Management of supply networks for products and services

Syllabus (PDF)

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Increasingly, the competitiveness of products and services in the global economy is measured not only by individual product or service characteristics but by the efficiency and responsiveness of the supply networks of products and services in catering to differentiated customer requirements. In the face of shrinking product life-cycles, differentiation and diversification of customer requirements, and cost transparency and accountability, there is constant focus on supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. For supply chain managers, this translates to a need for managing and monitoring, with a strategic view, the partnerships in the supply chain to sense opportunities for improvement and growth. Operationally, this also translates to the need for balancing customer service requirements with the costs of operating the supply chain.

On the other hand, in this age of temporary advantage, the success of supply networks in consistently matching or exceeding the requirements of the customer hinges, not only on the effective production and distribution of products, but also on sustained excellence in the management of the critical service interfaces with the customer. The service-sector economic activity now accounts for more than 68% of the US GNP and about 80% of employment. The sector is in similar high standing in many other countries. Nevertheless, overall productivity in the service sector is deceptive and indices of customer satisfaction for services are below average, below those registered for products. Many experts agree that one of the major reasons for this imbalance is the lack of an effective framework for service management. In order to manage this stake of the world economy effectively (and profitably), several activities have to be uniquely and creatively tailored to meet the specific requirements of each segment of the service industry.

This course offers an integrated and seamless view of the management of supply networks of products and services. It emphasizes issues that represent distinctive challenges for managers in organizations that are built around and within broad supply networks. It is designed to focus equally on the "macro" issues involving strategic vision and roadmaps, as well as on the "nuts and bolts" aspects of running and improving day-to-day operations in production and service facilities. Two themes will emerge from the class discussions:

The course is based on lectures, on cases (domestic and international) and on readings from various leading journals and publications. In addition, there will be a number of guest speakers presenting their personal experiences on various aspects of the service industry and supply chains.

You are required to purchase the readings before classes begin. Students are requested to browse through their course-packet when they purchase it to make sure that they have 4 separate packets that are bundled together under the 15.778 heading:

The course-packet is a compilation of diverse material that includes:

As such, the course-packet represents a state-of-the-art integration of relevant material from the topics of supply chain management and services management, delivered in the most economical means possible. In Section VI of the syllabus, we have indicated the readings for each session of the class. The materials under the Required Reading category for each session have been assigned to be read and evaluated carefully before the class. The materials under the Suggested Reading category may only be skimmed. Further, some readings that are relevant to more than one session appear again as Previous Class Readings, and these are to be reviewed for the current session. Finally, the materials under the Class Handout category will be distributed in class to support the class discussions; these readings are not supplied through the course-packet.

Students will be evaluated by the following criteria:

* Choose any one of the first two
** Assignments required

Students must be prepared for class and participate in the class discussions. Evaluation of student participation will be based substantially on the quality of a student's comments and particularly to their relevance to the topic under consideration.

The instructor and the teaching assistant will be available for discussion outside class hours. You should feel free to call and arrange meetings.

Students will submit a written analysis of the following three cases and one reading.

Please see section 3 of this document for more details. Case write-ups are to be done in groups of 3-4 students. Please contact the T.A. in case you have difficulty finding a group.

Note: Group work is encouraged because it often generates a thorough and diverse analysis of relevant issues. Even though there are strict limits on the sizes of groups for the written assignments, you should feel free to discuss the cases and written assignments with anyone except with students who have already taken the course.

The goals of analyzing cases are threefold:

We recommend that you read the case at least twice. The first reading should be a quick skimming of the text in the case. It should provide a broad view of the subject matter and the type of data the case contains.

Subsequent readings will give you a sharper picture of the business issues and should help you integrate information in the exhibits. As in real life, some of the exhibits will be superfluous. However, others will contain critical information. You will often have to process this data further in order to extract the most useful conclusions.

Gain a feel for the broad issues:

Underline key points and make notes as you go:

Identify some alternative strategies and courses of action. What are the pros and cons of each? Try to apply concepts from the course. Consider the implications of each strategy for the organization, including responses by competitors if applicable.

Group Efforts

Students must work in teams of 3 or 4 for case write-ups. We also encourage the use of study groups in preparing the other cases for class. However, in the early stages of case preparation, the best results are typically achieved by working alone; a well-prepared study group is the most effective.

Except where write-ups are concerned, the goal of a case study group generally should not be to reach a consensus on the issues. Rather, it should be to broaden, clarify, and redefine your own thinking; and to help others do the same.

For the 2-page write-up on the Call Center Interface (see Section VI, Session 13), the goals and objectives are the same as those for the case write-ups. However, since this case deals with a specific problem or issue within an organization, students can focus their attention on answering only the questions asked on the short case; these questions are provided in Section VI, under the heading "Session 13".

For the written assignments (including the 2-page call center write-up), students will receive a grade between 0 and 5 for each of three separate criteria. The total grade for the analysis will be the sum of the three separate grades. The three criteria are:

In order to be consistent with our third goal the case write-ups, unless marked specifically as a 2-page write-up, are not to exceed 5 pages (double-spaced, margins of at least one inch, font size of 12-point). Students will automatically lose one point for each page exceeding the page limit. Students have the option of preparing up to two exhibits to be submitted with the case analysis. These exhibits may include graphs, calculations, and diagrams that help clarify issues discussed in the written analysis, and have to be referenced in the text. Space used for the exhibits does not count towards the 5-page limit.

Please note that for the 2-page write-up on call-center interfaces the page limit is 2-pages. Students again have the option of submitting up to two exhibits again, similar to those for the case write-ups. Space used for the exhibits does not count towards the 2-page limit.

Case write-ups will be evaluated along three dimensions:

Case write-ups are to be submitted to the T.A. before the class when they are due.

Special Note: As mentioned in the previous section, for the 2-page write-up on call-centers, the evaluation will be based primarily on the students' responses to the questions asked on the case. These questions are provided in Section VI, under the heading "Session 13".

Building a productive, challenging and enjoyable learning environment requires the special effort of students and professors alike. Please consider the following expectations:

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