MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

The lack of a robust process for identifying, prioritizing, managing and mitigating risks is a clear threat to an organization’s supply chain and its strategy. A systematic risk assessment becomes even more important as an organization decides to compete globally and/or to expand its supply chain to other countries and regions. Unfortunately, without a crisis to motivate actions, risk planning often falls to the bottom of the priority list.

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Objectives

01. Critical review of Global Supply Chain Risk: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. How Global Supply Chain Risk has evolved over the years; departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Core characteristics of Supply Chain risk; departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Risk assessment process in Global Supply Chain; departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Common risks involved in Global Supply Chains; departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Understanding Supply Chain risk management; departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Understanding supplier profiles: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. Mitigating transport and logistic risks in a Global Supply Chain: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Practical approaches to build risk resilience: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Best practices for Supply Chain risk management: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Mining for potential Global Supply Chain threats: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Risk and compliance in the global economy: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. Critical review of Global Supply Chain Risk: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. How Global Supply Chain Risk has evolved over the years: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Core characteristics of Supply Chain risk: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Risk assessment process in Global Supply Chain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. Common risks involved in Global Supply Chains: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. Understanding Supply Chain risk management: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Understanding supplier profiles: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. Mitigating transport and logistic risks in a Global Supply Chain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Practical approaches to build risk resilience: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Best practices for Supply Chain risk management: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Mining for potential Global Supply Chain threats: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Risk and compliance in the global economy: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Critical review of Global Supply Chain Risk.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze How Global Supply Chain Risk has evolved over the years.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Core characteristics of Supply Chain risk.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Risk assessment process in Global Supply Chain.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Common risks involved in Global Supply Chains.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Understanding Supply Chain risk management.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Understanding supplier profiles.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Mitigating transport and logistic risks in a Global Supply Chain.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Practical approaches to build risk resilience.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Best practices for Supply Chain risk management.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Mining for potential Global Supply Chain threats.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyse Risk and compliance in the global economy.

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Introduction

Introduction to Global Supply Chain Risk Analysis

Risk assessment and analysis in the supply chain is a necessary evil today. Organizations have to ensure that they have all corners covered and are ready for the complications involving these processes. This introduction will take you through all that you should know to learn more about risk in the global supply chain, and the issues it can lead to.

Risks in the supply chain have evolved to become even more prevalent and common with time. The risk management strategies that businesses implemented and followed in yesteryears have failed to stack up in this day and age. The policies of days gone by have failed to maintain their efficacy during these modern times, and businesses now have to improvise and adapt to the changing environment.

No type of provider can avoid the risks of a global supply chain today. Even with the growing addition of security across the supply chain, risks exist across ocean, land and air freight. These risks are often unavoidable and inevitable for global supply chain businesses, since there is no way around them.

Definition of Risk

Traditionally, risk has been defined as an amalgam of two factors – a particular hazard and the chances or likelihood that the hazard will occur. To simplify this definition, risk is the probability or likelihood that a hazard such as financial fraud will occur inside a business.

As per environmental and human rights terms, this definition of risk translates into identifying all environmental and human rights violations that can result through a supply chain including pollution incidents, forced labor, and coming up with a probability for their likelihood.

Going by these terms, risk can be considered theoretical, and something that has a negative impact, which can potentially damage a business and hasn’t yet happened.

The aim behind risk assessment processes in the supply chain is to identify all potential sources of risk in the supply chain and to grade or prioritize them on the basis of their importance. As studied in previous sections, the importance of risk is evaluated and determined on the basis of the impact that the risk carries. The aim of risk management, on the contrary, is to reduce the likelihood or probability of these hypothetical problems and ensure there aren’t any roadblocks along the way. It is necessary for all supply chain stakeholders to have a clear understanding of the risk assessment and management processes. Where risk assessment deals with prioritizing, assessing and grading risk, risk management deals with managing and mitigating their impact. Risk assessment puts down the foundation for what’s to follow during a typical risk management process.

Who Is at Risk?

