Analytical Methods 0 (AM-0)
This course introduces students to the applications of Mathematics in stating and defining managerial problems. In particular, the course enables students to start thinking structurally about decision problems and prepare them for advanced courses in the graduate program.
Course Keywords: Sets, Functions, Matrices, Calculus
Analytical Methods 1 (AM-1)
This course covers the basics of Probability and Statistics necessary for analyzing and modeling decision making under uncertainty. In Probability, the course reviews the fundamentals of probability, distributions of discrete and continuous random variables, multiple random variables, and central limit theorem. In Statistics, the course covers descriptive statistics, statistical sampling, and inference testing.
Course Keywords: Probability, Statistics, Sampling, Hypothesis testing
Analytical Methods 2 (AM-2)
This course introduces data analysis for decision making. Students learn fundamental techniques of using data in order to enhance management decisions. Students are expected to have a certain level of familiarity with basic MS Excel operations.
Course Keywords: Decision Theory, Regression, Simulation
This course is a survey of the fundamental analytic tools and techniques used for forecasting demand and managing inventory in logistics systems and integrated supply chains. The material is taught from a managerial perspective, with an emphasis on where and how specific tools can be used to improve the overall performance and reduce the total cost of a supply chain. The course strongly emphasizes the development and use of fundamental models to illustrate the underlying concepts involved in both intra- and inter-company logistics operations. This is an analytical course. Students will be expected to build and apply mathematical models and analytical tools to make decisions for several typical operational problems encountered in supply chain.
This course links supply chain management to the financial systems and objectives of the corporation. It emphasizes how the supply chain creates value for both the shareholders of the company and the stakeholders affected by the company’s operations. The sessions are a combination of lectures and cases from the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer perspectives that are rich with data. Topics include: supply chain valuation, activity based costing, cash flow projections, working capital management, trade finance.
This course introduces systems thinking and system dynamics modelling applied to strategy, organizational change, and policy design. Students use simulation models, management “flight simulators”, and case studies to develop conceptual and modelling skills for the design and management of high-performance organizations in a dynamic world. Case studies of successful applications of system dynamics in growth strategy, management of technology, operations, supply chains, product development, and others will be discussed. Students will learn to use Causal Loop Diagram and Stock and Flow Modeling tools to simulate and evaluate dynamic changes to inventory and order patterns.
As supply chain managers we may not build systems in future careers, but there is value in knowing what it takes to build one, and having an appreciation of it. The course discusses Software, Systems and Data Modeling covering technology fundamentals, including project management and software processes, UML & data modeling. It includes a project that involves requirements/design & data modeling. At the end of this course as managers you will learn how to understand technology to manage effectively. As engineers and developers you will learn to see the ‘big picture’ and hone your system skills.
This course will enable the student to identify real life problems in industry and academia and be able to model these using operations research (OR) techniques for their solution. The course will cover examples to include linear, integer, network, multi-objective, and stochastic optimization models. The aim is to help students develop optimization and modeling skills with a focus on application of operations research techniques, familiarize students with modern modeling software, provide guidance to the students on how to apply a solution methodology and interpret the results from a managerial or engineering perspective.
Provides an in-depth introduction to the fundamental concepts and techniques related to the design and management of freight transportation. Examines freight transportation as a bridging function for a firm, considering the physical flow of raw materials and finished goods as well as connections to suppliers and customers. Further, analyze the theoretical and practical issues with one-to-one movements, basic form of transportation from a single origin directly to a single destination.
Technical Communication I
This course introduces students to the norms of technical writing and useful word processing techniques to prepare for writing the thesis / project case reports. The course explains the logic and structure of the thesis (or case report) and covers the writing of first three (out of five) chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, and Research Method. It also guides development of the thesis poster.
Prerequisite: Students enrolling in the course must have an approved and active on thesis / research project.
Technical Communication II
This course builds on the lessons of Technical Communication I to guide students to write the remaining two chapters of their thesis: Results and Discussion. The course also guides the students to develop an executive summary for their thesis and a presentation of the thesis.
Prerequisite: Technical Communication I and completion of at least some data analysis for the thesis / research project.
This course combines lectures and discussion with practical exercises to build specific skills for design and execution of practice-oriented research in the supply chain and logistics domain. Readings include books and papers related to research methodology and articles that provide exemplars of various research methods and their design elements. Specific topics covered include starting field research; basic elements of field research design; commonly used research designs in supply chain and logistics such as: survey, case study, action research and modeling; and the nature of research in supply chain management and how it differs from other business and organizational researches. It is expected that students are familiar with basic statistical analysis.
Case Studies in Logistics and Supply Chain Management is a course that covers the creation and management of innovative systems spanning procurement, operations, and distribution. It will have three recurring themes:
- Innovative system design requires breaking out of old paradigms, and seeing the product flow process from a strategic, integrative perspective.
- Changes to product and other flows (information, financial, people) require parallel changes to management systems and structures, such as planning, measurement, compensation, and organization.
- A well-defined change management process is essential.
The course will explore these themes by (1) developing a broad under¬standing of the essentials of supply chain management and logistics, (2) integrating supply chain and logistics system design with corporate and competitive strategy, (3) developing knowledge of logistics management, including inter-functional coordination and change management.
