Syllabus SCM 479 Spring 2017

Steven Brown

Syllabus
SCM 479
Supply Chain Strategy

PROFESSOR’S INFORMATION

Steven W. Brown, MBA, CSCP

Principal Lecturer of Supply Chain Management

E-Mail Address: steven.brown@asu.edu preferred method of communication

Please note that steven.brown@thunderbird.asu.edu is also a valid email address for me
Office Phone: 480-965-3137
Office Location: BA 427
Office Hours: Mondays from 2:00pm to 3:00pm and by appointment

COURSE OVERVIEW
We look at supply chains as an integrated system of processes and we will consider how to
manage processes across the supply chain. The course approach uses a combination of our
textbook, case studies, and articlesto help us better understand strategic management and
strategic control of supply chains.
Material that supports your graded assignments will be presented in every class.In-class
discussions are designed to enhance knowledge gained from the reading assignments, not as a
substitute for reading the assignments.To assist your preparation for our discussions, you will
complete online quizzes over the textbook materialand Harvard case studiesprior to each
classroom meeting.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the end of this course you will be able to:
 Demonstrate your knowledge of the principlesand processes of supply chain
management and how they can be integrated into an effective business strategy
 Analyze a problem, thus demonstrating critical thinking as applied to strategic business
issues andproblem solving from a systems perspective
 Effectively communicate analytical results
The course objectives are directly addressed through classroom discussions, quizzes over our
reading assignments, and student written reports. Your final exam is designed to test your skills
in these three areas.
Additionally, as we acknowledge in our classroom discussions the impact of business ethics and
global perspectives on effective supply chain management, we will reinforce our ability to:
 Demonstrate an awareness of ethical issues in supply chain management
 Demonstrate an awareness of global issues in supply chain management
ASU UNDERGRADUATE GENERAL STUDIES REQUIREMENT
This course meets the General Studies requirement in literacy and critical inquiry (L). Literacy is
competence in written and oral discourse. Critical inquiry is the gathering, interpretation and
evaluation of evidence. The literacy and critical inquiry requirement helps students sustain and
extend their ability to reason critically and communicate clearly through language.

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 Syllabus SCM 479 Spring 2017
Steven Brown

PREREQUISITE
SCM 432, Planning and Control for Supply Chain Management

REQUIRED READING
TEXTBOOK: Supply Chain Management: Processes, Partnerships, Performance 4th
ed.,Douglas M. Lambert, published by SCM Institute, 2014.
COURSE PACK: We will read and discuss a set of articles and case studies to supplement
our textbook content. You will purchase this course pack directly from
Harvard Business Publishing; instructions are on our Blackboard™ site in
the “Course Information” tab.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
At times I may provide some additional content on our Blackboard™ site.

COMMUNICATION
I prefer to be addressed as Steven; please note that, although I certainly am a professor, I am
nota PhD. I will use Blackboard™ and email extensively to communicate pertinent information to
the class. It is the responsibility of each individual to regularly monitor the Blackboard™ site and
your ASU-assigned email account for these communications. You are responsible for any
information posted to Blackboard™ or sent by email.

If you email me about any aspect of a team assignment, you must copy the message to
all your team members. In the “Cc:” box of your email, enter the email address of each of your
teammates. This allows me to easily reply to the entire team and also helps me to ensure
effective team communication and coordination.

COURSE METHODOLOGY
Everything you need for this course can be found on our Blackboard™ site……schedule of
classes, reading assignments for each class, assignment sheets, due dates of graded
assignments, everything. The Blackboard™ Announcement page provides initial instructions to
find the material and content.

CLASSROOM PROTOCOL
I expect you to attend class. We meet once per week and the meeting is divided into 2 distinct
sessions. You should attend each session for the knowledge to be gained.
You are responsible for everything discussed in class, including administrative
information, whether you are present or not.
Please arrive on time and stay for the entire period. Arriving late and leaving early are extremely
disruptive to classroom activities; therefore, they should be a rare exception. If you have a
scheduling conflict on a specific day, then you should choose whether to attend class or to
attend the other activity; you should not try to attend both.

In the rare event that you arrive to class late, enter the room quietly and sit in the first available
seat.
In the rare event that you need to leave class early, please do so at the break. If, unexpectedly,
you must leave a class session early, please do so quietly.

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This is a senior-level course. I do not give lectures in class; I lead group discussion sessions. I
expect you to contribute appropriately to our classroom discussions. Through our discussions of
reading assignments and case studies, we learn from each other. Our success in this class is
very dependent upon advance preparation and voluntary participation from YOU. Please
contribute but also please provide everyone else ample opportunity to participate.

PP slides used in classroom sessions are not provided; it is up to you to determine what notes
you should take. For each session, ask yourself “what is the one (or maybe two) most important
things to learn from this session?”. This is the very best way to prepare for the final exam.
Please do not multi-task during class; please pay attention and participate.Please do not carry
on private conversations or use electronic devices for non-class purposes.
Please do not bring food into the classroom for any reason.Depending on the type of food,
it is often disrupting and sometimes offensive to others in the classroom. Because odors often
linger, please do not bring food into the classroom before class starts.

