The global supply chain is more than direct ownership of production and distribution. It is also a network of relationships with both internal and external partners.
Global Supply Chain Management
Assignment 2:
The global supply chain is more than direct ownership of production and distribution. It is also a network of relationships with both internal and external partners. It requires establishing relationships with organisations operating under completely different political, economic, and physical environments.
Based on the above statement, you are asked to choose a large enterprise, which has become over the years the cornerstone of the supply chain (e.g., Nike, Tesco, IKEA, Samsung, Ford, Apple, P&G, DHL, Nestle) and critically discuss: (i) how it manages to establish close coordination across the globe (including any outsourcing/offshoring decisions and location-‐‑specific advantages), (ii) how distinctive R&D investments helped the company to increase its revenues, (iii) what are the supply chain risks and the associated mitigation strategy (iv) how advanced technology means/tools (e.g., 3D Printing, Big Data analytics or Internet of Things) help to maintain the competitive advantage.
Assessment Criteria
This assignment represents 50% of your overall module mark. The maximum word count is 3000 words (+/-‐‑ 10%). You will also need to consider the following when completing your assignment:
- Quality of executive summary (does it give a brief complete summary of your paper for an executive to read?)
- Establishment of relevant theory (e.g. how supply chain environments are differentiated from region to region?)
- Allocation of credit and sources used (have I included references and citations to the material I have used?)
- Clarity of argument
- Overall report presentation including spelling and grammar
- Adherence to nominated word limit (+/-‐‑ 10%)
- Word processed (letter size 12, times new roman, 1.5 space)
- Fully referenced (Harvard Referencing System).
Criteria |
Marks |
Use of theory |
30 |
Examples |
30 |
Quality of argument |
10 |
Reference to course ideas |
10 |
Citation and References |
10 |
Conclusions |
10 |
Marking Scheme
The assignment must be submitted via OnlineCampus. Please remember that marks for assignment will also be awarded in relation to presentation and structure, and aspects such as use of examples, figures, tables, illustrations and statistics that indicate wider/independent reading.
Relates to Learning Outcomes:
- Analyse and critically evaluate the ways in which supply chains are adapted in view of specific market dynamics and environments.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of global lead-‐‑time management and time-‐‑compression.
- Critically analyse the theory, concepts and models of global supply chain management to interpret and understand complex and ambiguous risks in global logistics and supply chain environments.
- Locate, summarise and synthesise a range of information from published literature and electronic sources on GSCM.
Assessment Housekeeping:
You are required to follow the University’s regulations regarding plagiarism and citing sources and references used. Assignments may not be submitted late. Marking penalties for late submission will follow the University regulations for PMC