This course provides a foundation for the student in procurement with a focus on four areas: Tenders and Contracts, Negotiation, Total Cost Analysis, and Supplier Relationship Management. Through a combination of lectures, class discussions, interactive team exercises and case studies, the course enables the student to become conversant with the basics of procurement as well as understand their individual capabilities towards becoming a good buyer!
One of the biggest challenges to supply chains in recent times has been the growth of e-commerce and the changes it has imposed on the retail supply chain landscape. This course will focus on the role of supply chains in the changing world of fashion and grocery retail and the technology that is becoming a core element for success in the business to customer model. It will be a mix of lectures on the core technological underpinnings as well as exercises that enable students to truly understand this environment.
This course begins by preparing you to help sort and explore data. The goal is to help identify, understand and communicate the problems at hand. With this you will be able to highlight the occurrences of events and study patterns of interest, their frequency, duration and volume and suggest flags where data needs to be drilled down and looked into more carefully. You will learn to complete root cause analysis using statistical techniques such as regression to help answer the questions identified. By exploring the data available at hand, through techniques such as forecasting and predictive modelling you gain insights into the future which will allow you to take corrective actions and act proactively. This course then leads you to optimization where given limited resources, constraints at hand and competing objectives, you learn how you can use innovation in making better decisions and improve your business.
This course examines supply chain design decisions from a strategic perspective using case studies. The course uses explores Hau Lee concepts of supply chain agility, alignment, and adaptability to guide the exploration of the domain of Supply Chain Strategy. The course is designed to allow students to develop better understanding of the strategic aspects of Supply Chain by understanding both (a) how firms can organize their value chain functions and supply chain partnerships to create synergy among them and (b) how firms can create value in the product supply chains.
This course will discuss the role of distribution centers and how they can perform order fulfilment in the optimal way. The goal is to evaluate order fulfilment strategies, design distribution centers and its layout, understand each fulfilment processes and how information technologies can help to support the processes. This course will provide tools to optimize the distribution center layout as well as put-away and picking processes using simulation software. Performance measurements such as productivity and space utilization of distribution centers will be discussed on depth.
There are three levels of decision making in a supply chain: strategic and designing, planning and operation. This course aims to equip students with required knowledge and expertise in tactical decision-making in the supply chain management. Specifically alignment across functions within a firm and internal supply chain as well as aligning across organizations are the main focus of this course. The course delivery will be a mix of lectures, case discussions, simulations exercises and applications. The course objectives are to develop modeling skills and to provide new concepts and problem-solving tools, applicable to the design and planning of supply chains. Some of the topics that will be covered in this course are: supply chain and postponement, supply chain contracts, network design and configuration, risk pooling, and strategic inventory and safety stock placement.
To provide students with concepts, techniques and tools that will enable them to design, analyze and improve core strategic operational capabilities of the firm; the strategy of execution. It covers a broad range of application domains and industries such as high-tech, online services, sustainability, insurance, health care, retail, fashion, automotive, manufacturing, and more. Special emphasis will be given to the effect of uncertainty in business decision-making, and to the interplay between high-level financial objectives and operational capabilities. In particular, some of the topics covered include: process analysis and innovation, capacity analysis and ROI, inventory management, postponement, production control, risk pooling, operational risk, quality management, revenue management and pricing. The course will include lectures, many case studies, as well as simulations and interactive exercises. A special feature of the course is to engage students in simulation games that provide hands-on demonstration of some of the central concepts. The course will provide a competitive edge in almost every post-graduate career path, including consulting, sustainability, corporate management, NGOs, product development, financial services, private equity, and healthcare.
Designing systems must have the flexibility to take advantage of new opportunities while avoiding disasters. Use of flexible designs is a game-changing approach that often leads to spectacular increases in expected performance. This short course develops real options and decision tree analysis to create design flexibility and measure its value so that it can be incorporated into system optimization and Supply Chain Design. It covers topics such as topics such as identifying and dealing with uncertainty, time value of money, real options, game theory to adding flexibility in engineering design and decisions.
This course is focused on strategic logistics and supply chain management issues with a global perspective. The course will integrate fundamental supply chain management and business knowledge accumulated in other academic and professional settings. The course will address sustainable supply chain management, an area not intuitively connected to business value or engineering practice. It will combine lectures, group discussions, student presentations, and case studies. It will enable students to be better decision makers in managing global supply chains.
The Research module involves independent research to cement what students have learnt in various courses and field work during the program. Every student must complete a Masters thesis to demonstrate the ability to study a complex topic in a practical yet scholarly rigorous manner. To ensure that the research effort is meaningful and unique, students are encouraged to select topics according to their interest that are relevant to the industry – keeping in line with the overall philosophy of MISI to undertake applied research. The corporate sponsored theses are done either in pairs or individually in attempting to answer research questions raised by the sponsoring companies. Every effort is made by the MSCM program to turn this academic requirement into an opportunity for students to conceive and execute independent research on a topic of their choice. The SCALE graduates often reflect on their thesis as one of the most challenging and rewarding components of this Masters program.