Supply Chain Management MBA Concentration

This course showcases real life applications of data analytics (descriptive, predictive and prescriptive) in various fields of supply chain management, such as forecasting and inventory management, sales and operations planning, transportation, logistics and fulfillment, purchasing and supply management, supply chain risk management, etc. in manufacturing, trade and service industries. Students learn to define the right data set, ask the right questions to drive supply chain efficiency and business value, and use the right models and tools to develop data-driven decisions. Topics includes demand forecasting for new products, product/service-line selection and rationalization, transportation analytics, fulfillment diagnostics in logistics systems, sales and operations analytics in production, inventory and resource management, spend analytics and supplier selection, supply chain risk management, and product development analytics. Software packages such as R and Python will be utilized.

Building on the foundations established in the Introduction to Project Management Course, this course will bring students to the next level of project management by developing a business-focused approach to project management. Many organizations realize that the traditional approach to project management is insufficient to deal with today's business requirements and that meeting time and budget goals is no longer enough. This course will help students deal with the complexity and dynamics of modern projects and show them how to manage projects for building competitive advantage and achieving business results. The course will introduce the principles of Strategic Project Leadership, which is an integrated approach to project management. It will combine the strategic, business-related aspects of projects, the operational needs of getting the job done, and the leadership sides of inspiring and leading the project team. Upon completion of the course students will be able to create their strategic business-focused project plan and align their project with the company's business strategy.

Prerequisite: Introduction to Project Management (22:799:661)

Business intelligence (BI) is a set of technologies and processes that allow people at all levels of an organization to access, interact with and analyze data. In a data-rich business environment, BI can help a management team to operate efficiently, discover new market opportunities and improve business performance. This course focuses on data science techniques, analytical toolboxes and business applications in supply chain and marketing management. The course is structured as a combination of lectures, in-class case studies and group projects. All data analysis, optimization and simulation models are implemented in R (https://cran.r-project.org/ and https://www.rstudio.com/). R is a powerful, extensible and free programming language, which is gaining popularity for data scientists and business analysts. Students are expected to learn how to integrate BI with supply chain and marketing management, improve their data/analytical skills and deepen their knowledge of supply chain and marketing science from a quantitative perspective.

Prerequisites: Operations Analysis (22:799:580 or 22:799:586)

Introduces business-to-business marketing from the perspective of both the seller and the buyer. Covers marketing strategy and product/ market planning systems; selling and management of the sales force; marketing research and competitive intelligence; pricing and promotion; management of auxiliary services; and industrial buying behavior.

Focuses on crucial contract management considerations including: a) How sound contracting practices, coupled with strong contract management techniques, is an important part of being successful in an increasingly competitive global environment. b) How to assess, minimize and manage risks in supplier contracts by early identification of contractual "red flags". c) Practical steps for improving and standardizing contracts and contract management techniques in organizations. This course provides supply chain management professionals with skills, strategies and techniques to avoid the pitfalls associated with poor contract management. Although supplier contracts have never been simple, today's transactions such as outsourcing contracts or strategic alliances have become significantly more complex, with a myriad of technical, commercial and other considerations. Supply chain management professionals need to be well versed in the subtleties of how to optimally structure and manage supplier contracts and their associated risks.

Introduces statistics as applied to managerial problems. Emphasis is on conceptual understanding as well as conducting statistical analyses. Students learn the limitations and potential of statistics, gain hands-on experience using Excel, as well as comprehensive packages, such as SPSS®. Topics include descriptive statistics, continuous distributions, confidence intervals for means and proportions, and regression. Application areas include finance, operations, and marketing. Introduces the basic concepts of model building and its role in rational decision making. Knowledge of specific modeling techniques, such as linear and nonlinear programming, decision analysis, and simulation, along with some insight into their practical application is acquired. Students are encouraged to take an analytic view of decision making by formalizing trade-offs, specifying constraints, providing for uncertainty, and performing sensitivity analyses. Students form groups to collect and analyze data, and to write and present a final report.