There are many areas of risk inside an organization. These areas can have different impacts, often leading to complications in revenue generation and profitability. There are many areas of risk, with the greater ones leading to a loss of business, financial failure and major interruptions to operations in a number of different ways.

When it comes to human rights and sustainability risks, the discussion hovers around the impact the risk will have on the outside environment and the reputation of the supply chain and parent organization. While organizations often look through the lens of profitability, they have now realized the importance of providing friendly working conditions to workers and practicing sustainable measures for protecting the environment from the perils of industrial smoke and transportation inefficiencies.

Risk Assessment and Compliance

A publication released back in 2011 by UNGP provided businesses with a framework they should follow for not only understanding their own responsibilities, but to also come up with a plan to mitigate and minimize the likelihood of risk. Human rights risk assessment is of great concern to the United Nations and was highly emphasized in the document.

When it comes to human rights risks, organizations should run consultations with all business stakeholders and determine strategies to combat risk. Stakeholders such as business partners, communities, employees, NGOs and even trade unions can share valuable insights into the process of policy making and setting the right course for risk management.

The UNGP made it clear within this document that the primary responsibility of ensuring human rights lies with the State. The private sector should uphold and comply with the laws mentioned by the State and should also be responsible toward respecting and promoting human rights. Private sector entities should realize the negative attributes that come with their management styles and what can be done to limit them.

Compliance with the laws and regulative measures is necessary, but it isn’t the only thing organizations are required to do today. Organizations in the business world today are required to also maintain a strict code of conduct, based on which they perform in a particular manner toward employees and the environment.

Most developing countries have concrete laws in place for risk management but lack the steps that should be taken here. The lack of proper steps and decision making can lead to companies exploiting labor and not giving human rights the importance they should be given. Companies have a responsibility of their own as well and should go beyond simple legal compliance to remain on the right side of ethics and the law.

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Common Worker Rights and Environmental Risks Ignored by Supply Chains

There are a number of sustainability and human rights issues that businesses today can focus more on. The UNGP has termed the risks below to be the most salient ones and has crafted a policy to ensure businesses comply with risk management in this regard.

Fundamental Labor Rights

Workers suffer during the non-implementation of fundamental labor rights. The inability to provide these risks can land supply chains in hot waters.

Rights violations made here include:

• Forced labor
• Child labor
• Discrimination in employment toward people of a particular religion or caste
• Lack of respect for worker freedom and unions

Working Conditions and Remuneration Risks

Obviously, employees need to be given feasible working conditions to work in and should also be given the wages and remuneration they require. Risky violations that shouldn’t be made here include:

• Wages below the minimum wage level decided by the governing organizations
• Excessive hours of work
• Abusive treatment leveled toward employees for no violations as such
• Health and safety breaches
• Lack of access to the grievance mechanism
• Abuse of contracts

Social and Economic Rights Violations

These risky violations are mostly leveled on communities near the supply chain and manufacturing unit. The inability to address these violations can leave organizations with lasting repercussions, along with a supply chain that may never recover.

The risk factors involved in these violations include:

• Noise and air pollution affecting the local population in a specific area
• Emissions impacting the local water supplies or an improper drainage system
• Road transportation methods that create traffic constraints and lead to challenges
• Land grabbing activities without proper legal compliance

Civil and Political Rights Violations

Violations of civil and political rights are conducted by global supply chains and operators on communities and their own employees. These risk factors are a show of power and limit the voices against regressive policies.

Violations that can lead to this risk include:

• Preventing workers from forming unions and being part of unions together
• Collaboration within companies and security forces to repress community complaints against regressive measures
• Bribery and land grabbing policies

Sources of Risk

Risk can come at you from multiple sources or dimensions. Obviously, it is very hard to manage or determine where risk is coming from, but a simple grouping can help you determine the course of action.

For supply chain managers, the sources of risks are of key importance. These sources are a major part of the risk and need to be fully minimized or mitigated if a strategy is to be prepared. Sourcing your risks and being prepared for them can also lead to the aversion of possible dangers that result because of the risk.

