Supply Chain Frontiers issue #47
The Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (MISI) launched a program this October that addresses specific gaps in the training of the region’s supply chain managers. These gaps were identified during a special focus group session designed to elicit feedback from practitioners on their knowledge of the supply chain discipline.
There was a general consensus that mid-level managers are not fully equipped to lead global supply chains that cut across not only international boundaries, tariff regimes, and different workforce cultures, but also across multiple business and functional units within their organizations. Furthermore, professionals were worried that local managers often lack a global mindset and end-to-end perspective, skills that are vital in implementing strategy and building adaptability and resilience into supply chains.
In response to this constructive feedback, MISI collaborated with Next U® and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to introduce an educational program for supply chain managers using expertise from within the MIT Global SCALE.
The four-month program was designed and launched in Singapore. A unique feature is the sharp focus on connecting theory with practice. Using action-learning pedagogy, the program is broken down into three stages.
Stage One involves a two-day training module based on traditional teaching methods, that covers the theory and concepts that managers need to devise competitive supply chain solutions. Topics included System Dynamics, Supply Chain Resilience, Supply Chain Finance and Linking Supply Chain Strategy with Operations. The inaugural class completed this stage successfully in October.
Stage Two, scheduled for mid-November, is a three-day module that employs the Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, where the participants are shown, in a step-by-step manner, how problems are isolated, decomposed and resolved using various theories and concepts they have learnt. The goal is to mentor the participants through the process using real life scenarios to isolate, define, and scope out a problem and then use theory to devise effective solutions. The sessions primarily consist of case study analysis and simulation exercises that pose problems and develop solutions under hypothetical scenarios using what was learnt during the program’s first stage.
Stage Three will focus on applying what has been learnt in the classroom to an actual supply chain improvement project from the participants' organization under the supervision of MISI faculty members. This will take place over a three-month period, culminating in a project report and a poster. The aim is to help the managers become more effective practitioners through hand-on problem solving and putting theory into practice. They will become conversant in thinking through problems and using first principles to find better solutions.
The program will also create a valuable knowledge base of practical case studies that practitioners and academics can use in future studies.
Encouraged by the success of the program, the WDA has committed to sponsoring 100 more participants over the next 2-3 years.
For more information on the program contact Dr. Albert Tan, Associate Professor, MISI.