This course focuses on the applications of forecasting models and methodologies throughout supply chains, for use in business related activities, including operations, sales, marketing and finance. The course aims to help students understand the significance of matching supply and demand and the development of managerial insights aimed at improving that balance. Several relevant techniques for forecasting, inventory management, and production planning are developed and illustrated. The students are asked to build forecasting and inventory models in Microsoft Excel. The course will focus on by combining theory, examples, practical applications and case studies and consist of a combination of lectures, case presentations, and class discussion.

Prerequisite: Operations Analysis (22:799:564 (FT) / 22:799:580 (PT))

This course is a complementary course to the Introduction to Project Management (22:799:661), or its equivalent. It focuses on the development of knowledge for professional project managers, and will prepare students to take the Project Management Institute (PMI)'s PMP Examination. The PMI's PMP Certification has become an attractive qualification to many employers, who are looking to hire experienced project managers. Recent surveys found out that even in today's tight economic environment, over 50% of project managers reported getting salary increases during last year. The survey also showed that having a PMP Certification added 11% to the average salary of project managers who are non-PMPs. Students should have prior PM experience or education, typically, 3 years industry experience in project management, and instructor's consent, or Introduction to Project Management (22:799:661), or equivalent. Students can take the course concurrently with the introduction course (in the same semester).

Prerequisite: Introduction to Project Management (22:799:661)

Today's managers must be aware of the responsibility they face to their stakeholders that can be caused by negative publicity. Labor practices of multi-national corporations have been under scrutiny for over a decade. Firms may face a diving stock price, angry activists, and lawsuits. Concerned consumers demand to be sure that the products that they were buying were produced in conditions compliant with international human and labor rights standards. Management needs to understand what to do about situations that once was outside of their responsibilities. These challenges continue today as global companies with far reaching supply chains face market, political, legal, and ethical pressures to ensure that their supply chains meet the expectations of various stakeholders. In this course we will examine the question of global labor governance with a special focus on the challenges of regulating the global labor supply chain. We will address this question both from a legal and a managerial perspective, studying relevant international and domestic law and legal instruments, as well as practical approaches and the ethical and business dilemmas faced by contemporary global managers.

Global Logistics Management is designed to provide students with an understanding of the strategic and tactical elements of logistics management. This course will examine the forward and reverse forms of transportation and storage for supply chain management. In addition to studying transportation modal choices, logistics and transportation infrastructure in the U.S. and around the world will be discussed. Other relevant topics will include cross-docking, reverse logistics tactics, multi-modal freight operations, high-tech automated warehousing and order delivery and current topics in the logistics industry. We will take a total systems approach to the management of all those activities involved in the forward and reverse movement and storage of products and related information through the supply chain. The teaching method will be a combination of case analysis, lecture and class discussion. Also, guest executives will discuss how they created and managed logistics innovation.

Supply Management is the overarching cross-functional management framework that integrates all activities related to the acquisition and management of resources for the organization. It includes global sourcing, supplier relationship management, procurement and purchasing. Supply Management is now recognized as a key strategic initiative to create value for the corporation. This course reviews the demands placed on today's procurement and supply management from the firm's stakeholders and demonstrates their impact on the competitive success and profitability of the organization. Furthermore it describes ethical, contractual and legal issues faced by procurement, and recognizes the expanding strategic nature of supply management. The major areas covered are procurement as a functional activity, and how effective supply management impacts on total quality, cost, delivery, technology, and responsiveness to the needs of a firm's external customers (insourcing/outsourcing, supplier evaluation, supplier development, and global sourcing). We introduce the tools, techniques, and approaches for managing the procurement and sourcing process (cost/price analysis, negotiations, and contract management). Case studies and outside speakers will be used to illustrate the issues discussed in lectures.

Supply chain managers must be cognizant of the way that law structures their business decisions. International and domestic law impacts the a) costs and risks of entering into transactions, and b) decisions on sourcing from a given country or supplier. This course will examine a wide variety of legal subjects, primarily international, that shape and impact domestic and global sourcing decision-making. These topics include but are not limited to: contracts, trade law, transportation, tort, dispute settlement, international investment law, international marketing law, and labor and environmental supply chain regulation. Students will be able to apply the credits earned in this class towards their supply chain or marketing concentration.

