In this assignment, you are to speak with three different individuals from three different types of companies for 15 minutes each about their operations and supply. This could be companies you work for or have worked for in the past. Could be speaking with the local Walmart manager, your manufacturing manager and a local florist. Or maybe you know someone who manages supply for Aldi. Maybe you have a family member that runs an auto repair shop. The companies are not as important as getting diverse input from type and size of the organizations.
The interview should include questions similar to the following, but do not have to include everything. These are for your consideration:
- What is your single greatest supply chain threat?
- How is disaster planning coordinated for your organization?
- What steps do you take for local sourcing?
- Are there significant environmental steps you take to avoid carbon footprint issues?
- How does forecasting work in your organization?
With the information from the interviews, share the answers by comparing and contrasting the differences in each organization. Photos, lists, Powerpoint, paragraph format or other forms of presenting this in writing are suitable for this assignment. Five written pages in APA format (plus cover page and references) or 20 PowerPoint slides (with references) would be about correct for this assignment.
Treat this as a journalistic effort to delve into "other people's" worlds of operations.