COURSE SYLLABUS
M&L 884 – FIELD PROBLEMS IN LOGISTICS
WINTER 2011
Professor: Walter Zinn e-mail:
Office: 512 Fisher Hall Phone: 292-0797
Class: Fridays 8-12 pm
A. INTRODUCTION
Field Problems in Logistics is an advanced projects course for MBA and MBLE students. Students work as a consulting team to solve business problems for clients. At the end, each the team delivers a final report and a presentation to the client.
B. OBJECTIVES
The general objective is to provide students with a directed opportunity to test their problem solving skills on an actual business problem. Specifically, the course is designed to provide the following knowledge and experience:
· Design and execute a consulting project applying logistics tools.
· Develop business presentation skills.
· Improve on the ability to work in teams.
· Gain practical business experience before entering the job market.
C. FORMAT
The course is offered on a tutorial basis. The format of the class is as follows:
· During the Fall prior to the beginning of the course, the professor meets with business firms and public sector agencies to explain the course’s objectives, requirements and limitations. Those who agree to participate are asked to prepare a request for proposal (RFP).
· Research teams are organized in teams of four to five members. Students form their own teams. Specific research projects are assigned on a first come - first serve basis to complete teams.
· On January 7th there will be 2 guest speakers. Mr. Carlos Cherubin, currently Chief Information Officer at DSW Shoe Warehouse will give a tutorial on the topic of business consulting. Mr. Cherubin is an expert experienced in both industry and consulting jobs. Ms. Phoenix Zhang is a successful consultant with Chainalytics in Atlanta. Ms. Zhang is a graduate of the MBLE program and an alumnus of M&L 884. She will talk about her experiences with the course. Attendance is mandatory.
· There is a mid-term status report presentation requirement on Friday, February 4th. This is a plenary meeting. Attendance is mandatory.
· On March 11th, there is another plenary meeting from 8 to 12pm to present the final project. The meeting is a critique session in preparation for their final presentation to the client. Attendance is mandatory. The project is presented to the client during the exam week or at an alternate date set jointly by the team and the client.
· In other weeks, individual teams (all members) will meet with the professor every Friday for about 30 minutes. We will discuss progress against plan, problems, and work with the team as required.
D. DEVELOPING THE PROJECT CHARTER AND LOG
1. View the project charter as a contract. Be prepared to deliver everything you promise in a project charter.
2. Elements of the project charter are as follows:
· What are the project goals, as outlined in the RFP and discussed with the client?
· How does the research team propose to conduct the study? (research design)
· Most importantly, what are the deliverables?
· What is the data collection plan? (Data source, format, timetable for collection and cleanup).
· What is the work plan? (Weekly Gantt Chart)
· What are the estimated expenses for the project?
3. Once the project charter is signed off by the client your freedom to redefine the research project is limited – except by agreement with the client.
4. Each consulting group is required to prepare a project log. The project log is a journal of every group and client meeting describing the progress made, the role of each group member in the meeting, issues within the group and issues with the client. The logs are due in four different dates; 1/28; 2/18; and 3/11. They can be sent to the instructor as an attachment. There is no need for a hard copy.
E. ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES
1. The project team is under the same restriction as a consultant in honoring the confidentiality of information collected from the client or for the client. All information collected from the client or for the client remains the property of the client.
2. One student on each team is appointed as a point of client contact. All client contacts should be made through this designated team representative.
3. A client contact is appointed by the client firm. All contact with the client should be made through this designated client representative.
F. SCHEDULE
1. Please note these important dates. The group meetings are on Fridays. Each team will have an appointed hour which we will try to keep throughout the quarter.
· Friday, January 7th (intro and consulting workshop)
· Friday, January 14th (group meetings)
· Friday, January 21st (group meetings)
· Friday, January 28th (group meetings-project log 1 due)
· Friday, February 4th (midterm progress report presentation)
· Friday, February 11th (group meetings)
· Friday, February 18th (group meetings-project log 2 due)
· Friday, February 25th (group meetings)
· Friday, March 4th (group meetings)
· Friday, March 11th (final presentation – project log 3 due)
· March 14th -17th (schedule client presentation)
2. The teams should contact the client by January 11th (Monday) and have the project charter signed-off by January 21st.
3. On Friday, February 4th we will meet as a class for progress reports on each project. Each presentation is allotted 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for questions. Everyone is required to attend all presentations.
4. The final plenary meeting date is March 11th. The purpose of this meeting is to share our learning with all members of the class and to prepare for the client presentation. Each team is allotted 30 minutes for presentation, including 10 minutes for questions. The written project is due on this date. An electronic copy of the paper suffices. A paper copy is only needed if requested by the client. Everyone is required to attend all presentations.
G. EVALUATION
Course performance is determined by an evaluation of the following course components:
Project Logs 10%
Mid-term progress report presentation 20%
Attendance to required meetings 10%
Project Report 30%
Final Project Presentation 30%
Note: Except for the attendance grade, a group grade is assigned to each project team. However, the grade of an individual team member may vary by from the team project grade depending on project logs, peer evaluations and/or the instructor’s observation of individual performance within the group.
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