MERLOT - Multimedia Education Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
Home Communities Learning Materials Member Directory My Profile About Us

Peer Review

Become a Member | Log In

Readings on Supply Chain Management

 

Ratings

Overall Rating:

3 stars
Content Quality: 2 stars
Effectiveness: 2.6 stars
Ease of Use: 4.5 stars
Reviewed: Jan 14, 2005 by Business Editorial Board
Overview: The module is a collection of links to readings primarily from professional and
industry magazines on supply chain management. The majority of articles are
dated from the year 2000 and beyond, but there is a significant number of
articles archived prior to the year 2000.
Learning Goals: To encourage students to engage with the industry problems and issues involving
supply chain activities.
Target Student Population: All students and practitioners of supply chain management.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: No apparent prequisites although an awareness and understanding of the role of
supply-chain management would make the material more relevant.
Type of Material: A series of links to professional/industry magazine articlesabout recent supply
chain issues and some other useful resource-based links such as the Quick MBA.
Recommended Uses: To enable students to put the theory into practice, by engaging with current
issues and topics. The awareness of 'real-life' situations and the
implications of effective supply chain management should help to scaffold the
students' cognitive processes. The material will add value to lecture
notes and should enable recall, comprehension and application of the supply
chain concepts more effectively.
Technical Requirements: None.

Evaluation and Observation

Content Quality

Rating: 2 stars
Strengths: An interesting and topical range of readings and links that could aid the
learning experience of students undertaking a supply chain management course.
Concerns: The material is not presented in any particular order, such as aligning with
particular concepts, industry coverage or implications. It is a bit ad hoc and
if more structured would add value and relevance. The site includes many
articles that are outdated.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating: 2.6 stars
Strengths: The readings are diverse and include a number of well-known companies with
issues that can be clearly identified with course concepts. Also the other
resource links such as the Quick MBA should enable a 'quick fix' for some supply
chain management concepts. The inclusion of the university-based article adds
validity to the theoretical side of the function and shows how theory can inform
practice.
Concerns: The module does not identify a clear learning objective. Without any particular
structure or clear objectives only the most able students will derive the
optimum benefit.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating: 4.5 stars
Strengths: New articles are clearly identified. All links are smooth and easily accessed.
Information is topical, interesting, and the resource links are useful for
supporting material.

Concerns: While the ad hoc nature of the material be be seen to offer flexibility for
individual faculty and students, a more structured approach would add value.

Other Issues and Comments: This is an interesting range of resources that I would find useful and
appropriate. The topics are interesting and the applications wide-ranging.
From a teaching perspective, it would be useful to have the links related to
particular course concepts and with platforms such as WebCT this could be a very
effective approach. From a learning perspective the students will appreciate
seeing the 'theory put into practice'.
--%>