A Beautiful Introduction to Coding
With the new semester a few weeks away I’ve been going through last year’s notes. This usually results in a few articles/cases being added and some dropped (yes students, I do actually listen and respond to …
Tag: SCM450W
A winter without Vans
In my class on Design and Management of Supply Chains my students have to scour the interwebs for interesting articles that are in some way related to class. After finding the article to do a …
The Pricing Battle Continues: Walmart vs. Amazon
Apologies for not getting this article to you before the holidays – maybe it would have saved some of you a few bucks. Better late than never, right? Anyway, Walmart instituted an official policy to …
What happened to this water bottle?
Anyone who does supply chain management, and especially those who do humanitarian logistics, know that shipping water is an expensive but necessary task. Large groups of people congregate in make-shift villages in the aftermath of …
The future of supply chain management
What is the next big thing for supply chain management? While many people seem to think Big Data will solve many problems, Forbes thinks it will be Big Data used to make timely decisions and …
Insourcing for cheaper products
In my Design and Management of Supply Chains class at Penn State (SCM450W), students are assigned Scotts Miracle-Gro: The Spreader Sourcing Decision. The case surrounds the decision of whether to outsource a product or keep …
Trouble in the ivory tower
I have always been a proponent of the “think” method of teaching. While teaching the skills is necessary, it is definitely not the only reason to go to college. I was lucky enough to be …
We will pay more for made in the USA
A recent study by Boston Consulting Group found that 80% of American consumers are willing to pay more for products labeled “Made in the USA” with 20% of people willing to pay 10% more! The …
Sourcing conflict minerals
Supply chains are a difficult beast to control. There are many layers and with each step away from the consumer, the number of suppliers increases and transparency of supplier work practices decreases. By the time …
Sandy gets lumber on the move
We’re discussing supply chain disruptions in class right now and Hurricane Sandy has given us a tremendous number of articles to sort through. I think everyone understands that any company operating in New Jersey or …