OPRS S222 Managing Supply Chains: A Problem-Based Learning Approach
Course Coordinator: Prof. Nesim K. Erkip
Ben Gurion University (Israel): Prof. Ehud Menipaz
Bilkent University (Turkey): Prof. Alper Sen
Maastricht University (Netherlands): TBA
Yale University (USA): Prof. Aysegul Toptal
Course Outline
Supply chain management deals with the management of materials, information and
financial flows in a network consisting of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and
customers. The topics covered in this course include logistics network configuration, risk
pooling, multi-echelon inventory systems, value of information in supply chains,
coordination of the supply chain using contracts and other mechanisms, distribution
strategies for the supply chain and issues related to product design.
Problem based learning is adopted as the instructional approach; the students will learn
different topics working on real-life cases as teams. Supply chains span the globe.
Traditional courses on such topics however are confined to a single classroom. This
course instead will break the mold by encompassing four countries: Israel, Turkey, the
Netherlands and the USA.
Dates and Participating Universities
Summer Semester of 2012 (June 4 to July 13, 2012)
Participating Universities (in alphabetical order): Ben Gurion University (Israel),
Bilkent University (Turkey), Maastricht University (Netherlands), Yale University
(USA).
Each campus has appointed an instructor. The overall coordinator of the course is
Professor Nesim Erkip of Bilkent University who will be present at Yale University for
the duration of the course.
Course Objectives
The course will emphasize the importance of developing a problem-based solution to
typical supply chain management problems. With its special structure it is expected to
fulfill advantages of working in teams of international nature, as well as preparing
students for such environments.
The objective of the course with respect to supply chain management is to give an
overview and a framework to think about how to design, manage, and improve supply
chains.
Who can take this course?
Students who have taken introductory courses in calculus, and probability & statistics can
take this course. Those who have completed their third year in their undergraduate
programs are especially encouraged to apply. Students wishing to register for this course
should apply to the campus coordinator of the course as soon as possible. At Yale, the
campus coordinator will be James Cohen (james.cohen@yale.edu).
Course Material:
Required Textbook:
Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., and Simchi-Levi, E., Designing and Managing the
Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies, and Cases, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, 2007
Supplemental Text:
Chopra, S., and Meindl, P., Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning and
Operation, Prentice Hall, 4th Edition, 2009
Other course material, cases and teaching notes will be made available at the beginning
of the semester.
Course Conduct
Class size in total is targeted to be 24. Each of the participating universities is expected
to enroll in equal number of students and also assign one instructor.
The class is to be divided into teams of 3-5 students (ideally four). Each team will ideally
consist of one student from each university and will be supervised by one of the
instructors.
The summer semester is five weeks. Each week, there will be reading assignments, as
well as casework. A typical week will look like the following:
Mondays (9 a.m. US Eastern Time)
2 hour lecture at 9 a.m. US Eastern Time (to be attended by all students, and preferably
by all instructors). Typically delivered at Yale and broadcast to other universities.
Students at Yale attend the Monday lecture in person, while the other three campuses
participate real-time from the videoconference premise in their respective campuses.
Commercial software (WEBEX) that facilities meetings as well as MOODLE, an
asynchronous tool that facilitates uniformity in communication will be utilized
throughout the course.
First Monday (June 4) – Lecture starts with introductions, instructors and students
introducing themselves. Problem-based learning, together with reading material relevant
to the approach to be considered in the course is introduced. Introductory supply chain
notions are presented, as well as the topics considered in the course are outlined.
Beginning with the second week, Monday lectures will start with the presentation of the
work performed by one of the teams (20 minutes). It will follow by giving feedback on
the case study submitted previous week. This part is essential, as the term is short and
immediate feedback will be extremely helpful. The lecture will continue with topics that
are relevant for the weekly problem assignments and case study. An overview of the
topics will be presented, and further material will be assigned for reading.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Local Sessions: Local Sessions are scheduled sessions where students will meet with the
instructor at each university to discuss the contents of the Monday lecture, as well as
reading material assigned. The instructor may need to further explain some material, if
needed. Typical Hours – two hours on Tuesday (can be arranged according to local
times) and one hour on Wednesday. (For USA, these sessions may be shifted to Monday
evening, and Tuesday evening to ease the schedule of the remaining activities.)
Team Sessions: Teams Sessions are scheduled sessions where students of each team and
their assigned instructor meet online (real-time) using WEBEX. Typical Hours – one
hour on Tuesday, one hour on Wednesday, and finally one hour on Thursday
(recommended time is in between 8-9:30 a.m. US Eastern Time).
