In your 10-page research paper, you will describe both the business strategy and supply chain strategy for your organization, or for a business unit of your organization, or for some other organization for which you have worked in the past and still retain contacts. Your research paper will describe how this organization aligns its business strategy with its supply chain strategy (use the definition from page 26 of the text to guide you) if they have a formal one. You are to expand this description and supplement it with a critical analysis and suggested improvement steps/actions based on what you have learned in this course.

Key issues to address:

• What opportunities exist to improve supply chain activities through better alignment of logistics and the company's strategic plan?
• In what ways can the supply chain integrate with logics in order to get goods and services moved effectively and efficiently? How might a company's agility in terms of the supply chain and/or logistics improve the movement of goods and /or products?
• What challenges does the interaction of supplier and manufacturers bring to the logistics management arena?
• What processes could be adopted to increase value for the customer?
• What are the impacts of Supply Chain Management on various organizational functions?
• What are the financial implications of improving supply chain management for the company?
• What "best practices" are available to support your recommendations?