Week 1 Discussion

1. Go to http://fortune.com/fortune500/ and identify a company that you would like to write your Assignment #1 Case Study for in this class. Remember you are going to have to identify a problem and/or an opportunity. See the Rubric that will be used to grade this assignment in Week 2 Course Documents. You must choose an organization that another student has not chosen, so if someone else has already chosen your first choice you must pick another organization. Each student is to prepare their Case Study assignment on a different Fortune 500 company.
2. Consider your current or past employer’s supply chain (and cite). Be sure to include any connections to the global supply chain (for example where do supplies come from). Write 300 words to describe the origins of operations management at that company. Think about their earliest efforts in supply chain. You may need to ask a few questions and do some research to find out. Some of the parameters you might want to include in your graduate level response are:
   1. What are the advances that have been made in infrastructure?
   2. Identify and cite government barriers to trade affected your business.
   3. What parts of the supply chain extend past US boarders?
   4. Identify and cite all potential rebates.
   5. Identify and cite the core capabilities of this organization?
   6. What are the formal and informal networks of your organizations supply chain? (Remember all organizations have a supply chain – even if they don’t know it).