A Supply Chain is a network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific product or service. The functions in a supply chain include product development, marketing, operations, distribution, finance and customer service.

Supply Chain Management is about the management of materials, information and finance flows in multi-stage production – distribution networks.

Today’s marketplace is very competitive than ever before. Globalization, technological change and demanding customers has risen the need of new managerial practices. It is claimed that the day is rapidly coming when companies will no longer compete against other companies, rather we foresee a world in which Supply Chain will compete against other Supply Chain for market supremacy, for example Wal-Mart and its suppliers will battle Carrefour and its suppliers in consumer markets around the world. Similar rivalries have emerged in car manufacturing industry and will continue to emerge in other industries like electronics, pharmaceuticals, fast food, etc.

Companies have been struggling for years and experimenting with all sorts of alignment measures and looking to technology and people to find the key to more effective interorganisational cooperation, hence, to achieve a true cross-functional process integration.

This course is designed to provide a strategic understanding of Supply Chain, giving the knowledge and the tools necessary to develop, implement, and sustain strategies for managing Supply Chain networks.