Newsvendor Game: A Behavioral Exercise in Decision Making under Risk

The newsvendor problem is a classic problem of decision making under risk that is taught in traditional Operations and Supply Chain Management classes as a single‐period inventory problem. We discuss the following three pedagogical points of interest to any instructor tasked with teaching this topic: a) why the newsvendor model is relevant in this day and age; b) how to make better sense of the newsvendor problem for students; and c) how to easily implement and administer an active learning exercise in either a traditional classroom, or an online setting. This active learning exercise is a quick, effective, and meaningful way of demonstrating a variety of concepts related to the newsvendor problem that include: a) the rational economic method of calculating optimal order quantity, b) the inherent risk in forecasting and ordering decisions as they relate to surpluses and shortages; and c) the cognitive limitations in decision making that often result in irrational but predictable decision‐making behavior as demonstrated by empirical research on newsvendor behavior. This exercise can help instructors and students transition into broader discussions on human behavior, cognitive limitations, and perceptions of risk. Overall, it should provide the student with an improved understanding of the operational and behavioral issues associated with decision making under risk.     

Teaching Supply Chain Management Complexities: A SCOR Model Based Classroom Simulation

The SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) Model Supply Chain Classroom Simulation is an in‐class experiential learning activity that helps students develop a holistic understanding of the processes and challenges of supply chain management. The simulation has broader learning objectives than other supply chain related activities such as the Beer Game. Competing supply chains work to produce and sell two products, each experiencing differential demand. Seasonal demand, time delays, quality defects, and disruptions offer complexities that are part of actual supply chain management. The behavioral dynamics of collaboration between various functional nodes is illustrated through students’ interactions as they try to achieve their role's objectives. Through their decisions and actions, students develop a practical understanding of the processes and complexities of supply chain management. The classroom simulation actively engages students, and has been used successfully in multiple courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at multiple universities and by a major corporation during a manager training session. Assessments indicate that the simulation is an effective experiential learning activity. While it offers learning outcome flexibility, common debrief themes are SCOR model processes, supply chain relationships, information flow, seasonal demand, quality defects, reverse logistics, and supply chain disruptions.     

Sink or Swim: Learning by Doing in a Supply Chain Integration Activity*

Studies show that supply chain integration (SCI) is important to organizations. This article describes an activity that places students in the middle of an SCI scenario. The highly interactive hands‐on simulation requires only 50 to 60 minutes of classroom time, may be used with 18 to about 36 students, and involves minimal instructor preparation. Through the activity, students learn the basics of SCI and then analyze an SCI event to better appreciate the need for collaboration and information sharing. In courses that address supply chain management, instructors can use the activity early in the semester to introduce students to the complexities of supply chain networks. Alternatively, instructors may use the simulation later to provoke a more nuanced discussion.     

Developing Students’ Understanding of Co‐opetition and Multilevel Inventory Management Strategies in Supply Chains: An In‐Class Spreadsheet Simulation Exercise

Instructors look for ways to explain to students how supply chains can be constructed so that competing suppliers can work together to improve inventory management performance (i.e., a phenomenon known as co‐opetition). An Excel spreadsheet‐driven simulation is presented that models a complete multilevel supply chain system—customer, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, and manufacturer—for up to six competing products. Students are provided the opportunity to compare the inventory cost and other key performance metrics of the alternative multilevel supply chain structures. This article explains the simulation model, describes the instructional approach, and presents assessment results from students in an introductory operations management course. Students find that the simulation is easy to use and helps them understand the performance impact of strategic supplier collaborations on supply chain operating performance.     

Teaching Teachers about Supply Chain Management to Influence Students’ Career and Education Choices

Since teachers are influential in high school students’ career choices, enabling high school teachers to introduce educational and career opportunities in supply chain management is a viable strategy for reaching high school students about these opportunities. This article presents a pilot program of supply chain workshops to educate high school and middle school teachers and guidance counselors about the opportunities in supply chain management and logistics and to enable them to integrate supply chain concepts into their teaching. These workshops incorporate a mix of slideshows to introduce concepts, hands‐on activities to illustrate how the concepts work, and field trips and guest speakers to demonstrate concepts in real world applications.     