The objective of the course is to learn about India's dynamic economy and business environment through both classroom study, as well as hands-on learning. In addition to learning about the practical aspects of doing business in India, students in this course will also investigate broader policy questions about the impact of India's economic liberalization on workers and human rights, social equity, and human development. Special attention will be paid to India's role as an important element of the global supply chain, as well as some of the challenges that MNCs must face such as ensuring worker rights and environmental protections in their sourcing. This unique course involves two stages. The first stage will involve intensive study over the course of six 3-hour sessions, and one session to be scheduled after the India trip. Stage two, which is optional but has stage one as a prerequisite, involves an intensive field trip to India.

Project Management is one of the most critical elements in the competitiveness and growth of organizations. Projects are the drivers of innovation and change and no organization can survive today without projects. Effective leaders in today's leading companies must be effective project managers. Furthermore, almost every MBA graduate may sooner or later be asked to manage a project. This course presents the classical foundations of project management and introduces students to the world of real-life project problems. Upon completion of this course, students will understand the basic concepts and critical factors of initiating, planning, organizing, controlling, and running a project. They will be able to develop a project plan, build a project team and adapt their project management style to the unique project characteristics. Course topics will include: project initiation, project success dimensions, integration, scope, planning, controlling and monitoring, time, cost and risk management, project organization, project teamwork, and project adaptation. The course will also advise students how they could prepare themselves for the PMP Exam of the Project Management Institute in order to become Professional Project Managers.

Lean six sigma is an application of the quantitative six sigma quality management techniques within a lean enterprise. The goal is to create an efficient organization that continuously reduces waste and operates at the most efficient levels possible. In addition to covering the fundamentals of Lean and Six Sigma, this course will equip students with other important tools and strategies to improve the performance of business processes. Students will practice solving business problems and improving processes through case studies, team exercises and simulations, self-assessments, and guest lectures. Topics covered will include: six sigma improvement methodology and tools, lean manufacturing tools and approaches, dashboards and other business improvement techniques. Students will also gain an understanding of: the strategic importance of business improvement, the need for fact based management, the significance of change management, and how to deploy these tools in different parts of the value chain.

Prerequisite: Operations Analysis (22:799:564 (FT) / 22:799:580 (PT))

Managing a Global Supply Chain is complex, but it also is a requirement to compete in today's international markets for most corporations. This course examines the strategies for effectively managing global supply chains, such as balancing conflicting objectives, optimizing the global network, and leveraging global procurement. We will review the processes and systems information requirements to maximize customer service at the lowest possible costs. In addition, the benefits and challenges of regional vs. global sourcing are highlighted. The students will work on how to synchronize processes across the globe and what strategies can be adopted for global supply chain management.

Explores new approaches for organizing the total enterprise, including structuring, processes, and culture. Using cases and simulations, new forms of organizing are linked to various competitive strategies and to performance, and skills for designing, implementing, and managing strategic transformation are developed.

This course provides an overview and understanding of the benefits in manufacturing outsourcing such as improved costs, access to new and differentiated innovation and greater organizational diversity/flexibility. Offers techniques needed to translate the strategic value of manufacturing outsourcing to direct, tangible benefits with significant measurable profit contributions. Key topics to be covered are organizational readiness and executive sponsorship; best practice benchmarking; differentiating competencies/technologies; defining the optimal third party profile; establishing clear expectations; collaboration practices & processes; managing knowledge transfers; sustainable & mutually beneficial relationships.

This course will teach the power of Microsoft Project for a project. While mostly focused on software application, the course enables students to further develop their project management skills. It is meant to be taken in conjunction with the other project management courses in our curriculum. This course is for the new users of Microsoft Project who want to familiarize themselves with the tool and begin planning their projects. Upon completion of this course, students will understand the ease of use of the tool and take advantage of its flexibility in scheduling and re-scheduling, and use the powerful reporting features. The course provides the students with ample opportunity to use Microsoft Project in a computer lab environment. The learning environment is a well-balanced mixture of lecture and tool application using a case study.

