Advanced Supply Management

Looking back over the past twenty years, competitive sourcing created significant value for companies by driving substantial cost savings directly to the bottom line. However, the widespread use of standard professional sourcing techniques has eroded the major advantage that it had for pioneers in the 1990s and in the early years of the new century. Since the financial crisis, macroeconomic forces and global competition have created an even more turbulent and uncertain business environment; just saving money on external expenditures will not be sufficient for firms to stay competitive and survive in the years to come. This course will familiarize you with more advanced supply strategies that target at creating value beyond cost, e.g., value chain optimization through supplier assessment/development, risk management, and contracting. You will be able to understand decision schemes behind these concepts both from a theoretical/scientific and managerial perspective. Real-life relevance is a key objective of the course.

The learning objectives are:

(1) Acquire in-depth knowledge of various supply management strategies

(2) Gain an understanding of the theories and paradigms that build the foundation of advanced supply management research and practice

(3) Get new perspectives on purchasing/supply management issues from class discussions with fellow students, academics, and industry experts sharing their work experiences