course | Relationship Management in Supply Chain

Continuous improvement in all aspects of the supply chain is necessary to remain competitive in today's global economy. The traditional adversarial relationship and transactional focus of buyers and suppliers cannot meet this demand for continuous improvement in lead-time, quality, and overall supplier performance. As a result, significant changes are occurring in the philosophies and approaches that define the relationship between purchasers and sellers in world-class organizations. Simply put, Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and collaboration provide an organizational focus on communicating with suppliers on the many steps of the Supply Management process. This focus reduces the lead-time and total cost of acquisition, transportation, administration, and possession of goods and services for the benefit of both the buyer and seller, and as a result, provides a competitive advantage and improved profits.
 

Relationship Management

This course covers one subset of Supply Chain philosophy and presents theoretical discussions on Supplier Relationship Management and its benefits, as well as practical case studies that provide evidence of such benefits. The course also covers the practicality of SRM, provides encouragement, and prevents a purely academic or theoretical view of Supplier Relationship Management.