Also, risk categories and sources aren’t meant to be exclusive. This means that the category basically operates as a tag or a label and that the risk in question can have more than one tag. In short, most risks are generated through inefficiencies in multiple sources and not just one.

Typical risk categories include:

• External
• Internal
• Project
• Product
• Technical
• People
• Organization etc.

External Risk

An example of an external risk for a global supply chain operator would be a supplier missing their deadline and delaying the shipment that they have to provide. These delays cannot only lead to customer retention issues, but also signal problems in revenue generation. However, since supplier delivery timelines are often out of the organization’s control, there isn’t much that can be done about them.

This is something that we discuss in greater detail within the rest of this chapter as well. Supplier relationships are a key part of averting supply chain risk, and with good relationships, organizations can mitigate and minimize the chances of risks.

Internal Risk

Internal risk factors come to the surface during change management. Change is a major part of supply chain progress, but can be really complicated for global operators to manage. Signaling a change in global sourcing and procurement patterns can lead to implications.

To take an example of internal risks, a management that isn’t involved in the organization’s transformation process will see a number of risks during the implementation of an Agile framework. These risks are however linked with internal management and external forces cannot be blamed for them.

Project

Projects can often act as sources of risk as well. Projects are a major part of every supply chain today and need to be managed carefully for the right results. Project managers should be involved in the process, so that the backlog items are ready for the next iteration. Failure to keep a check and balance on the project can lead to delays and backlog creation for the next iteration.

Product

Risk can also come through the final product being offered to customers at the end of a supply chain. All marketing attributes related to the product should be finalized and managed in a decent manner to manage the risks involved with them. If the product owner isn’t involved and sets either price, product, promotion or location wrong, the product is bound to suffer.

Technical Risks

With the higher dependency on tech solutions in the supply chain, there are a growing number of technical risks involved as well. Technical risks make management difficult and can lead to massive downtimes if your management team and the tech team aren’t well equipped in the processes that they should follow for risk mitigation.

In short, the greater an organization’s reliability on tech solutions, the higher will be their chances of falling for technical risks. Automated solutions do make global supply chain processes easier, but they also come with their own perils in the way.

People

The people employed in a global supply chain also carry their risk. Global supply chains are stringent in their hiring procedures and hire the crème de la crème to represent their business. This is because people play an important role in not only mitigating but managing risk as well.

Training is an important part of the process here, where employees are trained to follow best practices in the industry and to ensure that they are up and available whenever the need be. If recruitment fails to rope in the best candidates and does not improve the pipeline, performance is bound to suffer.

Organization

The management and organization of processes is also a key factor in determining and dictating risk. The organization of key resources can either increase or decrease risk, based on the reaction to it.

We will look at the sources of risk and the common risks found in supply chains in greater detail in the coming chapters.

Time-Based and Situational Characteristics

Changes in situations and time periods can often result in a number of new risks. If we look at situations, it is a key characteristic for risks to pop up during change. The changing of team members, the undergoing of a major reorganization process, the changing scope of a project and the enhanced use of technology are all factors that can contribute and lead to risk. Change management is hence extremely important and helps steady the ship during times of turbulence.

Time-based risks can also pop up in a global supply chain. Time-based risks are certain risks that repeat themselves at particular times. For instance, the time during the start of a project or a new chain is often considered the riskiest. This time period comes with certain risks of its own and can be difficult to manage for managers or professionals involved in the process. The risk then diminishes along as the project moves forward and the impact reduces.

Interdependence

A core characteristic of risk is to have a domino-like impact on organizational processes. Many tasks and deliverables within a global supply chain are dependent on each other. A certain risk endangering the delivery of one shipment or one batch can accumulate and have a cascading impact on all other tasks as well. The result could be similar to a domino effect with lasting repercussions.

Risks are also known to be magnitude dependent. As we studied earlier, a higher impact can increase the magnitude of a risk as well. To explain this through a simple example, take up the choice of investing $1 for a 50/50 reward of $5 versus the risk of investing $1000 for a 50/50 chance of winning $5000. Obviously, the latter is a lot more complicated and riskier because the opportunity cost is higher.

