercises, students learn to evaluate the potential upside and downside risks of existing and emerging technologies. The final course project involves designing and testing of prototype systems for evaluating the development and implementation in supply chain and operations settings of companies.

Companies around the world are facing increasing pressure to perform well on the triple bottom line—People, Planet, and Profit—and responsible supply chain management is often a cornerstone of the CSR strategy for many companies. This course looks at how and why responsible supply chain management could be a powerful strategy to enhance a company’s triple bottom line. The course focuses on the social and environmental aspects of managing supply chain operations. Particular emphasis is placed on human rights, health and safety, and environmental issues faced by supply chain managers and the linkage to the firm’s supply chain strategy.

Procurement and supply management has become increasingly visible in a world where supply is a major determinant of organizational success. Supply chain performance influences not only operational and financial risks but also reputational risk. Although this course explores cost containment and supply process improvement methods, it also pushes into revenue enhancement. The job of the supply manager today goes way beyond the scope of value and efficiency to the search for competitive advantage through the supply network. In addition to organizing the supply function for strategic advantage, the course explores strategic sourcing, supplier selection and evaluation techniques, supplier development methods, global sourcing techniques, as well as legal and ethical challenges. High-performance supply managers live for the challenges associated with building and maintaining a high-performance supply chain.

Manufactured products often travel across multiple countries and multiple states, using multiple modes of transportation, and channels of distribution before reaching final customers. Along the way, these products are processed at a variety of inventory transfer points, and reconfigured and combined with other products with the goal of arriving intact without damage in the right quantity, at the right place and right time. This course provides the knowledge, skills, and tools for understanding these core elements of logistics and transportation systems. Students will gain an understanding of the dynamics of key logistics and transportation decisions, including the design of distribution networks, choice of transportation modes and routes, location and configuration of distribution centers, and management of last mile logistics. Students will explore how these decisions are made by leading companies and what influence these decisions have on the performance dimensions of flexibility, speed, reliability, accessibility, and cost. Operations research techniques will be used to analyze, compare, and optimize these decisions. Throughout the course, students will be exposed to best practices and gain an appreciation for the challenges that typical companies face in managing their logistics and transportation network, including how to innovate in light of competitive pressures and external shocks.

Managing the financial flows and capital is just as important as managing the physical flow of goods and services. This course focuses on the underlying link between supply chain performance and the financial systems within an organization. Students learn concepts and tools related to supply chain costing, valuation, and projecting cash flow and capital requirements. The course looks at issues including tax and trade credits, and students develop an understanding of how financial considerations influence and inform a firm’s supply chain strategy.

This course will examine, compare and contrast business models that work globally, and require a careful design of processes and supply chains to deliver the capabilities necessary to create a competitive advantage. This course helps students understand the strategic nature of decision making in operations, and allows them to apply such thinking to the design and improvement of global supply chain networks that span both developed and developing economies. The course contains an essential experiential component. Students will work with companies, either locally in Minnesota or across the world, on real world supply chain applications.

Carefully designed lectures, exercises and assignments are positioned through the year to assess and develop leadership skills personalized to each student at three levels: (i) how to lead self: leveraging current strengths, (ii) how to lead others: teamwork, collaboration, motivation, and feedback, and (iii) how to lead organizations: operating in complex global work environments. Substantively, the course is committed to creating an intellectual context that is now viewed as central to developing supply chain leaders. Specifically, the course provides opportunities for raising environmental, social and political awareness; learning about social media and related communications technologies and channels; and interacting with non-commercial organizations such as government and NGOs.

The food and agribusiness supply chain is complex. It spans input companies, farmers, traders, food companies, and retailers. The goal of this supply chain is to provide access to affordable food, feed, fiber, and fuel in a sustainable manner. The course covers topics relevant to achieving this goal such as supply management, production management, and demand management to consumers. Issues such as diversity of production and demand, bulkiness of produce, perishability, seasonality, and complexity of supply chains of food and agricultural products will be addressed.

