Mini-MBA: Digital Supply Chain Management Curriculum

New Perspectives in Supply Chain

Your Supply Chain is a complex network of nodes, signals, and flows with symbiotic relationships and interdependencies that must be managed flawlessly. This session will start at the "50,000-foot level" by examining how today’s rapidly advancing technologies are transforming the entire industry. This session will outline and define the “Profile of a Strategically Relevant SupplyChain”. Learn how the Strategically Relevant Supply Chain has the capability to be flexible, responsive and adaptive which enables supply chain leaders to respond quickly to corporate needs, customer needs and market change.

Key Takeaways:

  • Learn the definition of operations strategy as it relates to supply chain management
  • Analyze the impact of globalization, consumerism and technology on supply chains
  • Understand the evolution of supply chain from a linear model to an integrated ecosystem
  • Gain an appreciation for the importance of effective leadership and talent in supply chain maturity

The Impact of Global Economics

Gain a deeper understanding of the importance of our global economy to align supply chain decisions with finance, strategy, and leadership. You will learn how to make better financial decisions, manage levers, build strategic partnerships, and develop a more effective leadership approach to help guide your organization through globalization, growth, and macroeconomic shocks.

Key Takeaways:

  • Learn the significance of deregulation, corporate taxes, and free trade in maximizing the efficiency of supply chain strategy
  • Acquire practical tools for leveraging macroeconomic knowledge in a global supply chain context
  • Learn how to negotiate and navigate around global trade war minefields and tariffs that impact supply chains

Creating an Omni-Channel Customer Experience

Break your old chain and push past your traditional channel to forge new networks and partnerships across multiple channels to achieve Supply Chain nirvana. Unlock your true supply chain potential and delight your customers with a frictionless and seamless experience. Give your customers what they want, when they want it, where they want it and how they want it – anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

Key Takeaway:

  • Learn the definition of an omni-channel experience as an integral component of an effective supply chain
  • Gain a foundational understanding of the evolution and current state of omni-channel experiences
  • Understand and utilize the journey mapping process to create experiences that are aligned to customer expectations
  • Understand at a high level how to design fulfillment strategies for omni-channel experiences

The Digital Supply Chain

Creating a “digital supply chain” is a hot topic today. There are many different interpretations about what it means to be digital, and what the costs and benefits are. In this module, we develop an understanding and definition of a Digital Supply Chain, discuss its impact across different supply chain functions, and provide insights on how to develop these capabilities.

Key Takeaways:

  • Understand what it means to manage a digital supply chain
  • Learn specific applications of digitization to support business
  • Consider the different approaches to developing digital capabilities

Supply Chain Analytics - From Cloud to Clarity

Supply Chain leaders need information to understand what is happening, diagnose root causes and take action to drive performance. In this module, we discuss importance of analytics in the supply chain, discuss metrics and key performance indicators, and how to use them effectively. Advanced analytics are also discussed, with some specific use cases and examples.

Key Takeaways:

  • Understand the different levels of data analytics and their uses
  • Learn how to identify different types of metrics, including leading and lagging to increase effective decision making
  • Learn how to use analytics to drive organizational and supply chain performance
  • Gain an understanding of the evolution and use of advanced analytics

Supply Chain Fulfillment

In this module, we will introduce various fulfillment techniques utilized across multiple areas in supply chain operations, including production processes, inventory management techniques, capacity/yield management, and process improvement tools. Specifically, in this course, we will demonstrate how production processes are organized and designed, introduce inventory management system logic and principles, discuss how service systems can be managed to improve customer service rates and introduce continuous process improvement techniques to reduce waste and variability.

Key Takeaways:

Upon completion of this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the tradeoffs among different types of production/operations systems in terms of key characteristics, management tasks, organization and control, and impact on the strategy and direction of the firm.
  • Identify the strategic production/operations management issues and their relationship to the other functional areas of the firm.
  • Analyze the managerial implications of choosing policies that can be used to manage supply chain operations.

The Green Value Chain

Green initiatives have moved beyond compliance issues into a means of generating value. Learn how implementing green initiatives can raise productivity, enhance customer and supplier relations, support innovation and propel new growth in the emerging value creation model. Participants will also learn why complete transparency with highly connected consumers is a necessity in the green value chain.

Key Takeaways:

  • Review the evolution of the sustainability conversation and current trends
  • Learn the sustainable use of natural resources and how to increase the share of renewable and recycled resources at the value chain's input side
  • Understand how to maximize material and energy efficiency at each stage of the supply chain process
  • Learn how to reduce negative environmental impacts as outputs at all points of the chain

Supply Chain Negotiations

This module examines the bilateral nature of negotiations with a specific emphasis on distributive (zero sum game) negotiations. Students will learn about the five steps in the negotiation process. They will also learn when to make the first offer, what should be the first offer, how to diffuse and anchor and other hardball tactics. In addition, they will learn about biases of the mind that can impact a negotiation. Lastly, students will learn how to negotiate a job offer and deal with ultimatums.

Key Takeaways:

  • Understand the key elements for successful negotiations
  • Learn how to gain a competitive advantage and build credibility with internal and external suppliers
  • Learn the impact of investigative negotiation in supply chain
  • Understand the block to integrative negotiations

Digitizing the Supply Chain Workforce with Robot Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a new technology poised to drive speed, accuracy, and resource efficiencies in the Supply Chain. Despite this potential, many organizations face challenges in creating successful RPA programs that achieve scale and positive ROI. In this module, we will explore applications of RPA and emerging Intelligent Automation technologies, review real case studies and lessons learned from a large-scale RPA program, and create an action plan to integrate RPA into your Supply Chain.

Key Takeaways:

  • Learn how to discover, assess, and analyze business processes for robotic process automation
  • Understand real applications of RPA in Supply Chain processes, and collaborate with peers to create a business case that can be brought back into their company.
  • Gain an understanding of how an enterprise-scale RPA practice operates, including key considerations for creating an RPA program at their organization.
  • Learn the strengths and limitations of RPA, and gain awareness of other technologies that help businesses create the future of work

Supply Chain Finance

Supply Chains are made up of three primary flows: product, information, and finances. The latter is often poorly understood by supply chain management professionals. In most companies, the structure of the supply chain is determined by financial considerations. Thus, effective SCM leaders must be able to understand the impact that SCM has on the company and vice versa. We propose that the purpose of the supply chain has also expanded from source, make, deliver to include fund.

Key Takeaways:

  • You will understand the financial impacts of decisions and the “levers” available to supply chain a professional, including measuring what the supply chain achieves so changes are meaningful and sustainable
  • You will learn to predict the areas of impact that supply chain management has on the financials of the company
  • Discover tools that can be used to fund the organization and the supply chain.
  • Develop a model of total cost of ownership

Program Overview

For an overview of our Mini-MBA: Digital Supply Chain Management program plus program benefits and outcomes, please click here.