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History of Supply Chain and Risk Resilience

The roots of both operations research and industrial engineering can be found in logistics and supply chain-oriented research patterns. Frederick Taylor, who is accredited with writing The Principles of Scientific Management, back in 1911, is considered to be the father of both operations research and industrial engineering. The research conducted by Fredrick Taylor was inspired by logistics, after his early life experiences as a manual loader.

Operations Research gained precedence when scientists and innovators demonstrated just how useful analytics could be in studying and solving key military logistics problems. The complex requirements of the World War II required new innovations and strategies in military tactics, which is where these advancements came in particularly handy.

While both Industrial Research and Operations Engineering have been maintained separately, both these factors have found their best success when used together in the supply chain. The integrated framework used in global supply chains of today is the amalgam of both operations engineering and industrial research. This integrated framework helps address logistics and supply chain issues, while providing feasible conclusions and solutions for everyone involved.

This amalgam of engineering with operations planning is known as the supply chain engineering approach and is a major part of the supply chain today.

Supply Chain Management in the Early Years

Back in the early 1940s and 1950s the focus of most research conducted in logistics was on the use of mechanization. Mechanization processes such as pallet lifts and pallets were becoming increasingly common during the period, and research was focused on improving the tiring labor intensive processes in logistics, and to find a better racking and layout technology that would utilize space. The lack of technology and the extreme reliance on manual labor meant that racking and utilization of space in the warehouse was an integral issue in the supply chain process.

The ‘unit load’ concept gained particular popularity during this period, with readers and aficionados of the supply chain. The use of pallets became common with the rising popularity of the unit load concept. The concept of unit load and pallets was even extended to transportation management in the 1950s, with the innovation and development of containers for trains, trucks and ships. Although, supply chain globalization actualized much later, the founding stones had been set during these decades and the progress was evident. While these advancements and processes are termed as ‘material handling’ and ‘warehousing’, it is best to include the functions under fundamental and core application of industrial engineering, rather than creating an entirely new discipline.

The arrival of the 1960s saw a clearer trend towards the use of trucks in the transport networks. While rail tracks were previously used for shifting more time-dependent freight transport, trucks provided a more lucrative, efficient and easy to manage alternative. This alternative greatly enhanced with the growing infrastructure of highways, filling stations and logistic points in developed countries. The inclusion of trucks in local transport led to the much-needed development of a separate segment known as physical distribution.

The National Council of Physical Distribution Management was formed in 1963 to focus the attention of supply chain stakeholders and governments towards this field. The interest showed by governments was followed with enhanced academic research and education. This academic research satisfied the growing needs of this paradigm change.

The addendum of technology in 1970s opened the doors to a completely new era of supply chain management and technologies. Where all record keeping and communication was done manually between supply chain stakeholders, computers provided an easy solution for everyone. The addition of technology, especially the computer and later the internet, led to an efficient inventory mechanism with optimized truck routes.

The transition from theory to the practice of technology took time and effort for many supply chain providers. In the late 1970s, the supply chain industry saw the formation of the Material Handling Research Center, the Georgia Tech of the Production and Distribution Research Center and the Computational Optimization Center. Each of these centers was operated with a focus on understanding and simplifying the solutions offered by computer technology. The end objective was to make the transition to computers easier for all involved.

Coming of Age for Logistics

The 1980s was the decade of change for logistics and the relevant supply chain management details. The emergence and widespread adoption of personal computers in the 1980s had led to the provision of better computer access to all planners and executioners involved in the supply chain.

The Production and the Distribution Research Center was an early innovator in this regard as it helped spread a flood of technology. It was during this time that flexible spreadsheets and map-based interfaces were huge improved and implemented in the supply chain. The Material Handling Research Center had also largely settled into its role and initiated major tech upgrades in the material handling and automation process.

The Computational Optimization Center developed a number of new and implementable algorithms that initiated and highlighted solutions for airline scheduling problems. Much of all the innovations and methodologies unearthed in these centers made its way to the commercial technology of that era.

