700886: Module title-  Principles of logistics and supply chain management

Assessment details

Module code; 700886

Module title-  Principles of logistics and supply chain management

Assessment tasks, learning outcomes, assessment criteria and grading descriptors

The assessment tasks, learning outcomes, assessment criteria and grading descriptors have been approved by the External Examiner

Assessment task

Submission deadline and date:  by no later than 4pm on 12th January 2023

There are many ways in which an organization’s supply chain strategy can be as a source of competitive business advantage. For example:

• branded supply chain functions can add to the value of the product or service extracted by the customer
• in times of crisis, having a resilient supply chain can ensure security of supply and that goods and services reach those who need them on time
• during economic recessions, supply chains can be used as strategic levers as they can be optimized to perform better than those of rival organizations so that more profits can be extracted and lesser costs incurred.

Your task: Imagine that you are the Chief Supply Chain Officer for an organization of your choice and you are tasked with writing a report for presentation to the Chief Executive Officer and the Board. Using the concepts, tools and frameworks that you have learned on the module, write a report (4000 words excluding title page, contents, figures, diagrams, reference list and appendices) in which you critically evaluate the organization’s current choice and execution of business and supply chain strategies and potential future alternatives. For the organization that you have chosen:

• assess how effectively the organization that you have chosen achieves strategic fit and alignment
• analyse how the organization creates competitive advantage through its business and supply chain strategies
• review how well the organization’s business and supply chain strategies are designed and executed to support each other
• recommend what the future organizational and supply chain strategies should be and provide justification for your recommendation.

Guidance on ‘how to write a report’ can be found via the following link on the University of Hull website:

In your report, you should:

• include a title and contents page and a short executive summary;
• adopt a critical approach;
• give appropriate attention to the challenges of creating, managing and executing competitive business and supply chain strategies over time in dynamic and uncertain environments;
• use appropriate concepts, tools and frameworks that you have learned on the module supported with references to the relevant academic literature;
• illustrate the analysis and discussion with examples drawn from your reading, the media, class room presentations, etc.;
• use proper referencing technique (please refer to your study skills handbook for guidance) and include a reference list of all sources cited.

Please note that:

• The term ‘organization’ is being taken to include sub-organizational units. In choosing an organization to focus your analysis and report on, you should notchoose:
  • a case study from a text book
  • an organization that was the focus of discussion or a seminar exercise on the module (a list of these is provided on the module Canvas site)
  • an organization that you have already focused on or are focusing on for an assignment on another module.
• Data for the analysis of the organization and the application of concepts, tools and frameworks might be drawn from a variety of credible sources including published company reports, company web-pages, trade association reports, the business press, etc. The variety and quality of data considered may affect the standard of analysis conducted, the recommendation and justification of future organizational and supply chain strategies, etc.

Learning outcomes, assessment criteria and grading descriptors

This essay in its entirety specifically addresses all of the module learning outcomes (1, 2, 3 and 4).