The global supply chain is more than direct ownership of production and distribution. It is also a network of relationships with both internal and external partners. It requires establishing relationships with organisations operating under completely different political, economic, and physical environments. Based on the above statement, you are asked to choose a large enterprise, which has become over the years the cornerstone of the supply chain (e.g., Nike, Tesco, IKEA, Samsung, Ford, Apple, P&G, Wal-Mart) and critically discuss: (i) how it manages to establish close coordination across the globe (including any offshoring decisions and location-specific advantages), (ii) how distinctive R&D investments helped the company to increase its revenues, (iii) what are the supply chain risks and associated mitigation strategy (iv) how advanced technology means (e.g., 3D Printing, Big Data analytics or Internet of Things) help to maintain the competitive advantage. Assessment Criteria This assignment represents 50% of your overall module mark. The maximum word count is 3000 words (+/- 10%). You will also need to consider the following when completing your assignment: • Quality of executive summary (does it give a brief complete summary of your paper for an executive to read?) • Establishment of relevant theory (e.g. how supply chain environments are differentiated from region to region?) • Allocation of credit and sources used (have I included references and citations to the material I have used?) • Clarity of argument • Overall report presentation including spelling and grammar • Adherence to nominated word limit (+/- 10%) • Word processed (letter size 12, times new roman, 1.5 space) ï‚· Fully referenced (Harvard Referencing System). Please refer to the reading list and academic sources issued in Blackboard . Make reference to the following textbooks, Global logistics strategies : delivering the goods- John Manners-bell 2014. Managing the global supply chain- Julian Hsuan, Tage skjott-larsen, herbert kotzab 2015. Managing supply chain and logistics :Competitive strategy for a sustainable future- Ling li 2014 Dynamic supply chain: how to design, build and manage people-centric value networks- John Gattorna 2015 Global Supply Chain ecosystem: strategies for competitive advantage in a complex world- Mark Millar 2015.

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