Provides an introduction to the principles, practice, and processes of negotiations as a management skill with bosses, subordinates, peers, clients, and customers. Discussion of the preparation and planning for negotiation, the strategy and tactics of negotiation, issues regarding both distributive and integrative bargaining, and ethics in negotiation.

It is critical for the success and survival of most organizations to effectively launch new products into the market. New Product Commercialization is the process and associated set of activities related to the development of new products and its subsequent product launch and commercialization into the marketplace. The supply chain plays a critical role in this process. This course will cover the new product design phase, make vs. buy decisions, optimal sourcing decisions, early involvement of suppliers and the use of strategic partners and, finally the eventual launching of the product to the market and end customers. In many progressive companies, the Supply Chain takes a leadership role to align the business across multiple departments to ensure successful new product launches.

This course covers fundamentals of operational analysis for various performance issues encountered in real life business processes. The major topics include demand forecasting and demand management strategies, sales and operations planning (S&OP), inventory planning models and deployment, uncertainty and safety stock management, supply chain collaborative planning, business capacity planning, and fundamentals of project management, with applications in both manufacturing and service industries. Case studies on analyzing and designing cost-effective solutions for improving a company?s operational efficiency, customer service, and profit margin are used. The objective is to help our students to develop a strong knowledge of analytical thinking skills and supply chain strategies toward operational excellence in a highly dynamic and competitive business environment

Prerequisite: Proficiency Requirements

This course offers students an overview of practical issues in managing the pharmaceutical supply chain. It will review the issues of cost management, strategic sourcing, negotiation, procurement processes and supply management strategies for pharmaceutical companies. In today's competitive global pharmaceutical environment, companies are faced with diminishing product pipelines and generic competition due to patent expiries. The traditional cash-rich pharmaceutical companies are now faced with the challenge of tightly managing their operations and supply chains in an effort to reduce spend. At the same time, pharmaceutical companies are constantly faced with challenges of counterfeiting, global logistics and rising commodity prices. As a result of such changes to the pharmaceutical landscape, companies find themselves focusing on strategic supply chain, logistics and operations management area to effectively impact the bottom line.

Introduces concepts and methods used for coordinating strategy formulation and the identification and evaluation of new product opportunities; planning and organizing the process of development; testing new products and new markets; and commercialization. Special emphasis is given to issues related to supply chain, marketing and R & D. Text, cases, guest speakers.

The objective of this course is to provide students with quantitative modeling skills and data visualizing tools to aid supply chain decision-making through an extensive training in real-world case studies. It enables students to identify the problem and verify assumptions, build and analyze quantitative models using Excel, visualizing data and results, and present managerial insights to internal /external customers. Cases studies are drawn from a variety of business applications other than supply chain management such as finance, marketing, R&D, new product launch and service operations. In each case study, students are required to build models and solutions under the supervision of the instructor. This course also provides the solid background on quantitative modeling and presentation for students pursuing a career in businesses consulting.

The rise in importance of the supply chain at leading companies has created a higher level of expectations regarding this function. While cost-focused supply chain improvements have helped to improve the bottom line, the next challenge is to achieve full alignment with the strategic intent of the business and effectively execute growth objectives. The efficient alignment of supply capabilities and demand recognition is critical for the effectiveness of all supply chain management initiatives. The Sales and Operations Planning process is implemented to ensure that the proper planning and execution is in place to deliver revenue, profit and customer service expectations. This course will focus on the fundamentals of S&OP and how it establishes strategic and organizational alignment, enhances operational excellence and competitive advantage, and most importantly, improves planning and execution.

