Procurement and Supply Chain Management Corporate & Public Finance Procurement and Supply Chain Management Scope and Sequence of Procurement and Supply Chain Management EMSC 601 Project Management 4 credits Prerequisite: This course prepares students for managing organizational change through projects. It focuses on projects involving major changes, including projects related to new products, new plant and equipment and new operating systems, which will affect the lives of people both within and without the organization. This course takes a high level, critical and evaluative view of project management, emphasizing managerial and strategic use of the techniques of project management. EMSC 603 Supply Chain Management 4 credits Prerequisite: This course reviews the nature, role and contribution of supply chain management and its application to business supply chains. It equips participants with an understanding of the importance of supply chain management from both a customer and supplier perspective, and aims to prepare them for starting a managerial role within an industrial or commercial supply organization. EMSC 605 Quality Management 4 credits The intention of this course is to convey the importance of Quality as a strategy for continuous improvement in business performance. Accordingly, the course evolves through strategies for competitive quality, quality in design and manufacture and the customer supply chain to the concept of Total Quality. EMSC 602 Lean Operations 4 credits Lean Manufacture is based upon the principle of eliminating waste at all levels throughout the manufacturing system. This course reviews the skills and techniques required to analyse manufacturing systems and to design improved methods and layouts. It will use value stream mapping to understand and appraise the current state. Future state mapping will be used to develop a vision of value-added flow. The application of lean into the service industries will also be considered. The focus of this course will be on the application of the techniques through case studies and industrial experience, and will identify the benefits to be gained by their successful implementation. EMSC 604 Logistics operations 4 credits This course addresses the various functions and elements related to logistics and the associated distribution systems involved in handling freight in local, national, and international contexts. The material covered relates to procurement and inventory management, warehousing and storage, materials management and the operation of freight transport systems. The concept of the supply chain within which these activities are managed, the importance of coordinating both physical and information flows and the support provided by IT systems are explored. EMSC 605 Purchasing Management 4 credits The overall aim of the course is to provide an in-depth knowledge of purchasing and procurement management and a critical understanding of how the concepts may be applied both strategically and practically in an industrial organizational context. EMSC 701 Contracting Management 4 credits Project management professionals should have an awareness of the relevant legal duties, rights and processes that govern in a particular project situation. This is not intended to replace the need for professional advice and services. There should be an awareness of the potential causes of disputes, liabilities, breaches of contract, means of resolving a dispute and the basics of contract law. This course is intended to provide the student with the knowledge necessary to make choices based on reasoned arguments and discriminate between strategic alternatives in the effective use of contracts in project management. EMSC 703 Research Methodology 4 Credits The objective of the course is to equip the students with the concept and methods of Business Research. The students will be able to plan, design and conduct business research using the scientific method and prepare research report(s) / paper (s). It introduces the requisite concepts and skills to conduct a piece of individual research or problem-solving of a strategic nature. EMSC 705 Sustainability and Environmental Management Systems 4 Credits This course is designed to discuss, analyze and investigate the operation of environmental systems and the issues of sustainability within and between manufacturing companies. It will enable students to evaluate the opportunities such approaches give to organizations to allow world class manufacturing methodologies to function, continuously improve, and meet diverse stakeholder needs and requirements. It will discuss the need for and structure of organizational systems and allow students to critically analyze systems with reference to organizational failures. This systems approach will be synthesized to form the basis of understanding word-class quality and environmental management systems. The course will conclude with the organizational mechanisms that allow optimal deployment in these systems, emphasizing the human interactions that are required for adoption, operation and development. EMSC 708 Supply Chain and Information Technology 4 Credits This course deals with the impact of information technology (IT) in supply chain management. Its emphasis is on the role and use of IT in the management of material and information in production-distribution networks with the aim of reducing costs, increasing product availability and increasing responsiveness to changes in the market. It covers the applications of IT to get the high firm performance that comprises the three major criteria: marketing performance, financial performance, and customer satisfaction. It analyzes the interrelationships among these criteria and how the application of IT affects marketing performance and customer satisfaction. It considers the implications of IT in supply chain management in a Liberian company or industry through case study and analyzes the limitations for its current applications and the directions for its future applications in supply chain management. EMSC 710 Master’s Thesis or Project 4 Credits The project includes a study of research methods and provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their competence in applying the concepts and skills acquired during the taught part of the program. The project may be a solution to a practical problem or a piece of research. The project must be relevant to the particular award the student will receive.
