MG4181: Supply Chain Risk Management & Mitigation Strategies| Assignment 2024-25

Section 1 Introduction 15 Marks

1. Provide an analysis of the importance of supply chain risk management, based on peer-reviewed academic theory. (10 Marks)

2. You need to briefly describe how this is relevant to your chosen organisation. This should include some context of the industry that your organisation competes within. This should consider the characteristics of that industry, so demand patterns, shelf life, regulations, seasonality, etc (5 Marks)

Section 2 Sources of Risk 20 Marks

1. Identify the most significant internal and external risks for your chosen organisation from section 1. (4 Marks).

2. Discuss why you have chosen each of these risks, i.e. their potential impact on the organisation. (8 marks).

3. Examine why these risks could be realised, is it because of how the supply chain is structured, or product design, single sourcing strategies, poor supplier relationships, lack of suppliers, etc. (8 marks).

In this section, you can use an example where the risk has already been realised, for e.g. switching suppliers as a result of Brexit or challenges that have surfaced as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, blockages in logistics for goods coming from Asia. Your organisation may have dealt with the consequences of this already. As with many cases, challenges and fragilities within supply chains are often exposed by crisis and critical incidents such as these, so you will be able to use the benefit of hindsight to discuss this risk if you choose these as
examples.

Section 3 Strategies for managing risks 25 Marks

For each of the risks identified in section 2, you need to discuss one strategy for each risk on how to mitigate the impact of this risk.

In this discussion, you need to include a rationale, based on theory, for why you have chosen these strategies. According to theory, what are the benefits of this strategy and how does this tie in with your organisation? What are the potential issues with this strategy?

This section should be linked back to the analysis of the industry in section 1. So, for example, if your industry is highly regulated, then perhaps supplier switching is more difficult,  and so the solution to single source is imposed upon the organisation. Therefore, the strategy might be to collaborate with the single supplier.

Section 4 FMEA 10 Marks

Taking the risks identified in section 2, you need to represent them on a FMEA template.

Section 5 Agile or Robust Supply Chain 10 Marks

By way of conclusion, briefly discuss if the supply chain for your chosen organisation is
more aligned with an agile supply chain or a robust supply chain. Your answer should be
closely linked with theory on agility or robustness.

The word count for assignment 2500 (+/- 10% tolerance) excluding the bibliography.

Presentation:

The assignment must include the cover page from Brightspace. It should include your student name and number.

The assignment must include a bibliography, citing all material used throughout the assignment.

It must reference correctly all theory used throughout, at the point of use.

Please clearly mark out each section using headings and where necessary, use sub-headings for each risk. It must be clear when you have moved from section 1 to 2, and so on.