Module Directory

This module will explore how firms can simultaneously strategise their product/brand lines and operational processes so that they more effectively align their supply with the demand for their products and services in global environment.

The module also focuses on the development and application of strategic management in the areas of supply chain management with emphasis on industry competition, resource accumulation, organisational learning, and competitive dynamics.

The aims of this module are:

• To define and comprehend the fundamental concepts of operations and supply chains in a global context.


• To provide students with the opportunity to analyse the interdependencies between various components within the operations and supply chain management.


• To investigate the critical roles played by inventory, capacity, and information in optimizing supply chain performance.


• To evaluate strategies for efficient management of inventory, capacity, and information flow across global supply chains.


• To enable students to develop skills in identifying and utilizing key operational indicators to measure and assess the performance of global supply chain operations.


• To explore methods for continuous improvement based on performance metrics.


• To explore different sourcing contract models and their implications for global supply chain management.


• To analyse the roles and relationships of various supply chain partners and stakeholders.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Have obtained a critical understanding principles and practices of evaluating global operations and supply chain performance.


2. Critically evaluate possible evaluation challenges faced by private equity investors, analysts, entrepreneurs, consultants, and top management.


3. Have obtained a critical understanding of the impact of operations and supply chains on everyday life, and develop a critical understanding of applying operations and supply chain management practices in the light of wider issues in global business.


4. Communicate concepts and research to different communities and stakeholder groups.


5. Have developed a critical understanding of operations and supply chain practices for evaluating and improving business performance.

This module explores key aspects of Global Supply Chain and Operations Management, encompassing critical topics such as the definition of operations and supply chains, the roles of inventory, capacity, and information, operational and disruption indicators, valuation skills, lean management, risk analysis, sourcing contracts, supply chain partners, and quantitative modelling.

In the contemporary marketplace, achieving a competitive edge has positioned supply chain management as a pivotal focus for companies. Effectively managing supply networks proves to be a multifaceted and demanding endeavour, shaped by ongoing business trends like the proliferation of product varieties, heightened outsourcing, globalization, and continual advancements in information technology. Balancing supply with demand emerges as a strategic imperative in the current global business landscape: an excess of supply and capacity can lead to costly inventory write-offs, while insufficient supply and capacity can frustrate customers, resulting in revenue loss.

The Global Supply Chain and Operations Management module addresses the intricate integration of suppliers, manufacturing, warehouses, and stores. Indeed, the overarching objective of this module is encapsulated in the idea that "the supply chain encompasses all activities associated with moving goods from the raw-materials stage through to the end user."

Today's Supply Chain learning challenges are:

• A global supply chain with long lead times.


• Rising and shifting customer expectations.


• The increase in labour costs in developing countries.


• The increase in logistics costs.

This module will be delivered via:

• Lectures, and
• Seminars, which include discussion of case studies, journal articles, principle-driven analysis, data-driven analysis.

The lectures will be developed around the key principles and practices of evaluating and improving operations and supply chain performance for global business as mentioned in the indicative course content and will use a range of examples and cases from business practice and society to demonstrate the application of concepts, frameworks, and tools.

The seminars will concentrate particularly on the elaboration of specific frameworks and tools with reference to their possible application through the selection of business problems which were either already experienced by students, that arose or are likely to arise in organisational, management, and business situations.