Your guests are welcome in our class at any time. Moms, dads, other family members, friends
considering a degree in SCM, people interested in the scheduled class topic, well-behaved
children caught up in a scheduling conflict - all are welcome at any time.Please let me know at
the beginning of class that a guest is present!

ASSIGNMENTS

Points
210 Chapter Quizzes
Throughout the semester, there are 14on-line quizzes over the textbook reading
assignments. Each quiz consists of 5 multiple-choice questions and each question is
worth 3 points. An Assignment Sheet providing more details is posted to the
“Chapter Quizzes” section of Blackboard™.Each quiz must be completed prior to
midnight before the class session covering the corresponding reading
assignment.Due dates are posted in the Schedule of Classes.
330 Harvard Quizzes
Throughout the semester, there are 11 on-line quizzes over the Harvard Business
Publishing case studies that are assigned for reading. Each quiz consists of 5
multiple-choice questions and each question is worth 6 points. An Assignment Sheet
providing more details is posted to the “Harvard Quizzes” section of
Blackboard™.Each quiz must be completed prior to midnight before the class session
covering the corresponding reading assignment. Due dates are posted in the
Schedule of Classes.

300 Team Assignments: Case Study Analyses

Students will self-select into teams of 5on the first day of class. Each team will
complete a written analytical report for two assigned case studies. The first report is
worth 100 points and the second report is worth 200 points. An Assignment Sheet
providing specific guidance for each case studyis posted in the “Team Presentations”
section of Blackboard™.A spreadsheet is also posted there, noting which teams are
assigned to which case studies. Each report must be submitted prior to midnight
before the class session covering that specific case study.The due dates are posted
in the Schedule of Classes.

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Steven Brown

If you are not on a team by the end of the first day of class, I will, at my
discretion, assign you to a team OR assign you to complete the two reports by
yourself.
200 Final Examination
The final exam is a set of multiple-choice questions selected from our reading
assignments and classroom discussions. You are allowed one page (front and back)
of hand-written notes in the exam session. Your notes must be original; no copies are
allowed. Your notes must be given to me at the end of the exam session.
The final exam sessions for this course are scheduled on “non-standard” dates and
times and they may be held in a different classroom. I will send a Blackboard
announcement to you when the final exam schedule is determined.

1040 Total Points Possible

All assignments must be submitted before the due date and time.I do not accept late
assignments.If you wait until the last minute to submit your assignment, you must assume the
risk that something could go wrong and you will miss the deadline. Let me emphasize this point
one more time: I do not accept late assignments.
If you wish to discuss your grade on any assignment, please come to office hours or make an
appointment. You must do this within 7 days of the date the grade was posted. Do not wait until
the end of the semester to discuss your assignment grades with me; that will be too late.
You cannot “re-do” an assignment to earn additional points. If I allowed this for one student for
one assignment, I would have to allow this for every student for every assignment. This is
simply not feasible from a capacity standpoint.
I do notprovide additional work to earn points to make up for poor performance on an
assignment or to replace a missed assignment. Managing the complexities of the course
requirements is very much a part of your learning experience in this class; this is no different
than the need to manage the requirements of a demanding project at work.
The total points earned at the end of the semester determine your grade for the course.
Remember that assignments have different point values, so some assignments impact your
grade more than others. It is important to note that on written assignments, you do not start with
100% and have points deducted for errors; you start with 0% and earn points for the quality of
your work. An “A” paper must truly be excellent.
Grade for the Course (total points):
A+ 970 to 1040
A 930 to 969
A- 900 to 929
B+ 870 to 899
B 830 to 869
B- 800 to 829
C+ 770 to 799
C 700 to 769
D 600 to 699

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Steven Brown

E 0 to 599

I do not automatically “round up” at the end of the semester, no matter how close you are to the
next grade level.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Please do not cheat in my class. Please do not allow anyone else to cheat. I expect you to
complete team assignments with your teammates and individual assignments on your own.
Cheating on an assignment will result in a score of zero for that assignment. If you submit
someone else’s work on any assignment, you will receive zero points for the assignment. If you
give your work to another student, you must assume that they will use your work in some
manner and present it as their own work. Therefore, if you give your work to someone else for
any reason, you will also receive zero points for the assignment.If a teammate does not
participate in a team assignment, but their name is listed on the paper as an author, everyone
on the team will receive a zero for that assignment.

In addition, anyone who cheats on an assignment will be referred to the Assistant Dean’s office
for an academic integrity violation.
All work must be YOUR original work. You certainly may discuss assignments with other
students and other teams, in fact, I encourage you to discuss assignments outside of class; but
you may not share your work for any reason. Representing someone else’s work as your own is
a form of plagiarism, whether it is from another student or from an Internet source.
Please follow the guidance provided by the university and the business school concerning
academic integrity. By now you should be very aware of those requirements. See the “W.P.
Carey Honor Code” posted on our Blackboard™ site for more information and insight.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
An Excel™ spreadsheet is posted to Blackboard™ providing a detailed schedule of class topics,
reading assignments, graded assignments, and due dates.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Assignment Sheet for Quizzes, the Assignment Sheet for the Team Assignments,and the Schedule
of Classes spreadsheet are considered to be extensions of this syllabus.

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