Demonstrating the Effect of Supply Chain Disruptions through an Online Beer Distribution Game*

This article describes a classroom tool to teach the impact of supply chain disruptions and mitigation strategies based on information sharing and collaboration. The tool is an adaptation of the Beer Distribution Game, is easy to play, and can be hosted online or on local servers. The game considers several scenarios based on the location of the disruptions (i.e., upstream or downstream) and the information available to supply chain partners. Students play the roles of managers who make ordering decisions in a serial supply chain and experience decision‐making under disruptions.     

"Cola-Game": An Innovative Approach to Teaching Inventory Management in a Supply Chain

In this article we present a game that can be used as a tool to educate students and managers on the issues in supply chain (SC), inventory management. The game has a bilevel demand with one level during regular times and another during sale times. The game could be played in two modes (independence and cooperation) and has been field tested in engineering and business classes. Players developed an appreciation for fluctuating demand and its impact on the costs and performance of a SC. They also learned the benefits and a monetary evaluation approach for cooperation. Our statistical analysis revealed that, as the game progressed, the performance of the teams improved. We present an integer linear programming (ILP) model to evaluate the performance of the teams. Because it is a post facto analysis, while the game is played without knowing the materialized retailer demand for the period, the ILP solution is not a tight lower bound on the total cost of the SC. However, it could be used to compare performance across teams. As an alternative, we also present a possible distribution of total SC costs that could be used as another reference without actually solving an ILP.     

Teaching Lean Six Sigma within A Supply Chain Context: The Airplane Supply Chain Simulation

Lean six sigma is a management methodology that firms can employ to achieve substantial improvement in supply chain performance. However, few pedagogical exercises facilitate students’ use of a comprehensive set of lean six sigma principles within a supply chain context. We describe the Airplane Supply Chain Simulation that helps students understand how lean six sigma concepts may be leveraged to improve supply chain performance. The basis of this simulation is a four‐tier supply chain, consisting of suppliers (two tiers), a manufacturer, and a customer, that produces three models of paper airplanes to meet randomly distributed customer demand. In the first of three successive runs, a highly structured simulation is executed in which supply chain roles are well defined, material flows are convoluted, and a “push” production strategy is followed. The first simulation as the “current state” and, for the second and third simulation runs, challenge competing student teams to leverage lean six sigma concepts to develop a “future state” that enables the fulfillment of all customer orders at the lowest cost. Results based on statistical analyses of survey response data from 194 MBA students show that the Airplane Supply Chain Simulation is an effective participative, team‐based learning tool.     

Experiential Learning for Logistics and Supply Chain Management Using an SAP ERP Software Simulation

This teaching brief describes a three‐echelon supply chain simulation that involves complex decision making in a dynamic environment. Using a team‐based logistics simulation operating on a live commercial‐software application (SAP ERP) as a foundation, a supplemental exercise is proposed for deeper learning of transportation and logistics aspects of supply chain management. Sales and operations planning is used during four simulated months to develop detailed procurement strategies and logistics plans to enhance the baseline supply chain management (SCM) concepts of inventory control and forecasting in a distribution network. Transportation planning and scheduling complexity is introduced as students manage freight to conform to motor carrier weight regulations. The combination of commercial software and extensive real‐world planning allows students to assimilate numerous SCM concepts in a realistic environment. Student opinion survey data shows that students are highly engaged by the detailed nature of the simulation, which they concluded aided their conceptual learning. Additionally, the inclusion of the SAP ERP commercial software becomes a competitive advantage during collegiate recruiting by potential employers.     

A Simulation for Managing Complexity in Sales and Operations Planning Decisions

Within the classroom it is often difficult to convey the complexities and intricacies that go into making sales and operations planning decisions. This article describes an in‐class simulation that allows students to gain hands‐on experience with the complexities in making forecasting, inventory, and supplier selection decisions as part of the sales and operations planning process. The activity may be run during one class period and is flexible enough to accommodate almost any class size. During the simulation, students may apply forecasting techniques, inventory management concepts, and supplier selection processes, while experiencing the effects of supply chain disruptions. This simulation is recommended to be used after forecasting, inventory management, and supplier selection topics have been discussed. An overview of the exercise and evidence of its effectiveness is provided.     