Friday (9 a.m. US Eastern Time)
One/two hour class at each campus: Students meet with the local professor. An overview
of the week is followed by a test/exam on the topics covered, as well as project work.
In addition, each Friday all the professors are expected to meet online to review the
progress of the course (and the teams) and revise plans for the coming week, if needed
(with a relatively small number, we can make use of Skype for these meetings, easing the
necessity to be in class).
Overview of a student’s load
o Attend all the scheduled meetings (Contact hour: Monday Lecture 2, Local
Sessions 3, Team Sessions 3, Friday 2 – Total: 10 hours)
o Learn the course material by reading.
o Complete the requirements for the case study with the team. Instructors will work
with the student teams who in turn will create their own approach for the solution
of the problem. Students in a team are expected to communicate several times
with each other during the week to prepare for the scheduled meetings, and finally
to complete their work.
OPRS S222 OPRS S222 Overview of the software to utilize
WEBEX that is made available by Bilkent University will be used for all interactive
sessions.
Organizing all documents in this course centrally is a must for the course. For this
purpose the software Moodle that is made available by Bilkent University will be
introduced and used throughout the course.
Student Responsibilities and Grading
o Class participation is required and students may need to prepare before the class.
o Cases (40%) - Groups: The students will work in groups of preferably four, each
from one university, for discussing, writing and possibly presenting case studies.
Each group needs to prepare for all cases. For these cases, the group needs to
prepare a write-up and be ready to present the case. It is very important and part
of the honor code that each member of a group contributes to each case analysis
of the group. Guidelines for the case discussion and write-ups will be distributed
later.
o Participation and Quizzes (20%): Participation during case discussions will
contribute to this part of the grade. A short pop-up quiz may be used to test
whether you have completed reading assignments and prepared for case
discussions.
o Final Exam (40%): A written exam covering the concepts and cases covered in
the class.
Students are responsible for checking the course website for course material, updates and
announcements.
Tentative Course Plan
1. Week 1 (June 4-8 2012)
Monday Lecture:
o Problem-Based Learning
o Basics of Teaching and Learning with Cases
o Introduction to Supply Chains
Reading Assignment:
o Problem-based Learning, Hung et al
o Learning by the Case Method, J.S. Hammond (HBS-Note)
o How to …. With Case Method, W. Ellet (HBS-Note)
o Chapter 1 (SKS)
Case I Assigned: Due Monday June 11, 8:30 a.m. US Eastern Time
o Supply Chain management at International Automotive (IVEY-Case)
2. Week 2 (June 11-15 2012)
Monday Lecture:
o Case presentation of Team 1
o Feedback on work done during previous week
o Inventory Issues
Reading Assignment:
o Chapter 2 (SKS)
o Review of Inventory Basics – Chapter 10-12 (CM); Individual Homework
Assignment – Hamptonshire Express Case (HBS-Case); Due Thursday
June 14, 8:30 a.m. US Eastern Time
Case II Assigned: Due Monday June 18, 8:30 a.m. US Eastern Time
o Sports Obermeyer Ltd. ((HBS-Case)
3. Week 3 (June 18-22 2012)
Monday Lecture:
o Case presentation of Team 2
o Feedback on work done during previous week
o Network Planning
Reading Assignment:
o Chapter 3 (SKS)
o Chapter 7 (SKS)
Case III Assigned: Due Monday June 25, 8:30 a.m. US Eastern Time
o Merloni Elettrodomestici SpA; The Transit Point Experiment (HBS-Case)
4. Week 4 (June 25-29 2012)
Monday Lecture:
o Case presentation of Team 3
o Feedback on work done during previous week
o Contracting and Partnership
Reading Assignment:
o Chapter 4 (SKS)
o Chapter 8 (SKS)
Case IV Assigned: Due Monday July 2, 8:30 a.m. US Eastern Time
o Solectron: from Contract Manufacturer to Global Supply Chain Integrator
(GSCF-Case)
5. Week 5 (July 2-6 2012)
Monday Lecture:
o Case presentation of Team 4
o Feedback on work done during previous week
o Value of Information
Reading Assignment:
o Chapter 5 (SKS)
Case V Assigned:
o Avalanche Corporation (IVEY-Case)
6. Week 6 (July 9 2012)
Monday Lecture:
o Case presentation of remaining teams
o Feedback on work done during previous week
o Course wrap-up
Week 6 (TBA) – Final Exam (tentatively – July 12, 9 a.m. US Eastern Time)
HBS-Case: Harvard Business School Case
HBS-Note: Harvard Business School Note
IVEY-Case: Richard Ivey School of Business
GSCF: Stanford University Global Supply Chain Forum Case
All cases and notes are available at Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP). Cases
will be made available to students in the beginning of the semester.