BUS-P520 Strategic Sourcing

• 7 weeks
• 1.5 credits
• Prerequisite(s): MBA Core

The purpose of this course is to introduce graduate business students to the emerging area of strategic sourcing, as part of an integrated supply chain management program. Strategic sourcing involves leveraging business sourcing activities in a ways that supports and extends the strategic initiatives of the firm. Students will be exposed to emerging trends in the area, a variety of related topics, and be asked to master analytical tools that support strategic sourcing activities. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to solve real-world sourcing problems in the context of a total supply chain management approach.

Course deliverables are designed to support the objectives of the class and students will be asked to perform a variety of activities and produce several types of deliverables. Participation in both in-class and online activities will allow students to contribute to collective learning and provide opportunity to explore and evaluate trends in strategic sourcing. Case analysis will allow students to apply concepts to cases that illustrate important elements of a strategic sourcing initiative. Students will also be required to develop a data-driven approach to supply chain decision making. Problem sets will be used to support the mastery of specific strategic sourcing tools and provide practice solving specific types of sourcing problems (i.e. vendor selection, make-or-buy, etc.).

This course will provide students with broad overview of strategic sourcing trends, and will equip them to identify and solve specific problems/topics facing supply chain decision makers.