Certificate in Supply Chain Management
Read a Q&A session about the Mays MBA program with Graduate Business Career Services Director Jim Dixey at BusinessWeek Online.
Supply chain management (SCM) is, by its very nature, multidisciplinary. It draws heavily upon an expertise in operations management, business logistics, physical distribution, purchasing, channel management, information technology, and decision sciences. The program leverages SCM and information technology expertise to create an innovative and state-of-the art SCM program.
Such a focus parallels recent trends in industry, and provides significant differentiation and competitive advantages for Mays MBA students. The certificate requirement is completion of a four-course (12-hour) program beyond the SCM specialization course offered in term three of the Mays MBA Program curriculum.
MBA Specialization Course in Supply Chain Management (Term 3). Supply chain management is an enormous topic covering multiple disciplines and employing many quantitative and qualitative tools. This course provides a broad introduction to many critical facets of supply chain management. Discussion ranges from basic topics of inventory management, forecasting, optimization, and network design to more advanced topics of strategic alliances, the value of information in the supply chain, information technology, and global supply chain management. The primary focus is to develop a good understanding of the strategic and tactical issues of SCM and become familiar with SCM functions and activities.
INFO 638 – Information Technology for Supply Chain Management. This course focuses on the management of information technology and its role in supply chain strategy and operations. The potential benefits, financial justification, implementation strategies, risks, and implications of emerging technologies are addressed through case studies, readings, software demonstration, and industry speakers. The course tracks the role of information systems throughout the product’s life cycle beginning with product design, through manufacturing, distribution, deployment and recycling. Specific topics include product life cycle management, collaborative product development, computer integrated manufacturing, factory level information systems (MRP, JIT, etc.) enterprise resource planning, electronic marketplaces, Web-based SCM systems, XML, EDI, customer relationship management, and supplier relationship management, among others.
INFO 669 – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). This course covers the application of information technology for integrating business functions through distributed databases to multiple layers of the organization. The focus centers on the applications in order processing, purchasing, manufacturing and supply chain integration. Each student is provided hands-on-experience using SAP R/3, the industry’s leading ERP software. In addition, each student participates in a computer-based simulation game in which they employ an ERP system to manage the major activities associated with running a manufacturing enterprise.
INFO 636 – Decision Support Systems. This course develops problem-solving skills through the application of quantitative decision-making methodologies to supply chain problems. It focuses on model development, computer solutions and the implementation of results. Example application areas include facility network design, transportation planning and vehicle scheduling, production planning, manpower planning, economic models to support bidding in reverse auctions, risk analysis, and simulation of supply chain processes.
INFO 689 – Purchasing Management. This class addresses strategic orientation toward the design, development and execution of the purchasing function. Sample topics covered include total cost of ownership analysis, supplier development, vendor sourcing strategies, make/buy decisions, contract management, negotiation, buyer/supplier integration, quality management, and electronic procurement systems.
