MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management

This module examines the principles and practices of supply chain management, and examines supply chain management in a variety of sectors and contexts, from consumer goods markets to business-to-business services. It also looks at supply chain management critically, as just one manifestation of the more general issue of trans-organisational operations management. Most of the time will be spent considering inter-organisational relationships from various perspectives, but it will also be necessary to understand how they relate to matters within the organisation.

This module introduces students to the key concepts, approaches, and challenges in logistics management and examines the strategic and value-adding role of logistics within organisations and supply chains. It is designed to provide students with in-depth insights on contemporary issues around the logistics function in order to enhance their decision-making capabilities when confronted with dilemmas in dealing with tactical and strategic issues across industries and contexts.

Trade has become more global and organisations increasingly conduct business in difficult environments. For instance, Shell extracts a substantial amount of its crude oil in politically unstable countries while most disaster relief operations take place in insecure and resource-poor settings. The future logistics professional, therefore, has to seamlessly manage operations across varying contexts, from resource-poor settings to highly industrialised ones. This module, therefore, tackles relevant logistics issues with these developments in mind.

The teaching approach is interactive and combines theoretical and practical aspects. Students learn through role-playing, evaluating and discussing case studies, as well as gathering the perspectives of practitioners and academics.

This module presents the tools and techniques needed to effectively initiate, plan and manage a project through to successful completion. The approach is primarily practical and pragmatic, providing an integrated planning process that supports the production of a holistic and robust project plan. Examples from a broad range of industries are introduced throughout the module. After completing this module you will be able to:

• Explain and critically evaluate the purpose, importance & relevance of project management and its role in delivering successful projects
• Explain and critically evaluate the core knowledge of project management processes and methods within practical applications
• Explain and critically evaluate how the use of processes and methods links with the development of positive attitudes and behaviours appropriate to successful project completion

This module provides you with the skills to work professionally, think creatively and reflect critically, practice responsibly and to conduct a research project. It enables you to be workplace-ready but at the same time have the foundation to progress your studies to doctoral level, if you so wish. After completing this module you will be able to:

• Critically engage with other people’s work, sources of information, digital information systems and problems in practice
• Formulate valid and reliable research questions, hypotheses or conclusions through critical analysis and interpretation of information
• Appreciate the connection between research philosophy, approach and design as well as data collection and analysis techniques
• Develop a research design that is suitable and justifiable to address a particular research question, considering the relative strengths and weaknesses of different research methods
• Demonstrate the adoption of ethical standards in research and /or professional environments including the appraisal of ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment
• Evaluate and develop responsible practice in terms of economic, legal, ethical, social, environmental and philanthropic aspects for self-regulation in a business environment
• Demonstrate understanding and knowledge of key theories of critical reflection and development towards becoming a reflective practitioner

This module provides you with a theoretical and practical understanding of relevant concepts relating to organisational behaviour and leadership in the contexts of projects, supply chains and (temporary multi) organisations. This incorporates an understanding of self-awareness, teams within and between organisations, leader- and followership, as well as the leadership of change. After completing this module you will be able to:

• Interpret their own self-awareness as well as their own self-management
• Demonstrate social awareness including empathy and relationship management, including team membership
• Examine development, composition and performance of teams and in particular of cross-functional teams
• Explain the reasons for, and advantages and disadvantages of alternative formal organisational structures
• Appraise organisational structural contexts to lead, work and communicate within and between organisations in a physical and virtual environment
• Evaluate and apply team leadership in terms of leading with and without authority in different organisational structural contexts
• Appraise and lead change in organisations

Successfully managing its operations and its supply chain activities is central to any organisation’s ability to compete for revenues and resources.

The aim of this module is to introduce a series of innovations and capabilities in operations and supply chain management that have been associated with excellence and outstanding performance.

These include strategic procurement management, lean production principles, supply chain contract design and negotiation, supply chain financing and risk management, and managing business process flows.

