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Syllabus

EN IT

Learning Objectives

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The course aims to provide a conceptual understanding of what supply chains are as well as the key issues that need to be considered when designing, planning, or operating a supply chain. The course has a specific focus on the Procurement activities and on the impact of digital technologies on supply chains.
The theoretical elements provided will be framed in a practice-oriented view with the support of SCOR, one of the mostly widely adopted supply chain model. SCOR is an acronym for Supply Chain Operations Reference Model, which was developed to assist businesses in understanding, structuring, and evaluating the performance of supply chains.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
Develop a basic understanding of supply chain management and its role in the company. Develop a sound knowledge on the key drivers of Purchasing and its inter-relationships with strategy and other functions of the company (e.g. manufacturing, logistics and marketing). Master the Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR).

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
Apply analytical and problem solving skills necessary to develop solutions for a variety of Supply Chain and Purchasing and understanding what information should be exchanged in a supply chain/purchasing activity, how Information technologies can support it and digital transformation will impact on supply chain management and purchasing. Being able to apply the SCOR framework to actual business cases.

MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
Identify key issues within purchasing within different industries and learning to quantify the improvements that various supply chain strategies can offer.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Summarize and present Supply Chain and Purchasing strategies. Discuss the implication of implementing analytical tools for Supply Chain Management and Purchasing.

LEARNING SKILLS:
Analyse critically Supply Chain and Purchasing decisions. Discuss the implication of designing, planning, or operating a supply chain, in particular a digital supply chain.

Prerequisites

no pre-requisites are required

Program

The course is structured on four parts:

PART I: The core concepts of Supply Chain Management and Procurement:
Supply Chain Management: an overview
The role of purchasing in the value chain
Industrial buying behaviour: Decision-making in purchasing
The purchasing management process
Buying business services
Contract management for complex projects

PART II: Purchasing Strategy and Planning
Purchasing and business strategy
Outsourcing and risk management
Category sourcing: developing effective sourcing strategies
Purchasing, innovation and quality management
Purchasing, logistics and supply chain management
Purchasing organization
Performance measurement and governance in purchasing

PART III: Digital Supply Chains
Impact of digital technologies on planning, procurement and logistics
Definition of a digital strategy for the supply chain
Overview of the emerging IT tools and their impact on the supply chain
The relevance of blockchain technology for supply chain management

PART IV: SCOR® (Supply Chain Operating Reference) Model
[Course section taught by Sergio Vacca]
- The origins and goals of the SCOR Reference Model framework.
- The structure of the SCOR Reference Model framework.
- The pillars of the SCOR framework: performance, processes, practices and people.
- The SCOR improvement program.

Some classes related to part I and II will be e-learning classes available on the course Moodle Platform.
The teaching method is based on a combination of theory of the model and practical application. The class material and additional documents/tools, helping to improve knowledge and skills, will be posted regularly during the course on the laD Platform for use and consultation.

Books

Arjan J. van Weele, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management: Analysis, Strategy, Planning and Practice, Cengage Learning, 7th Edition (2018)

For Parts I and II the reference textbook is:
Arjan J. van Weele, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management: Analysis, Strategy, Planning and Practice, Cengage Learning, 7th Edition (2018)Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13

For Part III the reference material is made of the course slides and reports from leading-edge consulting companies (included in the course website).

For Part IV: the reference material is made of slides and readings based on the Supply Chain Operations Reference Model developed by APICS/ASCM as a comprehensive open-source model well adopted by practitioners
http://www.apics.org/apics-for-business/frameworks/scor

The slides will be provided both on the course website and the Moodle platform. In the Moodle platform there will be also videos supporting the e-learning classes.

Bibliography

Arjan J. van Weele, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management: Analysis, Strategy, Planning and Practice, Cengage Learning, 7th Edition (2018)
Seminar articles (for non attending students):
Fisher M. – What is the right supply chain for your product, HBR March-April 1997
Lee H.L – The Triple-A supply chain, HBR October 2004
Kraljic P. – Purchasing must become supply management, HBR Sept.-Oct. 1983
Stalk G. – Time the next source of competitive advantage, HBR July-Aug. 1998

SCOR related readings:
Supply Chain Excellence – Peter Bolstorff; Robert Rosenbaum - 2012. AMACOM books, division American Management Association International, New York, NY
Fix Your Supply Chain – Paul C.Husby; Dan Starwood – CRC Press – Taylor and Francis Group
Learning to See – Mike Rother; John Shook – Lean enterprise Institute. Cambridge, MA 02142 USA

CAPS Research- Center for Advanced Procurement Strategy www.capsresearch.org

Videos on Part I and II:
Ch1: https://youtu.be/ZVd2cmoqdX0
Ch2: https://youtu.be/48YPBZsHTpI
Ch3: https://youtu.be/DO9lunEKoGc
Ch4: https://youtu.be/7otetvMMQ7o
Ch5: https://youtu.be/Ha6egB7N4tM
Ch7: https://youtu.be/5CEsqqyB3v0
Ch8: https://youtu.be/qIbLpQ56yI0
Ch9: https://youtu.be/Y_NMVcM1Bxo
Ch10: https://youtu.be/yu6qqoqjSg4
Ch11: https://youtu.be/G4cxTR-STM4
Ch12: https://youtu.be/Hic1Y_NTm8U

Teaching methods

E-learning classes and forums based on the MScBA Moodle platform (The teacher will provide during the first lesson a description about the utilization of Moodle).
Webinars
Group work on SCOR application case.

Exam Rules

The exam is based on a written test. The written test will last 1 hour and 45 minutes, and it is made of 4 open questions: one on each part of the programme.

As optional activities:
Attending students might take part in a group work on SCOR and get up to 2 extra points.
Non attending students might take in the written test an extra question on the seminal articles (above reported) and get up to 1 extra point.