Global Supply Chain Management

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 multinational enterprise, which has become over the years the cornerstone of the supply chain (e.g., Nike, IKEA, Samsung, Ford, Apple, P&G, Wal-Mart) and critically discuss:

(i) how it manages to establish close coordination across the globe (including any offshoring decisions and location-specific advantages),

(ii) how internalises markets through transfer pricing mechanisms and discounted cash flows,

(iii) what are the supply chain risks and associated mitigation strategy

(iv) how advanced technology means (e.g., big data analytics or Internet of Things) help to maintain the competitive advantage.

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). Please refer to the reading list and academic sources issued in Blackboard.

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.