Global Supply Chain Management

Assessment task details and instructions

The outbreak of COVID-19 has drawn attention to the vulnerability of global supply chains. The disease has revealed how critical it is for businesses to have reliable and efficient supply chains to maintain continuity of operations. COVID-19 has also shown that disruptions in the supply chain can cause significant financial losses and even threaten the viability of businesses. Several businesses have reported that the outbreak has cost them significantly.

In addition to the COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 has further disrupted the supply chain of goods globally. The conflict has caused delays and higher costs for companies that rely on transporting goods across the border. Many companies have had to reroute their shipments to avoid the conflict zone, which has added extra time and cost to their operations. Some companies have had to suspend operations altogether due to the disruptions.

Based on the above statement, you are asked to choose a sector/industry (e.g., food, steel,healthcare, retail, services, automotive), and critically:

1. Assess the effects of the recent challenges in the supply chain structure of your chosen industry.
2. Evaluate how the industry dealt with (or coping with) supply chain management issues between the year 2020 to 2022.
3. Access and suggest how can advanced technologies be used to rehabilitate the supply chain challenges of the specific industry.

For each question above, you should support your arguments by bringing into the discussion 1-2 examples of companies that belong to the selected sector/industry. You will also need to consider the following when completing your assignment:

• Quality of executive summary (does it give a brief summary of your paper for an executive to read?)
• Establishment of relevant theory (e.g. how supply chain environments are differentiated in the current situation?)
• Examples (is the examples focused on the current context and supply chain environments)
• Allocation of credit and sources used (have I included references and citations to the material I have used?)
• Clarity of argument (is the arguments clear and focused on the questions and the context given)
• Understanding of the matter (does the report demonstrates your Knowledge and Understanding of the current context and supply chain environments)
• Quality of Conclusions (does it give a summary of your main findings and suggestions)
• Overall report presentation, including spelling and grammar (is the overall report presentation is as per the standard)
• Adherence to the nominated word limit (3000 words +/- 10%)
• Word processed (letter size 12, times new roman, 1.5 space)
• Fully referenced (Harvard Referencing System). Please refer to the reading list and academic sources issued in the module syllabus and other sources.

Marking scheme:

Criteria	Marks
Use of theory/reference to course ideas	30
Knowledge and Understanding of the subject matter	30
Examples	10
Quality of argument	10
Executive summary/Conclusions	10
Citation and References	10

Please remember that marks for the assignment will also be awarded in relation to the main questions, presentation and structure and aspects such as the use of examples, figures, tables, illustrations, and statistics that indicate more comprehensive/independent reading.

Explicit marking criteria and mark ranges can be found below.

Assessed intended learning outcomes

On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Critically analyse the theory, concepts and models of global supply chain management to interpret and understand complex and ambiguous risks in global logistics and supply chain environments.
2. Synthesise facts and ideas in support of an argument when evolving alternative solutionsand concepts such as lean and agile supply
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of global lead-time management andtime compression.
4. Critically evaluate the role of national and regional distribution centres (NDC/RDC) and warehouse management systems (WMS)in the strategic development of international supply chains
5. Demonstrate a sound understanding of the role and importance of an integrated and responsible approach in shaping managerial attitudes and actions and in the establishment and maintenance of cross-functional teams and longer-term stakeholder relationships

Practical, Professional or Subject Specific Skills

1. Leads by example – as high levels of self-awareness, emotional and social

intelligence,empathy and compassion, and ability to identify mental well-being in others. Work collaboratively, enabling empowerment and delegation – acts with humility and

authenticity is credible, confident and resilient.

2. Judgement and Challenge – Takes personal accountability aligned to clear values. Demonstrates flexibility and willingness to challenge when making decisions and solving problems – instils confidence demonstrating honesty, integrity, openness, and trust.
3. Courage & Curiosity – is confident and brave, willing to innovate, seeks new ideas, and looks for contingencies. Manages complexity and ambiguity, is comfortable in uncertainty, and is pragmatic.
4. Valuing Difference – engaging with all, is ethical and demonstrates inclusivity, recognisingdiversity, championing, and enabling cultural inclusion. Empowers and motivates to

inspire and support others.

