Look at how information systems and technology can improve supply chain performance of a firm hence giving it a competitive advantage in the trade or a leading position in the industry, students can consider the following:
- Analyse from a theoretical perspective (i) what information systems and technology are referring to in the supply chain domain; and (ii) what activities are involved or how they are implemented; (iii) how they can add value to operation or goods and service of a company;(iv) what the latest development in information systems and technology is; and (v) how a company can leverage information systems and technology to gain competitive advantage. For this part, the analysis needs to be comprehensive and covers all possible areas of a supply chain that can benefit from the use of information systems and technology. Relevant references should be given to support the statements.
- Use a relatively well-known company (or few companies if deemed appropriate) to support the claims made in (1) above. For instance, students can use Wal-Mart as an example to discuss in detail (with facts, statistics, summary tables, figures, and diagrams, to aid the discussion) how the company made use of information systems and technology to give itself a competitive edge. During the discussion, students can give a brief background of Wal-Mart prior to discussing how the company has invested in information systems and technology earlier in its history of development to improve operational efficiency and visibility. They can also elaborate on Wal-Mart’s insight and endeavour in investing in satellite network, data processing centre, barcode and RFID technologies and how these investments have significantly improved the efficiency and/or responsiveness of Wal-Mart’s supply chain thus giving the company a leading position in the trade.
- Compare real-world practices (i.e. the activities undertaken by the example company) against theories (i.e. the theoretical discussion about the resource or capability under investigation) during the presentation and in the investigation report so as to make your arguments convincing. In this regard, a summary table comparing the various theoretical benefits of the resource or capability under discussion against the actual practices in the example company should be shown.
In brief, Assignment 1 is a focused investigation of a particular aspect of the supply chain management illustrated with successful implementation of the function in question to gain competitive advantage by a real company (or companies) as example. The whole idea is to link the theories, concepts, approaches, techniques you have learned from this course with the actual practices in the real world. Therefore, a very general and shallow description of the assigned topic or a flimsy illustrative example will NOT meet the expected standard of this assignment and can result in very low marks. Students should imagine themselves as a group of researchers investigating the topic from a theoretical viewpoint and trying to use real-world examples to support their arguments. The investigation has to be in-depth and thorough (after all, it is only one aspect of a supply chain and therefore greater attention can be afforded). The presentation and discussion have to be concise yet comprehensive and convincing.
This assignment can be mainly a desktop research with most of the data and information sourced from the public domain or a full-fledged study with primary data collection (interviews and document review) from the example company if possible. As such, there is no fixed or so-called best approach to investigating the assigned topic. Students are encouraged to use lateral thinking during the analysis and be liberal in presenting their findings in whatever way they deem appropriate (as long as it is logical, intriguing and convincing). Nevertheless, it is expected that the investigation report and the group presentation video file will be in-depth, professional, and interesting to audience and readers. After all, this is an assignment of a final-year capstone subject. By now students should have ample experiences and skills in churning out a quality assignment which meets the requirements and is up to the expected standard.
The investigation report and the group presentation video file will be assessed primarily from the following aspects:
• Richness of information presented/reported;
• Organisation of presentation/report;
• Application of relevant theories, concepts, approaches, and techniques learned from the course;
• Depth of analysis;
• Adequacy of evidence to support arguments and conclusions;
• Appropriate example company used and relevant elaboration given;
• Presentation/Report writing skills; and
• Efforts invested in the assignment.
(a) Executive Summary (Summarise the topic of the investigation, the findings – both the theoretical overview of the function and the actual practices of the case company, and the conclusions of the study in one page.)
(b) Table of Contents (List the sections and subsections with corresponding page numbers on a separate page.)
(c) List of Figures (List the figure numbers and captions with corresponding page numbers on a separate page whenever figures are used in the report. DO NOT include the figures per se.)
(d) List of Tables (List the table numbers and captions with corresponding page numbers on a separate page whenever tables are used in the report. DO NOT include the tables per se.)
(e) Overview of the Resource/Function under Investigation (Use your own words to give a brief overview of the assigned resource or function.)
(f) Objective (State the purpose of the investigation.)
(g) Theoretical Analysis (Present an in-depth analysis of the resource or function from a theoretical perspective.)
(h) Real-World Example (Present the findings of the investigation of a real-world company to provide evidence to show how the company leverages the resource or function to gain its competitive advantage.)
(i) Discussion (Demonstrate using adequate evidence that the points discussed in (g) can be witnessed in the company identified as an example. In this regard, comparison table (theories versus practices), figures, charts, etc., should be used as liberal as possible to aid the discussion.)
(j) Issues identified (Identify the issues encountered by the case company in leveraging the supply chain function and how these issues are resolved or overcome by the firm to achieve success.)
(k) Conclusions (Summarise the study and give insight based on the analysis and the findings.)
• References (List the references used in the investigation report in strict Harvard style.)
• Appendices (Show any additional information about the case company that will be useful for the reader to see how the firm leverages the supply chain function in question to gain its competitive advantage.)
Here is my part that I need you to do for me.
The above information is just for you to understand how the assignment need to be done, so you can do our part with no problem or with no mi
Here are the details of the assignment:
The assignment contains two parts.
I need you to do the first part only and send it to me. Then I will let you know when you need to start on the second part. The first part is (g) Theoretical Analysis (Present an in-depth analysis of the resource or function from a theoretical perspective.)
Our topic is: business model and supply chain strategy formulation
It is a group work so the work was divided into 4 parts. Each student has his own part to do.
I am required to do this part which is
ii) what activities are involved or how they are implemented;
(iii) how they can add value to operation or goods and service of a company
(550 words )
Can you please add table or figures?
Sample Solution
