Essay MIS313: Strategic Supply Chain Management – Report Writing Assignment Help

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Unit Learning Outcome (ULO)

ULO 1: Identity and critically analyze SCM organizational issues against strategic objectives, and evaluate SCM solutions to these issues.
ULO 2: Consider global, national and local social and environmental responsibilities when identifying, analyzing and evaluating SCM organizational issues and solutions.
ULO 3: Seek, interpret and act upon feedback to improve proposed SCM solutions.

Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO) (MIS313)
GLO1 Discipline?specific knowledge and capabilities
GLO2 Problem solving
GLO3 Global citizenship

Aims and Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs)
The aim of this assessment is for you to apply supply chain management and logistics knowledge (GLO1) to a real organisation you do not own or manage, and not used by another student, by:

• reviewing the organization’s supply chain practices (GLO5 Problem Solving)
•  researching environmental responsibility issues with the practices (GLO8 Global Citizenship);
•  evaluating a problem, and potential solution, for the practices (GLO5 Problem Solving); and
•  building capacity to seek, interpret and act upon feedback to improve problem-solving skills (GLO5 Problem Solving).

Assignment Requirements
This is an individual assessment where you will be a junior consultant for ConsultantCo. You will source a client (i.e. a real business) for ConsultantCo, then prepare a report for evaluation by a senior consultant of ConsultantCo (i.e. a Deakin academic). This is similar to real consultancies where junior consultants’ work for an external client is evaluated by senior consultants. The report is therefore not for the client. The report instead must meet the requirements expected
by ConsultantCo. After you submit the assignment for evaluation (marking) by a senior consultant (Deakin academic), you can create a version of the report that meets the client’s needs if necessary. Select any real business in any country you do not own/manage, and which no other student is using. You cannot own/manage the business, because GLO5 Problem Solving requires interviewing a client including the owner/manager. It cannot be the same business as another student because
the final reports will be too similar, and potentially guilty of collusion (Academic Misconduct). A franchise (e.g. pizza store) or store run by a large company (e.g. supermarket store) with different owners/managers will be considered different businesses. Ask the owner/manager if they have already signed the confirmation form for another student. If yes, you must select another business.
The two parts of this single individual assessment are as follows:

•  Part A – a Case Study Report comprising a text word limit of 2,000 addressing the requirements in the table below, plus a minimum of one (1) complex diagram.
•  Part B – a Feedback Reflection Report (text word limit of 500, no diagrams) on how you sought and utilised feedback to produce and improve your Case Study Report (Part A).

Part A (MIS313)
Table 1 below summarises the structure and requirements for the Case Study Report. We provide this structure because the assignment is complex and challenging, and feedback from past students suggests a given structure balances broad guidance (i.e. high?level section headings) with flexibility (e.g. the content written specifically about the chosen organisation). Further, many consultancies have a “house?style” for reports, so providing a structure is consistent such an industry practice. The analysis of client sourcing practices and resulting Case Study Report will focus on a single product type which you (and owner/manager) select, and which the client sources from a tier 1 supplier. You can select any product type, so long as the client buys it regularly (at least monthly).
These criteria are necessary because past students’ experience on this type of assignment shows:

•  Selecting more than one product type increases the complexity of the assignment too much, especially if the client uses different sourcing practices for different product types.
•  Where a client uses the same sourcing practices for different product types, the report will be applicable to the other product types, and thus a single product type is sufficient.
•  Students have found it too difficult to develop a report with sufficient depth and detail when they have selected a product type which is purchased less frequently than monthly.
•  We focus on a product type (not a specific product brand, size, etc) because clients are often reluctant to be more specific. For example, a restaurant might source “soft drink” of various brands, sizes and flavours. The product type in this example would be “soft drink”. Table 1 specifies the Case Study Report requirements, including the scope for client analysis. This means some types of supply chain problems (e.g. parts of source, make, deliver, returns) and
• associated solutions, as well as some environmental responsibility issues (e.g. carbon emissions), cannot be explored. The scoping is necessary because:
•  Deakin policy states that assignments must differ each trimester, which requires different scope/foci each year. Our approach is to focus on a different environmental issue and a different part of the sourcing process each year. This is better than alternatives, including students only being allowed to pick organisations from a different industry, or limiting choice of product type, every year. Our approach achieves a good balance between flexibility for students (and real client), and Deakin assignment policy.
•  Past experience with this assignment shows that most students prefer scoped requirements. It means that feedback and answers to one student on questions about the assignment (e.g. the specified type of environmental impact) helps all students. The assignment is open in other areas to balance students wanting structure versus those wanting flexibility.
•  The skills and knowledge that you (and the real client) gain from the doing the scoped assignment are applicable in other areas. For example, the solution evaluation relating to a specific problem type within the specified part of the sourcing practice could potentially apply to other aspects of the client’s practices. Such solution evaluation will be outside the scope of the report, but you can consider if/how it might apply to other client practices.

Part B (MIS313)
Business professionals (e.g. Business Analysts, Consultants) must obtain continual feedback from clients to verify that they understand client needs by asking questions and showing the client what they have done to align their understanding with client needs. Professionals cannot say it was the client’s fault if a report/solution does not meet the client’s needs. In this unit, you will be treated as professionals. So you must take active steps to ensure that Case Study Report meets the marker’s (or ConsultantCo’s) requirements, since the Case Study Report maker is a senior consultant. This means the report is not for the real business. You are encouraged to get feedback on the report from the organisation’s owner/staff, but the report must satisfy ConsultantCo’s requirements. You are expected to seek actively, interpret and respond constructively to feedback/clarifications on your understanding and work?in?progress to improve your assignment before it is submitted. You are required to write a 500 word Feedback Reflection Report summarising how you sought, interpreted and utilised the feedback, including providing evidence that your interpretation of feedback is accurate (i.e. How do you know you interpreted the feedback correctly? What actions did you take to check your interpretation was accurate?).