Using a Corporate Partnership to Enhance Learning in a Sourcing Negotiation Role‐Play

Although role‐plays can be effective teaching tools for buyer‐supplier negotiation, learning can be somewhat limited because typically novices are negotiating with each other. We describe how we collaborated with a corporate partner, CACI International, to develop and implement a repeatable sourcing and negotiation role‐play that helps to address this limitation. The role play, used in a dual listed undergraduate/MBA strategic sourcing course, covers the sourcing process from strategy development, solicitation, bidding, negotiation, and supplier selection for security services. The unique aspect of the role play is that CACI supply managers assume the role of suppliers throughout the activity including during phone negotiations with student teams. Content analysis of student reflections and a student survey show that the highest degree of perceived learning from the role‐play was in the negotiation. Ways to modify the role‐play approach when you do not have strong corporate partnerships are discussed.     

Utilizing a Simulation Exercise to Illustrate Critical Inventory Management Concepts

Most undergraduate business students simply do not appreciate the elegant mathematical beauty of inventory models. So how does an instructor capture students’ interest and keep them engaged in the learning process when teaching inventory management concepts? This paper describes a competitive and energizing in‐class simulation game that introduces students to basic inventory management concepts. This hands‐on, active‐learning exercise presents students with a simulated single‐product inventory environment that requires them to make ordering decisions in an attempt to minimize the total relevant inventory costs in the face of variable demand.     

Teaching Plan‐Do‐Study‐Act (PDSA) in a Supply Chain Context: A Paper Football In‐Class Activity

We develop a single‐class period learning game for the Plan‐Do‐Study‐Act (PDSA) improvement cycle. The experiential activity walks teams through the PDSA problem‐solving process as they create paper American footballs and improve their performance using each step of the cycle. The game is one of the first to focus on PDSA. Key benefits include increased student attention, engagement, and learning. Empirical tests show that participant pre‐ and post‐test scores regarding their understanding of each phase of PDSA improved 21.2% after completing the game. Additionally, the treatment group performed 16.6% higher than the control group. In participant perception questions, 85% of participants felt the game was more effective than lecture or reading, 93% felt the game was fun, 95% felt the game improved their understanding of PDSA, and 98% felt the game was engaging.     

企业供应链管理的影响因素分析

当今企业的竞争表现是如何以最快速度响应市场要求,满足不断变化的多样化需求.供应链管理的出现,使企业从资源的约束中解放出来,创造出新的竞争优势.本文着重论述了影响企业供应链管理的三大类因素:(1)宏观环境因素;(2)中观环境因素;(3)内部环境因素.     

基于GRNN神经网络的供应链安全库存预测

安全库存水平设置是供应链管理的重要内容，但因其影响因素多、关系复杂，预测难度大。神经网络在处理非线性问题有独特的优势。GRNN神经网络是建立在数理统计基础之上的一种新型的神经网络，具有良好的函数逼近效果。本文利用GRNN神经网络的方法进行供应链安全库存水平预测，详细介绍预测模型及其实施办法，并通过实例验证本方法的有效性。     

B2B电子商务与供应链管理

综述了电子商务供应链管理的研究和应用现状,在分析了电子商务与供应链管理之间关系的基础上,提出了供应链管理的矩阵分析模型。     

供应链中上下游企业隐性知识传播的博弈分析

供应链节点企业之间的隐性知识传播对于企业提高核心竞争力是非常重要的,并且能提高整个供应链的知识水平和效益。在分析隐性知识和供应链内涵的基础上,通过比较分析供应链上下游企业之间隐形知识传播的静态和动态stackelberg博弈。     

Supply Chain Performance Analysis of Dow Jones Industrial Average Indexed Firms and Top 50 Supply Chain Firms

Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) courses may cover supply chain strategies, supply chain classification, and supply chain performance. Familiarity with various manufacturing and logistics firms would help students to better understand such topics. Information on the Dow Jones Industrial Average indexed firms and top 50 supply chain firms by Gartner is easily accessible and typically covers a variety of industries from chemical, food/beverage, high‐tech to retail, to name a few. Instructors of OSCM courses can take advantage of this kind of information to discuss industry characteristics and supply chain classification. We present how to collect financial data, calculate supply chain metrics (e.g., inventory turns, profit margin, and cash‐to‐cash cycle) by building a spreadsheet model and creating an earns‐turns matrix, which prescribes supply chain classification. We also show how to analyze supply chain performance and describe industry characteristics based on the earns‐turns matrix. We provide vital questions and takeaways for instructors to lead and wrap‐up discussions. Students claim that they appreciated learning about industry characteristics and different supply chain strategies through the earns‐turns matrix analysis.