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.     

Understanding Bottlenecks: An Operations Management Experiential Learning Exercise

Understanding bottlenecks is an in‐class experiential learning exercise designed to improve students’ understanding of production system capacity issues. After an introductory teaching session on capacity and constraint management, students are formed into groups of six to assume the roles of one raw material handler, four production workers, and one finished goods receiver and are asked to produce 20 units of product beta. Prior to the start of the exercise, the students are asked to predict the completion time of the 1st, 10th, and 20th units of product beta. When all 20 betas are completed, students compare their predicted completion times to the actual completion times. The results of the game show that while students can easily identify the system's bottleneck, they often have difficulties distinguishing the practical implications of the process time of the system versus the process cycle time; thus, their predicted completion times of the 10th and 20th units are typically overinflated compared to actual completion times. A debrief session is then used to solidify students’ understanding of the relationship between bottlenecks and capacity. The exercise is well‐received and highly rated by students; furthermore, it is not resource‐intensive, requiring 40‐45 minutes of classroom time, 20‐25 strips of paper per group, and a visible stopwatch.     

Course Design Process to Create a Coordinated,Experiential, Integrated Core Operations Management Course for Business Majors

We describe our process for transforming a traditional, core operations management/supply chain management (OM/SCM) course into an experiential, integrated, and coordinated course. We developed a vison to create a course that all business majors would find engaging and relevant and that faculty would teach consistently and at the same level of rigor. A primary result was three new learning outcomes that focused on concept integration across operations, the supply chain, and the business. We specifically focused on decision trade‐offs and the effects of OM/SCM decisions on other parts of operations, the supply chain, and the business. The redesigned course has been implemented for three semesters. Our experiences offer new insights for redesigning and coordinating an OM/SCM core course and a process that can be implemented in other redesign efforts.     

Patio Swings Intermodal Shipping Competition: An Inquiry‐Based Partial Information Exercise

Rather than providing all the required information as classroom exercises typically do, this international purchase and intermodal transportation competitive in‐class exercise intentionally holds back selected supply chain details. This inquiry‐based learning (IBL) approach simulates a real‐world Distribution Requirements Planning scenario by requiring students to identify what information they need and seek out those details from the instructor while competing with fellow student groups. In this 20‐30 minute exercise students are challenged to identify the all the necessary supply chain activities required to effectively ship patio swings from a supplier in China to a national retail chain in time for a spring sale. Generating the benefits of improved critical thinking in a fraction of the time required for traditional IBL, the approach is best described as a Partial Information Exercise. A student survey (n = 310) found that students strongly supported the inquiry approach, it generated significantly increased interest in global supply chain management roles and responsibilities, and over 91% of participants recommended the exercise continue to be part of the introductory operations and supply chain management course.     

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.     

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.     

Using Concept Maps in Teaching Operations Management Courses

Teaching quantitative subjects such as operations management (OM) can be quite challenging. In this article, we present a novel approach that uses simplified concept maps for teaching OM. This application of concept maps was investigated to determine if it helps students to answer questions and to solve OM problems more effectively. Our study used a controlled experimental design with students divided into two groups, one taught using concept maps and another group taught using traditional techniques. Student learning was measured with pre‐ and posttests consisting of both multiple‐choice and constructed‐response items. The performance of the two groups was compared using an independent samples t‐test and analysis of covariance to control for the covariate “pretest.” The results indicate that use of simplified concept mapping significantly improved student learning of OM course material. We therefore recommend its adoption as an active‐learning pedagogical technique that can lead to positive change in the OM classroom.     

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.     

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.     

Appreciating the Complexity of Project Management Execution: Using Simulation in the Classroom

As the popularity and importance of project management increase, so does the need for well‐prepared project managers. This article discusses our experiences using a project management simulation in undergraduate and MBA classes to help students better grasp the complexity of project management. This approach gives students hands‐on experience with many facets in the project management life cycle and provides them with feedback on their performance as project managers. This article provides an overview of the simulation exercises, guidance for classroom integration, and evidence of effectiveness.     

Spreadsheet Modeling of () Inventory Policies

This teaching brief describes a method for finding an approximately optimal combination of order quantity and reorder point in a continuous review inventory model using a discrete expected shortage calculation. The technique is an alternative to a model where expected shortage is calculated by integration, and can allow students who have not had a calculus‐based statistics course to better understand how uncertainty affects inventory decisions.     

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.     

Supply Chain Sourcing Game: A Negotiation Exercise

This article introduces an exercise that simulates the negotiation process in a dynamic supply chain. The retailer and wholesaler roles are assigned to student groups who negotiate supply contracts in a number of rounds during a class period. Each group makes pricing, inventory, and ordering decision concurrently, and competes with others to achieve the highest profit. The exercise is easy to implement using pen and paper, and lends itself to a wide variety of negotiation environments.     

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.     

Applying Performance Measures and Process Improvements in the Classroom: The Loch Dots Company Simulation

The article describes a multi‐phase, in‐class simulation that employs problem‐based learning to teach operations and process‐improvement concepts as part of an undergraduate or graduate business course. The simulation is derived from a corporate Lean Six Sigma training activity and has been modified to introduce, demonstrate, and apply a wide range of business concepts relevant to operations and supply chain management, including the use of operational and financial performance measures in decision making. The activity is scalable for small‐ to medium‐size classes with multiple student groups and may be deployed as a stand‐alone, in‐class exercise spread over several class meetings or incorporated into a larger, semester‐long process‐improvement project for multiple student groups. The simulation emphasizes problem‐solving, teamwork, and intra‐firm cooperation in addition to 20–30 other business concepts, tools, and measures that may be incorporated.     

高校《生产运作管理》课程教学改革探析

生产运作管理是一门多学科交叉课程,其理论性和实践性都非常强。然而由于种种原因,该课程的教学效果不甚理想,学生不喜欢也不重视这门课。为此,需要树立科学的教学理念,灵活采用多种教学方法,重视实践性教学,从而跨越理论与实践之间的鸿沟,提高教学质量,改善教学效果。     

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。