5. Professional Reflects on own performance, demonstrates professional standards in

relation behaviour and ongoing development. Advocates the use of good practice within and outside the organisation.

Transferable Skills and other Attributes

1. Identify and utilise appropriate methods for collecting and analysing data related to globalsupply chain management issues.
2. Locate, summarise and synthesise a range of information from published literature andelectronic sources on global supply chain management.
3. Work on their own and with others in analysing and presenting solutions to complexsupply chain issues in a range of diverse environments.
4. Manage their time to meet deadlines in both group discussions and in preparation for in-class activities

Module Aims

1. To enable students to develop an in-depth understanding of the critical nature andmeaning of global supply chain management and its application across a range of organisations and sectors internationally.
2. To provide students with an analytical framework for global procurement, logistics andsupply chain systems, their design, monitoring and control
3. To facilitate a critical evaluation of the contribution of global logistics and supply chain to an organisation’s competitive advantage

4. To enable students to recognise and implement responsible and sustainable approaches to supply chain management.

Word count/ duration (if applicable)

The maximum word count is 3000 words (+/- 10%), excluding References. Words over the word limit may not be considered and not marked.

Below are the Level 7 undergraduate Generic Grade Descriptors for ‘Knowledge’

• Outstanding – 100-90
  • Outstanding knowledge. Theory is linked to practice to an exceptional level andmay be used to formulate new questions, ideas, or challenges.
• Excellent – 80-89
  • Integrates the complexity of a range of knowledge and excellent understanding ofits relevance
  • Excellent depth of knowledge in a variety of contexts. Coherent application oftheory to practice
• Very Good – 70-79
  • Comprehensive knowledge showing very good depth and breadth. Clear insight into links between theory and practice. Demonstrates ability to transfer knowledge between different contexts appropriately. Consistently accurate level of knowledge in depth and breadth.
• Good – 60-69
  • Consistently relevant, accurate knowledge with good depth and breadth. Clear and relevant application of theory to practice. Good identification of key themes. A good demonstration of depth and breadth of knowledge.
• Fair – 50-59
  • Mostly accurate knowledge with satisfactory depth and breadth of knowledge. Sound integration of theory and practice with satisfactory identification of key themes. Fair demonstration of depth and breadth of knowledge.
• Adequate – 40-49
  • Basic knowledge with occasional inaccuracies appropriates yet basic integration of theory and practice. Superficial depth or limited breadth with unsatisfactory

identification of key themes. Basic knowledge demonstrated with some inaccuracies.

• Unsatisfactory – 30-39
  • Limited evidence of knowledge. Inappropriate links between theory and practice.
  • Inadequate identification of key themes.
• Poor – 20-29
  • Inconsistent or inaccurate knowledge. Limited and inappropriate or inaccurate links between theory and practice. Poor identification of key themes.

• Very Poor – 10-19
  • Virtually no relevant knowledge demonstrated. Fails to adequately demonstrate links between theory and practice. Very poor identification of key themes.
• Extremely Poor – 1-9
  • Totally inadequate demonstration of required knowledge. Not able to link theory to practice. No appropriate themes were identified.

