Supply chain management: Be global

Businesses and their supply chains are facing increasing competition and uncertainty in what is now a truly globalised trade environment. To remain competitive, organisations need to think globally – ensuring supply chains meet customer demands while minimising costs and maximising responsiveness. From a strategic perspective, this involves making important trade-off decisions between cost, quality and flexibility of supply chains. Via structured learning activities (video lectures, quizzes, discussion prompts and written assessments) this course will equip you with the future-focused capabilities needed to design and manage effective, sustainable and efficient global supply chains of tomorrow.

• Strategic supply chain management in global markets
• Welcome to week 1 of Be global! This week you will start the discussion of global supply chains and supply chain management. You will examine a number of global supply chains and their components. You will explore global supply chains from various perspectives including their main product/service offerings and how it would affect the nature of supply chains and their characteristics. And you will investigate strategic fit in supply chains and the ways to ensure your supply chain strategies are well aligned with your operational capabilities and global market requirements. So are you ready to start this week?
• Logistics drivers of global supply chains
• You might have heard of supply chain management being associated with the term 'logistics' as 'supply chain logistics'. Logistics plays a critical role in efficient supply chain management and that is why sometimes its name is synonymous with supply chain management. This week you will be equipped with the knowledge of the main logistics drivers in supply chains and the trade-offs that can be made between each two sets of logistics drivers. These trade offs would of course reflect supply chain strategy and by using several case examples, you will learn how to consider these trade offs and when to apply them. You will also learn about the push and pull strategies in supply chains and why they complement your decisions about the logistics drivers. So if you are ready, let's jump into this week's content!
• Principles of global supply chain network design
• If you want to expand your business globally, or if you have been tasked to develop your supply chain network in a new country or market, how do you approach this problem? What decisions do you have to make? What are the main considerations you need to focus on? Going global or expanding your business globally has certain requirements and implications for supply chains. This week you will learn about all these requirements and how they can be formulated in a specific global context
• Sourcing decisions in global markets
• The success or failure of many small to large businesses globally often are dependent upon their sourcing decisions. As a supply chain manager you need to make the right decisions about in-house production or outsourcing, selecting your suppliers, and how much inventory and from whom to buy as some of the most fundamental yet complex decision tasks that businesses and supply chain managers should fulfill. By the end of this week you will have tools and techniques to help you in this decision making process.
• Risks and sustainability in global supply chains
• There is not a day passing by that you do not hear about a major natural or man-made disaster happening around the globe. These adverse events usually disrupt business operations and in severe cases impose millions or billions of dollars of financial and/or reputation losses to businesses. The study of risks and sustainability in supply chains will specifically enable you to identify these sources of risks and developing remedies to manage these risks and their consequences to achieve resilient and more sustainable supply chains. By reviewing and practicing this week's content you will gain a deep knowledge of how global businesses manage risks and sustainability in their supply chains.
• Supply chain diagnostic framework
• Throughout this course you have been introduced to the supply chain diagnostic framework that contains all the fundamental theories and schools of thoughts that a global supply chain manager should know and adopt. This week you will put your knowledge into test and see if you can apply it to various business cases. You will be also introduced to more contemporary debates in global supply chain management in the use of disruptive technologies in supply chain operations.