Principles of Good SCM
About the Session Long Project (SLP)
Please begin by reading Anderson et al. (1997), with particular attention to their seven SCM principles. All of these will be covered in the following modules, if not in the same sequence as the authors.
During this session long project, you will analyze a logistics firm such as UPS, FedEx, Maersk Line (ocean shipping), DHL Aviation, Landstar System (trucking), CSC (railroad), or Kinder Morgan (pipelines). Almost every company uses logistics in some way, but in a logistics course, companies that specialize in it are more useful as case studies.
Please select a publicly traded, for-profit corporation. Such organizations are required to publish annual reports, and make other information available to the general public. They are also more likely to have a strong presence on the Web.
Please do not select a company whose main activity is transporting passengers, such as United Airlines or Greyhound Corp. Owing to the high value and unique requirements of their “cargo,” transportation companies are different in many ways from other logistics firms.
If possible, choose a company with which you have some experience, either as a customer, employee, or the friend or relative of an employee. Further, you should read all four SLP assignments in advance, and choose a company for which you can find the required information.
About SLP 1
Please give a brief, yet comprehensive description of the company you’ve selected. Your essay should include the following information (not necessarily in this order):
The industry segment to which it belongs.
The overall condition (size, strength, trends) of the segment.
The company’s position within the segment; dominant, competitive, or bit player?
The services provided by the company.
The company’s core technologies
Its position and reputation in the wider community
Its financial position; profitable, unprofitable, indebted, self-financing, etc.
Its trajectory; expanding, contracting, struggling, looking for a buyer, etc.
Its relevant history. Is it new, well-established, recently spun off, a recent IPO?
A valuable sources of information about any publicly-traded company is its annual report, available online from The Public Register (Bay Tact, 2014). Another service, which offers overviews and analyses of industries and industry segments, is the International Business Information Service, or IBIS (2015). Anyone studying any company should begin by consulting these two sources.
Don’t write in checklist form. Integrate the information you find into a well-constructed essay.
You may not find specific information relating to this assignment. In that case, you will need to “fill in the gaps,” using your understanding of the company you’re analyzing, plus the sources listed on the Background Info page.
Style and format must comply with the Writing Style Guide. (TUI Guide, n.d.) This is not an English course; however, errors in spelling, grammar and style will be penalized.
Provide citations and references. Use of APA style is encouraged, but not required. Please see the TUI Writing Guide, or visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL, 2015).
There is no page requirement. Write what you need to write, neither more nor less.
Upload your SLP before the end of the Module.