Crit erio	90-100	80-89	70-79	60-69	50-59	40-49	0-39
n /
Overall level	Standard comparable toa journal publication	Standard comparable	Distinct ive work for Mast	Merit workfor Mas ters leve	Acceptable for Masters	BelowMas ters pas s	Signif icantl y below Master
(indi		toconferencepaper
cativ		publication
Use of theory	Demonstrates anoutstanding	Demonstrates anexceptional	Demonstrat es excellent knowledge of theory and practice at this level. Proficiently interprets appropriat econcepts and theoreticalmodels.Demonstrates a very	Demonstr ates sound knowledge of theory and practice for this level.Comprehensi vely interprets appropriat econcepts and	Demonstrat es an adequate knowledge of theory and practice for this level. Some minor omissions.Satisfactorily interprets some appropriate concepts and	Some omissions areevident in the knowledge of theory and practice at this level.Insufficient understandin g of appropriate concepts and theoretical	Demon strates weakne sses in the knowle dgeof theory and practic e for this level. Limited underst
	knowledge of	knowledge of
	theory and	theory and
	practice at	practice at
	this level.Insightfull	this level. Expertly
	yinterprets	interpretsappropriate
	appropriat	concepts and
	e	theoretical
	concepts and	models.
	theoretical	Demonstrates
	models.	anexcellentlevel of
Exampl es	Outstanding use ofexamples	Exceptional use ofexamples,	Excellent use ofexamples	Good use ofexamples, with	Fair use of examples butwith some omissions and unnecessary issues.Limited seconda ry researc h to extend taught	Poorly use of examples, with significant omissions and unnecessary issues. Little or no extension of taught materials.Poor choice and synthesis of	Little or no exampl es provide d or focus evide nt.Poor use of taugh t mate
	includes what	boundaries	Very	some
	isimportant,	setwith no	good	omissions
	and excludes	significant	setting of	or
	irrelevantissues.	omissions orunnecessary	boundaries	unnecessary issues.
	Comprehensive literature	issues.Excellent	includesmost of	Good secondary
	review.	independent	what is	research to
	Evaluation	secondary	relevant.	extend
	and synthesis	research.	Very good	taught
	of source	Sources are	independent	materials.
				Evidence of
Under standi n g ofsubjec Astmatte r	Outstanding with critical awareness of thesesrsemleevnatnInformationce of issues. Directly relevant totitle/ brief.Expertl	Excellent with critical awareness of relevance of/Birsiesfues.Directly relevantto title/brief. Skilfully addresses the assumptions of the title	Very good with critical awareness of relevanceof issues.Directly relevant totitle/brief.	Good with some aware ness ofrelevance ofissues.	Basic with limited awareness ofrelevanceof issues. Some implications of issuesexplored.	Poor with little awareness of relevanceof issues. A significant degree of irrelevanceto the title	Little or no understandin gof the subject matter is demon strated.Releva nce to
			Addresses	Generally		and/or brief.
			well the	addresses		Issues are
			assumptions	the		addressed at
			of the title	assumption		a superficial

Qu	Well	Argument has	Well-	Structured	Argument	Argument is	No
alit y of arg um ent	structured,compellin g and persuasive argumentthatleads to a	excellent structure and persuasivenes s, leading to very significantinsights	structured and persuasive argument Insightful conclusiondraws	and fairly convincing argument leads to conclusion thatsummarise	has some structure and developme nt towards conclusionwith	unstructur ed, no recognizab le conclusion.	evidenc e of argum ent or conclus ion.
	valuable	and relevant	together	s key	limitations in
	contribution	future work.	key issues	issues.	summary of
	to the field of	Excellent	and	Ideas are	issues. Some
	study, paving	expression of	possible	expressed,	irrelevant
	the way for	ideas.	future work.	with some	and/or
	future work.		Outstanding	limitation.	superficial
	Outstanding		expression of		argumen
	expression of		ideas.		ts.
	ideas.				Limited
					expressi
					on of
					ideas.
Exe cuti v es u mm ary andconclus ions	Critical analysis offindings. Coherently articulated and logically structured including recommendati ons. An appropriate format is used.	Excellen t analysis of findings. Clearly articulated and logically structured including recommen dations.An appropriate format	Very good a n a l y s i s offindings. Fo r t h e most part coherently articulatedand logically constructed. An appropriate format isused.	Good analysis of findings. For themostpart coherently articulated and logically constructed. Anappropriate formatis used.	Fair analysis of findings. Adequate attempt at articulation and logical structure.An acceptable format is used.	Little or no analysis of findings.Limited attempt at articulation and problems with structure. Some formatting errors.	No valid analy sis of findin gs.Lack of articu lation and forms t is deficient.
		is used.

Assessment Information/Brief