Supply Chain Management, MS

Contact

Prof. Fred F. Easton, MS-SCM Program Director, 517 Whitman School of Management, ffeaston@syr.edu
Department Office Contact: 315-443-1383

Program Description

Supply chain management is an interdisciplinary field that emphasizes cross-functional links and seeks to manage those links to enhance a company’s competitive advantage. It involves forecasting, resource allocation, production planning, flow and process management, inventory management, customer delivery, after-sales support and service, as well as a host of other activities and processes familiar and basic to business. Competitive pressures are intense. Sophisticated techniques have been devised to expedite information flow, including on-board computers for trucks and ships, satellite tracking systems, and the electronic transmission of order and shipping information.

An understanding of supply chain management is an asset to any manager, and there is a strong demand for specialists in the area. Managers attracted to SCM enjoy the variety and challenges in the field, its sophisticated technology, and its importance to the overall economy and the global marketplace. Entrants to the field look forward to an entrepreneurial environment and opportunities to deal with a wide array of people from a variety of organizations. SCM managers also like a hands-on approach. They use sophisticated decision tools, yet they can always envision the underlying physical processes-processes that are familiar enough to be taken for granted, yet subject to managerial initiative and rapid change.

Syracuse University offered the first supply chain program in the country in 1919. Today, supply chain management programs are offered at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level, including an MS in SCM offered through a distance learning format. Coursework is completed online and independently with three residencies per year on the Syracuse University campus. Distance learning courses have been offered through the iMBA program since 1977.

Accreditation

The Whitman School has been accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) since 1920.

Admission

Students are required to take the GMAT as part of the application process. Applicants will be considered for the program based on their GMAT score, previous academic experience, work experience, professional references, and personal statements.

Financial Support

Students may apply for several loan programs to cover the cost of attendance. (Federal Direct Loan, ProgramFederal PLUS Loans, Alternative Loan Programs) Part-time students must be enrolled for at least six credits (half-time status) to be considered for loan programs.

Degree Requirements & Learning Objectives

This is a 30 credit degree program leading to a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management.

With an emphasis on managing risk in today’s global supply chains, this 30 credit-hour program consists of the Management Foundation, the Supply Chain Management core, one of several integrative Supply Chain Management “selective” courses, and a culminating experience. Upon satisfactory completion of all coursework and the culminating experience, students are awarded a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management degree from the Whitman School of Management and Syracuse University.

Relevant course(s) approved by the SCM faculty

Culminating Experience

Choose 1 course (3 credit hours) from

SCM 755 - Lean Six Sigma 3 credit(s)
SCM 690 - Independent Study 1-6 credit(s) (Applied Project)

Note:

* Students who have satisfactorily completed any of the management foundation courses before entering the program may substitute course(s) from the list of approved selective courses.

Learning Goal 1:

Our graduates will understand how to effectively manage organizational resources.

Our graduates will be able to summarize key traits of different organizational resources, including financial capital, human capital, intellectual capital, technology resources, relational resources, and processes.
Our graduates will be able to measure, organize and allocate resources in order to meet organizational objectives in an effective, ethical, and sustainable manner.
Our graduates will be able to evaluate, prioritize and plan the acquisition of resources that are aligned with organizational objectives.

Learning Goal 2:

Our graduates will demonstrate skills in inquiry, critical thinking and problem solving, supported by appropriate analytical and quantitative techniques.

Our graduates will be able to gather, manipulate, and analyze data for purposes of understanding business problems and designing solutions for them.
Our graduates will be able to apply industry-standard tools and technologies to facilitate the problem solving process.
Our graduates will be able to generate original and innovative solutions to new and existing business problems.

Learning Goal 3:

Our graduates will demonstrate the ability to think strategically about business issues.

Our graduates will be able to identify strategic issues and differentiate them from tactical issues.
Our graduates will be able to explain and apply concepts, models and tools of strategic analysis.
Our graduates will be able to identify and evaluate the short-term and long-term implications of business decisions for an organization’s stakeholders.
Our graduates will be able to appraise situations faced by a business organization from a broad perspective that considers economic, legal, ethical, and social factors.

Learning Goal 4:

Our graduates will demonstrate the ability to apply supply chain concepts in a variety of practical situations to gain insights into how to improve supply chain performance, and use those insights to communicate, persuade, and motivate change.

Our graduates will be to communicate using industry terminology.
Our graduates will be able to structure problems and perform logical analysis by translating descriptions of a variety of business situations into formal models and analyzing those models in an organized fashion.
Our graduates will be able to employ negotiation skills which to acquire resources and reduce the cost structure of the supply chain.

Satisfactory Progress

Students are required to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher to meet degree requirements.