Service Logistics Management is the field of non-product supply chain, which focuses directly on customer satisfaction through value-based action. The course will start with the unique aspects of Service Management in the two major categories: Pure Service Management, such as lawyers, financial advisors, entertainment, consulting; and other State Utility, such as repair, value-added services, healthcare, online and phone service support. The course will then examine some specific services that fit into traditional supply chain. These include: consolidation, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, 4PL, 3PL and more. In addition, we will take a look at resource allocation, queue management, and short life cycle product flow management as it relates to entertainment, theme parks, and sporting events.

Service Outsourcing is about moving a process or task to an outside company that is specialized in that activity. Examples include customer service call-centers, information technology services, or back-office support functions. The decision is often made in the interest of lowering the firm's costs, redirecting internal resources to the firm's core competencies, or to improve overall efficiencies of the business. This course will cover the reasons for service outsourcing, decision criteria, evaluating supplier proposals, supplier competition, negotiations, contract terms and conditions, change management and risks associated with service outsourcing. With the increasing globalization and the firms desire to drive our non-value costs, service outsourcing continues to expand and evolve.

Supply Chain Management is generally focused on product and information flow, but is largely driven by financial and accounting considerations. An often unknown fact is that the supply chain is designed to enhance the financial value of a corporation, or ultimately to serve the chief financial officer. The objective of the course is to introduce key financial and accounting aspects of SCM, and instill a financially-oriented mindset by integrating said aspects into the analysis of SCM issues and systems. Topics covered include supply chain costing, working capital management, supply chain financing, supply chain risk management, and supply chain contracts and purchasing. Some case studies will illustrate the concepts learned.

This course builds upon academic SCM learnings by working on "real life" supply chain management projects requested by our Rutgers Center for Supply Chain Management Advisory Board companies and corporate partners. Students in this course must identify and understand the key issues, formulate models, complete analyses, and apply SCM course learnings to solve real-world problems. Faculty members whose expertise lies in a particular area are available to assist students with complexities of the projects. The projects change each semester depending on the current requirements of the clients, but always focus on specific issues within the supply chain. Client visits may be included to better understand the project scope and work with the company executives. The culmination of the project will be a formal presentation to the client's SCM executives and management team along with delivery of a final report. The presentation and report will include the team's approach, data analysis, findings and recommendations.

Prerequisite: Operations Analysis (22:799:564 (FT) / 22:799:580 (PT))

This course provides a broad overview of key supply chain strategies, issues and challenges. Successful supply chain management requires cross-functional integration of key business processes within the firm and across the network of firms that comprise the supply chain. The challenge is to determine how to successfully accomplish this integration. Other topics covered include the management aspects of logistics networks, forecasting, inventory management, supply contracts, strategic alliances, supply chain integration and design, procurement and outsourcing, customer value, international issues, and a quick review of supply chain software. Case studies, supplemented with a Supply Chain Simulation, and guest speakers are used to illustrate the issues discussed in lectures.

Prerequisite: Operations Analysis (22:799:564 (FT) / 22:799:580 (PT))

This course provides a broad overview of key fundamentals of consulting, supply chain strategies, issues and challenges, networking and human capital strategy. Topics covered include the management aspects of consulting, client interfacing, sustainable client relationship building, effective expectation setting, contracting, and scope management. The specific class topics will focus on logistics networks, forecasting, inventory management, supply contracts, strategic alliances, supply chain integration and design, procurement and outsourcing, customer value, international issues, and regulation and public policy as they relate to the management of the supply chain. Case studies, supplemented with current best practices and guest speakers, are used to illustrate the issues discussed in lectures. This course will serve as a critical course to equip students with knowledge of the professional services industry and its fundamentals, including client relationships and networking, talent and leadership, proposal and project management, and exposure to consulting guest speakers.

Studies indicate that a one percent improvement in price, for the average S&P 500 Company, will yield a 10% to 12% improvement in pre-tax profits. Pricing is by far the most important profit driver on the P&L for most businesses. In addition, countless industries have suffered significant adverse impact due to poor pricing practices and disastrous price wars. Despite the importance of pricing, it is, perhaps, the least understood and most poorly managed "P" of marketing. Senior executives and marketing leaders frequently make both strategic and tactical errors in pricing. This course will explore pricing from both a strategic and tactical level. Whether you are in marketing, sales, finance, supply chain or general management, there are many key learnings to take from the course.

