Management
Individual Research Assignment: One must complete an individual research assignment. The narrative of your report should consist of a:
• typed MS Word (or similar software) business communication format
• two page minimum – four page maximum
• 1.5-2.0 line spacing
• minimum font size in the 10-12 pt. range
• submit as an electronic version in eLearning’s “dropbox”; no hardcopies or emails accepted.
There are five options for you. Please pick just ONE for the Individual Research Assignment.
1. Attend a meeting of the local chapter of either APICS (The Association for Operations Management) or ISM (Institute for Supply Management). Links to the local chapter web sites are provided in D2L and below. If you attend one of these meetings, you must speak with at least two of the regular members and obtain their business cards. In speaking with these members, ask about career history and how they decided to pursue a career in purchasing/supply chain management. Your report should include the following: a summary of the after-dinner presentation and a summary of your discussions with the regular members; also, please include the members’ business card information at the bottom of your summary. Note: ISM may require you to drive to Grand Rapids areas to attend the meeting, since Southwestern Michigan no longer has a local chapter. Carpool with other students! ** An additional 5 bonus points available to compensate for the “road trip” to G.R.
ISM/NAPM
Grand Rapids: http://www.ismggr.org/
APICS
Kalamazoo: http://www.apicsswmi.org/
2. Purchasing Application Paper—you may come across a situation where you see some course concept applied. Describe this scenario and application. What do your observations tell you about how the organization does/doesn’t apply the purchasing/supply chain concept? How has your understanding of the concept been affected by this observation? For example, ever try to buy something from Amazon and your product was backordered because it ultimately comes from a non-Amazon source? How did that Amazon sourcing strategy work for you?
3. Relating purchasing to your major—explain how one or more of the topics covered in this course relates to your intended business concentration. For engineering, marketing, finance, and accounting majors, you have PLENTY to write about here.
4. Watch an episode of How It’s Made on the Discovery Channel. Each episode shows how three or four different products are made. Describe each product and process in terms of course content, and describe how you would measure and manage the supply chain of the product(s). Use the attached link to connect with product videos. Note: If you watch videos from the website directly, you must watch three (3) and do the write up on all three (within 2-4 pages mentioned above in general guidelines).
http://science.discovery.com/videos/how-its-made-videos/
5. Analyze a recent (last 12 months) business article that relates to some topic or concept in this course. Analyze does NOT mean summarizing the article. Analyze means telling me what you learned that you did not know before. Example: “This article illustrated how the concept of ABC was applied by XYZ Company. From it, I learned that putting the ABC concept into practice often requires ….” Attach the article link within your written analysis.
NOTE: Regarding option 5, “summary” articles (generally a paragraph or two in length) are not acceptable because they cannot provide a discussion that has enough depth. If you spot a topic of interest in such an article, go find a more complete treatment in a source like the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, The Economist, etc.