Project 3: Supply Chain Management Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st century
The point of this topic is to further explore a specific issue related to supply chain management within the modern economy that is relevant to students’ fields of study or career aspirations.
Level D: Do BOTH of the following:
Select a topic that describes a supply chain challenge or opportunity, which can be drawn from operations topics or other relevant areas. Aim for specificity, such as focusing on a particular industry, region, or business discipline. Document your selected topic in your Learning Log. Examples include transportation issues in developing economies, supply chain challenges during wartime, responses to natural disasters, technological advancements in supply chain management, or ethical issues related to outsourcing.
Communicate your chosen topic to your professor and inform two classmates about it. Record these discussions in your Learning Log.
Level C: Complete Level D and three of the following tasks:
Find two blog posts discussing aspects of your topic, note their URLs, summarize the posts in your Learning Log, and refer to these summaries in your project.
Find two job postings related to your topic, note their URLs, analyze the qualifications asked for, and include this analysis in your project.
Find a newspaper article addressing your topic, note its source, summarize it, and reference it in your project.
Find a magazine article on your topic, note its source, summarize it, and reference it in your project.
Identify two cartoons depicting aspects of your topic, document them in your Learning Log, and reference them in your project.
Find a video clip from a movie or TV show that relates to your topic, note its URL, summarize the content, and include this in your Learning Log.
Repeat one of the above options from this list.
Level B: Complete Level C plus four additional tasks:
Find an article about your topic in a trade journal, note its citation, summarize main points, and craft three
questions for the author based on your findings.
Find an academic journal article on your topic via Google Scholar, cite it fully, summarize the key points, and develop three questions for the authors.
Find a scholarly book on your topic, cite it fully, read two chapters, and summarize your learnings. Identify three new sources recommended within the book for further reading.
Identify an online expert on your topic, describe their qualifications, and prepare ten interview questions for them.
Find a relevant TED or TED-X talk, note its URL, summarize insights gained, and document this in your Learning Log.
Identify an on-campus or community expert related to your topic, describe their background, conduct an interview, and record insights in your Learning Log.
Repeat one of the previous options from this list.
Level A: Complete Level B and develop a project that integrates your activities (from D–B) to address the fundamental question: What is Operations Management? Your project should synthesize your research and insights into a comprehensive presentation or report.
Additional options include creating a news article or blog post focusing on modern supply chain challenges or opportunities such as global trade, outsourcing, regional costs, technological innovations, or improvements in healthcare or education efficiency, among others, reflecting current trends and issues in supply chain management.