Determine and consider strategic and organizational goals, objectives, and/or targets.
General Steps to a SCM Case Analysis.
(SEE THE ATTACHED CASE STUDY FOR ANALYSIS)
Although there is no “one best way” to approach a SCM case analysis, the following generic guidelines should be utilized in the process of analysis and recommendation development.
1. Preview the case.
An effective SCM case analysis procedure requires the student to read the case scenario through several times before attempting to solve it. Therefore, the first time a student reads through the case, he/she should only try to grasp a general idea of the overall situation of what is happening to the organization and individuals described in the case. At this point, the student should not try to identify the problem or develop specific problems, solutions, and/or recommendations – just get an overall sense of the scenario.
2. Read and study the case in detail.
During subsequent readings of the case, the student should strive to gain a more thorough understanding of the situation and circumstances affecting the organization. Then, the student can identify specific facts, challenges, and opportunities that will guide him/her in developing relevant solutions or recommendations using class materials as rationale, justification, and support. At this stage the student should start to identify and consider major problems, sub-problems, key variables, situational constraints, resource limitations, possible alternatives, and any potential SCM tools and techniques that might be applicable.
3. Formulate the problem statement.
If the student has been diligent in completing the first two steps above, the problem statement will typically be a brief summary of the situation or environment faced by the case participants. In this step, the student should not yet be overly concerned with identifying or applying specific SCM tools and techniques to address the problem. The student should create a list of the major issues and challenges as the first steps in formulating a specific problem statement. This step may require the student to reread relevant portions of the case scenario. Once the problem statement is adequately vetted and clearly stated, the remainder of the case analysis steps will be focused on resolving the problem as defined.
4. Consider important and relevant variables and issues.
When the student has clearly identified a specific problem statement, the student should strive to identify those variables and issues that are relevant to the problem as identified in Step 3. It is also important to distinguish between those variables and issues that are controllable by the organization and individuals in the case and those that are not. A controllable variable is one that can be affected or impacted by the manager or organization in the case, while an uncontrollable variable is one that cannot be affected or impacted by the manager or organization. This section of the analysis should also include a brief, relevant history of the organization, an internal analysis, and an external or business environmental analysis.
5. Determine and consider strategic and organizational goals, objectives, and/or targets.
All problem statements, potential alternatives, and final recommendations must be developed and considered in light of the organization’s specific goals, objectives, and/or targets. For example, SCM goals and objectives are often concerned with cost minimization, quality improvement, and/or cycle time reduction and should never be considered independently from the organization’s strategic intent and overall goals and objectives.
6. Determine and consider situational constraints and resource limitations.
No organization or individual has unlimited resources in terms of money, time, and effort; so the student’s analysis of the case scenario and development of recommendations to address the problem statement must consider relevant situational constraints and resource limitations. In most case scenarios, the student must consider developing appropriate solutions to immediate, short-term (< six months), moderate term (six months to one year), and long-term (< one year) problems. 7. Determine potential alternative solutions. This key step is a brainstorming and data gathering phase that involves the student determining relevant potential alternative solutions that could potentially address the issues outlined in the problem statement previously developed. Alternatives, at this stage, should only be listed and not be evaluated. The focus is on determining a variety of possible solutions on which data can be collected and applied in the next step. 8. Specify assumptions and evaluate potential alternative solutions. During this step, the student should discover and specify any assumptions that apply to the case scenario. Examples of assumptions that may be applicable to a typical SCM case might include: the nature of future demand, (i.e. growth rate, rate of demand, pattern of demand, etc.), return on investment criteria, nature of the buyer-supplier relationship, time horizon, supply chain risk, and the like. The student should prepare a list of the advantages and disadvantages and costs and benefits for each potential alternative solution. Each potential alternative should be evaluated for feasibility and practicality by the student according to a predetermined set of decision criteria. Examples of typical decision criteria might include: total cost, time to implement, level of resources needed, training needed, the information technology support required, anticipated budget, etc. 9. Determine final recommendation(s). Once the evaluation of potential alternative solutions has been completed, the student should develop a final set of recommendations or solutions to address the problem statement. This step should include an action plan which is a detailed description of the final recommendation(s) or solution(s), accompanied by a thorough discussion of the advantages and disadvantages and costs and benefits, the “what.” Where appropriate, the student should also indicate show how the final recommendation(s) are to be implemented, i.e., the “who,” “when,” “where,” and “how.” Finally, the student should provide sufficient justification (the “why”) for his/her final recommendation for the relevant decision maker in the case, using relevant course materials, models, tools, and/or techniques. Additional Comments. Effective analysis of the case scenario (and a good grade) requires the student to adequately address the following issues: • Brief background and history of the organization; • Accurate description of the specific situation and/or problem(s); • Identification of key issues and concerns; • Identification of several possible alternatives to address these key issues and concerns; • Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative; • Presentation and detailed discussion of the student’s recommendation for a favored alternative, along with appropriate rationale (i.e., tell the instructor “Why” and support with relevant class materials, theories, models, etc.). Additional points for the student to consider in preparing and presenting a SCM case analysis. • Don’t recite large chunks or pieces of factual information from the case study and feed them back to the instructor verbatim. Instead, selectively use important information to illustrate the detailed analysis, defend a particular point of view, and/or discuss salient points. • Avoid being merely descriptive; be analytical instead. • Make sure the sections and subsections of the discussion flow logically and smoothly from one section to the next. Make an outline to help with this. • Eliminate spelling and grammatical errors. As such, they make the analysis difficult to read and comprehend. Proofread it several times. Get someone else to do likewise. • State explicitly how the strategy, alternative, or recommendation the student selects solves the specific problem identified. • Clearly define what needs to be accomplished (and by whom) in order to implement each of the recommendation(s). • Make sure that the student uses appropriate course materials to support his/her analysis and to help “sell” the recommendation. • Have the student write the case study analysis paper from the reader’s perspective. In other words, answer the question, “What would the reader (i.e., boss, customer, client, or instructor) expect to see in this report?” (SEE THE ATTACHED CASE STUDY FOR ANALYSIS)
