Assessment task details and instructions
“Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought to light the fact that supply chains function as the veins of our economy and society. Societies and businesses across the world have faced unprecedented challenges due to the disruptions that the coronavirus outbreak, and the consequent great lockdown, have caused. Individuals, for instance, have dealt with a range of changes in their lives, from self-isolation to difficulties stocking up on essentials.,” https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MSCRA-05-2020-0011/full/html
Based on the above statement, you are asked to choose a sector/industry (e.g., food, steel, healthcare, retail, services, automotive), and critically:
i. Appraise how the supply chain structure has been changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
ii. Evaluate how the industry/sector has managed (or still manages) to tackle inventory management related issues that arose after the COVID-19 breakout.
iii. Discuss how advanced technologies (e.g., Big Data analytics, Internet of Things, Omnichannel) may help the industry/sector to recover and improve its overall supply chain performance.
For each question above, you should support your arguments by bringing into the discussion 1-2 examples of companies that belong to the selected sector/industry. 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
• 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)
• Fully referenced (Harvard Referencing System). Please refer to the reading list in the Overview section of the syllabus.
Marking scheme:
Criteria Marks
Use of theory/reference to course ideas 30
Examples (Companies trading in the sector) 30
Understanding of the matter 10
Quality of argument 10
Executive summary/Conclusions 10
Citation and References 10
Please remember that marks for the assignment will also be awarded in relation to presentation and structure, and aspects such as the use of examples, figures, tables, illustrations and statistics that indicate wider/independent reading.
Explicit marking criteria and mark ranges can be found below.