The purpose of this team project is to help students become familiar with the application of operations and supply management principles learned in the course to specific organizational situations. Students will gain practical knowledge of operations & supply chain management issues facing real organizations and the various tools, practices, and policies used to deal with them.

Each Group has to choose a Company, research & gather information about their Supply Chain Practices (through the internet) and produce a Report.

Report Structure & Content

The report should contain 4 sections, the main emphasize should be given to Section 4

1. Company Introduction

n Introduce your chosen company (background on them, what do they produce or provide, their target customers)

n Brief about their competitive strategy? what is their competitive advantage (dimensions of performance in Chapter 2)

2. Company Operations

Explain the Core Operations in the company, the core processes in your companys Operations

Core Operations refer to the main activities running in the firm.

3. Company Supply Chain

Discuss how their Supply Chain works: who are their suppliers, where are they located, how do they get their materials from their suppliers, where do they carry out their operations, how do they deliver the product or service to the customer, what are their distribution channels?

Explain your chosen companys inventory, where do they store their inventory? Do they outsource their D.C and distribution operations to a 3PL (like Aramex or DHL)?

You may use graphical/schematic representation in this section

4. Supply Chain Capabilities & Practices

n Discuss their Supply Chain Capabilities & Practices, this could be their Logistics network, Inventory Management practices, distribution system (centralized vs local), Supplier Management (long term suppliers, supplier collaboration), manufacturing, Outsourcing, procurement, demand management, customer service, Retail storesetc.

Here the emphasize is on the company Supply Chain Strengths

n What advantage does your company gain against the Competition by having these Supply Chain Capabilities & Practices? (how the capabilities help the company in creating a competitive advantage or solve problems)

Here You may explain how did the company utilized the capabilities in reducing costs, improving efficiencies, or increasing customer service level, or increasing salesetc.

You may discuss what issues/problems they faced, and the various practices used to deal with these issues.

You may discuss recent trends (like the booming of e-commerce, use of innovative technologies, sustainability), and how the company is addressing these trends into Supply Chain Practices.

You may discuss what changes the company did to enhance efficiency (ex: reduce number of suppliers, adopt new inventory management system, new technology)

Assignment Guidelines

n This assignment worth 6% of the final grade.

n You may choose any of the recommended companies (refer to Appendix), but feel free to choose any other company operating locally or internationally.

n Each group can consist of three students at maximum.

n Each group must submit a Word File (the Report) on Blackboard. Only one member of the group needs to upload the finalized file.

n Submission deadline is Sunday 09^th April 2023 at 11.59PM.

n Report Guidelines:

Cover page with your names, student IDs, section number & name of your chosen company

A signed & dated page identifying each student(s) contribution in each part

Reference page at the end with the websites & other material you used in order to create your report

The report must be 9-10 pages, font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing (approx. 2000 words)

n The evaluation of the Team Assignment (Case Study) will be based on:

The correctness and depth of the analysis

The quality of the report, its structure and its clarity

The correct use of language

Appendix 1: Case Study Companies

zara- starbucks- ikea- dell- aramex - h&m- amazon- carrefour- apple - macdonald's- nestle