The module will look at these subjects in both manufacturing and service contexts.

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the key principles, theories, practices and tools of strategic sourcing. The module also aims to initiate students to the main approaches and tactics used in commercial negotiations and to contribute to the development of their negotiation skills. A number of important sourcing topics will be covered: from developing a sourcing strategy and analysing strategic sourcing decisions, setting up an efficient sourcing process and selecting and evaluating suppliers, to planning and conducting buyer-supplier negotiations in an effective way. The module will also make students aware of contemporary developments in PSM such as digital sourcing.

This module provides you with the skills to work professionally, think creatively and reflect critically, practice responsibly and to conduct a research project. It enables you to be workplace-ready but at the same time have the foundation to progress your studies to doctoral level, if you so wish. After completing this module you will be able to:

• Critically engage with other people’s work, sources of information, digital information systems and problems in practice
• Formulate valid and reliable research questions, hypotheses or conclusions through critical analysis and interpretation of information
• Appreciate the connection between research philosophy, approach and design as well as data collection and analysis techniques
• Develop a research design that is suitable and justifiable to address a particular research question, considering the relative strengths and weaknesses of different research methods
• Demonstrate the adoption of ethical standards in research and /or professional environments including the appraisal of ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment
• Evaluate and develop responsible practice in terms of economic, legal, ethical, social, environmental and philanthropic aspects for self-regulation in a business environment
• Demonstrate understanding and knowledge of key theories of critical reflection and development towards becoming a reflective practitioner

This module provides you with a theoretical and practical understanding of relevant concepts relating to organisational behaviour and leadership in the contexts of projects, supply chains and (temporary multi) organisations. This incorporates an understanding of self-awareness, teams within and between organisations, leader- and followership, as well as the leadership of change. After completing this module you will be able to:

• Interpret their own self-awareness as well as their own self-management
• Demonstrate social awareness including empathy and relationship management, including team membership
• Examine development, composition and performance of teams and in particular of cross-functional teams
• Explain the reasons for, and advantages and disadvantages of alternative formal organisational structures
• Appraise organisational structural contexts to lead, work and communicate within and between organisations in a physical and virtual environment
• Evaluate and apply team leadership in terms of leading with and without authority in different organisational structural contexts
• Appraise and lead change in organisations

The purpose of this course is to understand and use in somewhat simple contexts some of the basic models from logistics. Algebraic formulations will be used as vehicle for describing models and discussing their relationships. There will be a focus on modelling, the use of professional software, and the understanding of results. For problems where exact solutions are hard to achieve even for simple instances of the problem, heuristics will be discussed.

The main topics which are covered are: facility location, network design, warehousing and inventory control, vehicle routing and scheduling, and environmental considerations in transportation and distribution operations.

Students will learn how to use information technologies to track the status of the company (e.g. by using dashboards). They will also learn how to create a decision support tool (i.e. the dashboard).

They will also become familiar with techniques and tools used to evaluate the performance of business processes, to make the diagnosis and to suggest improvements to make them still more effective and efficient.

Students will also learn about the contribution of information technologies in achieving the company's strategic objectives, either as an innovation leading to a strategic advantage or as a further support to the company's strategy.

The aim of this module is to provide students' a valuable opportunity to research a real business problem for an organisation, delivering a viable and well documented solution to the client. For a successful project, students' will employ their knowledge of methods (qualitative/quantitative), problem scoping and the research literature to identify and implement a solution approach to the business problem. Throughout the project student will develop their knowledge and understanding of professional engagement both in their interactions with the client and in the reporting of their outputs and discourse on their research

The other option for the dissertation is to undertaken a research project. This module gives you the opportunity to develop into competent and capable research investigators able to design, develop and implement a research methodology appropriate to the research being undertaken. It will provide you with the opportunity to deliver a robust, rigorous and purposeful research project that draws upon and contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of project management. The module, as part of the wider programme, aims to support the development of a generation of reflective practitioners.