Properly addressing risks and facing possible disruptions are of primary importance to supply chain management. With the wake of high consequence disruptive events, risk identification and disruption response activities have become ever more critical. The objective of the course is to provide an overview of key supply chain risk areas, particularly with the proliferation of outsourcing, use of information technology and global logistics. Equally important is how companies are managing the preparation, mitigation and response strategies to major disruptive events. Topics covered include science of catastrophes, vulnerability and threat assessments, resources and capabilities identification/integration, basic crisis management, contingency planning, disaster recovery and business continuity in supply chain settings. Scenario based experiments (table-top exercises) will provide mock situations where students will make decisions on how to handle supply chain disruption. Case-based studies will be used to provide hands-on learning to illustrate the issues discussed in lectures.

Provides a technical overview of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems and their role within an organization. It introduces key concepts of integrated information systems and explains why such systems are valuable to businesses. SAP ECC is introduced to illustrate the concepts, fundamentals, framework, general information, technology context, technological infrastructure, and integration of enterprise-wide business applications. In addition to lectures, students will be guided through several hands-on activities of various business processes in SAP ECC. The objective of this course is to help students: 1) master the basic concepts, architecture and terminology of an ERP system; 2) understand the need and examine the capabilities of ERP systems; and 3) illustrate how integrated information systems can help a company prosper.

This course focuses on SAP's ERP and SCM solutions, as well as their major applications in supply chain management, which not only enable the supply chain visibility, but also support the decision making. The activities that lead to the integration of information and material flows across organizations are discussed. This course will also examine and apply techniques used in SAP ECC and SAP SCM for system configuration and integration with a focus on logistics and finance. The objective of this course is to help students: 1) be able to make reasonable decisions for supply chain management problems using certain decision-support systems; 2) be aware of supply chain practices; 3) identify the business process view of an organization through the process of configuring SAP ECC and SCM systems.

Prerequisite: Supply Chain Solutions with ERP/SAP I (22:799:659)

There is global experience and examples that show how sustainability criteria in the 'upstream' supply chain management and procurement process. Corporations can both improve environmental performance, while addressing ethics, social regeneration and economic concerns (e.g. the 'triple bottom-line'). This course will allow students to participate in applied research to explore the application of environmentally responsible supply chain principles which includes: designing supply chain management and procurement schemes which address environmental, social and ethical considerations in organizational policy development as well as the procurement process. Research themes may include: the public and private supply chain management and procurement process, green purchasing process, contract design, procurement which promotes low carbon emission considerations and zero waste (avoidance and minimization), social and economic regeneration, civic infrastructure policy, e-procurement applications, and cost cutting measures derived from life cycling costing modeling. The goal is to provide students with different experiences to examine environmental management from a supply chain management perspective.

Total quality management represents an enterprise-wide program to develop and implement a continuous improvement culture inside the organization, aimed at defining, solving, and ultimately achieving customer satisfaction. This course introduces students to the philosophies, organizational cultures, and practices leading organizations employ to ensure and continuously improve quality. Specific quality management techniques and tools, in addition to a structured discipline, focused on continuously improving all processes in an organization, are highlighted that enable students to drive value in their organizations. Upon completing this course, students should have an understanding of the strategic and financial value of being capable of delivering quality products and services that consistently meet customer expectations.

Knowledge contained in the supply chain can be used to foster new demand-driven product innovations and to initiate new ventures. Virtual company teams are formed to plan the design, assembly, marketing and distribution of new innovative products. A business plan will be formed by each virtual company team. The business plan will include: a marketing plan; financial analysis including income statements and balance sheets, procurement, supplier alliances, logistics and fulfillment plans for the products to be produced. A design plan for the proposed new product will also be produced. The expected outcome of each project is a marketable new product together with a design of its supply chain that is resilient, profitable, cost-effective, and responsive to the highly dynamic market. A large number of project opportunities will be encountered as the participants work through the introductory material.