The motivation for developing this course is the widespread and growing recognition of the need to design and sustain reliable, responsive, resilient, and responsible supply chains to enable the delivery of high quality, high volume, and affordable physical and mental health care equitably in both developed and developing countries. The course advances an end-to-end, supply chain?centric view of the health care and medical devices sector ? i.e., linking the development of care to the delivery of care: ?from bench to bed.? The course highlights the interdependencies between organizations on the upstream (e.g., medical devices, pharma, and biotech firms) and downstream (e.g., hospitals and clinics) of the healthcare supply chain. Topics addressed include: managing supply chain risks with rapid growth in adverse events and recalls related to medical devices and drugs; and reducing the disparities in health care delivery in underserved communities around the world. Implications of scientific and technological advancements ? specifically, precision medicine, surgical robots, mobile & wearable devices, telemedicine and IoT (Internet of Technology) ? for designing and sustaining health care supply chains will be a theme that will run through the entire course. We will closely follow the developments related to COVID-19 pandemic throughout the duration of the course. In every class session, we will make a concerted effort to explore the topic of the session and its relevance to understanding and addressing COVID-19 related issues at the local, state, national and global levels -- e.g., understanding the roles of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), Center for Disease Control (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

This course reviews how the retail sector has evolved over the years and the significance of supply chain management in the retail sector. The course examines the various functional components of retail supply chain management, and focuses on analysis and metrics required to effectively manage a retail supply chain. The students learn the “language" of retailing and acquire the fundamental skills needed to effectively analyze the performance of retail supply chains. Cases are discussed to illustrate how customers are becoming more exacting and demanding ever-increasing levels of service; and how retailers are responding by increasing product variety, becoming more price competitive, striving towards higher service levels, and utilizing advances in computing capabilities, information technologies, and retail analytics to improve their supply chain efficiency.

Companies in a wide-range of industries (such as agri-business, aerospace, construction, manufacturing, and medical technology) use Project Management for New Product Development, implementing strategic initiatives, and other business objectives. In the course of your career, those in business, government, and even non-profit organizations will spend a significant amount of their professional career either participating in, or leading projects. While every project is by definition unique in scope, some concepts and tools are considered industry best practices and are internationally recognized via the certification programs of the Project Management Institute. The course will focus on scheduling and critical path analysis, time management, cost estimating, resource utilization, and risk management. Specific tools will include Earned Value Management and the quantitative techniques for estimating schedule risk. The latter will include estimating task durations and the probabilities for project completion by specific time periods. The course will conclude an introduction of Agile Methodologies and Scrum.

This course covers the organizational and behavioral aspects of managing quality, risk, and security within and across organizations. It covers various frameworks such as ISO 28000 (security) as a starting point. It covers various organizational issues such as managing organizational culture and navigating across national boundaries to address quality, risk, and security issues. It draws on various management theories to understand how to manage quality, risk, security, and disruptions across the supply chain. The course draws on examples from a variety of industries and government.

Negotiation is the art and science of securing agreements between two or more interdependent parties. Managing supply chains often requires extensive negotiations related to pricing, joint problem solving and collaboration. This course (i) helps students understand the theory and processes of negotiation as it is practiced in supply chains, (ii) highlight the components of an effective negotiation, and (iii) help students analyze their own behavior in negotiations. The course is largely experiential, providing an opportunity to develop skills by participating in supply chain negotiation exercises and integrating experiences with the principles presented in the assigned readings and class discussions.

At its core, negotiation is the art and science of getting what you want in a world of innumerable interests, possibilities, and standards of fairness---a world in which we must often compete or cooperate with others to do anything from picking a restaurant to transforming markets. The objective of this course is to equip students with a simple, ready-to-use framework from which we can prepare for and engage in negotiations. Topics include interest-based bargaining, psychological biases, multiparty negotiations, and hard tactics. Regular cases and exercises reinforce our negotiation framework and provide students a safe forum to thoughtfully reflect on their experiences and improve. prereq: MBA or Mgmt Sci MBA student