Perhaps the biggest trend in favor of logistics in the 1980s was that the industry had finally started getting the recognition it deserved. Logistics was now considered as a very important, very complex and extremely expensive process to manage. And, with the growing drive for picking out all inefficiencies in the chain, executives and organizations sat down to become aware of logistics as an area that presented immense opportunities for them to improve. The bottom line was that executives and decision makers in supply chain firms realized that there was great potential for them to work on logistics and improve the experience that they offered in this regard.

Realizing this very fact, the National Council of Physical Distribution Management changed its name to CLM or the Council of Logistics Management in 1985. The reason they gave for this new name was: “to reflect the evolving discipline that included the integration of inbound, outbound and reverse flows of products, services, and related information.” Prior to this move, logistic as a term was strictly limited to military movements, but it had now made its intro to the expansive world of supply chain.

The Technology Revolution

The logistics boom of the 1980s was fueled further in the 1990s by the emergency of ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. ERP systems were motivated by the success of the Materials Requirement Planning systems of the past and acted as an upgrade over the previous system. These ERP systems opened the doors to a number of innovations and upgrades in the field of global supply chain technology.

The Material Requirements Planning Systems were developed back in 1970s and were partly replaced due to the intrinsic need for more automation and partly due to the fear that these systems will not be able to manage the dates that come with the start of the 20th Century.

Despite the complications and the issues that came with the widespread implementation and installation of ERP systems, most major supply chain players had these systems installed by 2000. The move to ERP systems resulted in a tremendous improvement with data availability and accuracy modules. This improvement was achieved through the ability of ERP systems to provide and update accurate information at all hours. The new ERP software also dramatically increased the need for more integration across all components and stakeholders of the supply chain. This recognition eventually led to the creation of APS or Advanced Planning and Scheduling software operations.

Globalization in the Supply Chain

The widespread recognition and use of the term ‘supply chain’ is owed primarily to the globalization in manufacturing since the start of the 1990s. The growth and globalization of the supply chain was achieved through manufacturing processes and the brilliance of China in providing the world with easy to source products. United States imports from China grew from some $45 billion during the year 1995 to over $280 billion per year in the year 2006. The growing focus on globalization also highlighted the need for global strategies with effective communication standards to be formed within stakeholders. This accented the need for an internet model that connected suppliers with customers and helped in the efficient communication of needs and demands. The growing association of supply chain management with the strategies in play within logistic was accented through the decision of the Council of Logistics Management to change its name to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals back in 2005.

The organization made the distinction that, “Logistics is that part of the supply chain process that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements” while “Supply Chain Management is the systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole.”

The internet can be accredited for playing a vital role in the widespread adoption of global supply chain strategies. The internet not only improved communication between global partners, but also helped in the accuracy and provision of data to all partners.

Future of Supply Chain and Logistics

Ever since first being implemented in the 1980s, computer technology has advanced at a phenomenal rate of knots. The technology we have today is far ahead than what most supply chains in the global market have plans to utilize. Given just how many internet users access the internet today, one finds it hard to fathom that Internet Explorer – Microsoft’s first internet browser – was initially launched in 1995.

The communication capabilities highlighted in the previous section as well have changed the way supply chain partners deal with each other. The distributed collaboration and team work we see today is definitely a harbinger of good times to come, where an efficient supply chain would greet us every time we talk about the global sphere.

There are modern implementations of the global supply chain in areas such as healthcare and humanitarian logistics, which require technology to become even more proficient and better. Technology and implementation does come with risk, but as we have learnt from the history of the global supply chain, tech risks have almost always paid off.

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Understanding Supply Chain Resilience

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a lot of talk over the supply chain resilience and how global firms try to operate, even with the restrictive measures in place across the world during the year. However, not many readers are able to interpret just what it actually means.

Supply chain resilience is the ability of a global supply chain to power through unexpected events and be prepared for them. A resilient supply chain has the ability to respond to uncertain and unexpected events that damage the flow of information across the supply chain. An organization with a resilient supply chain can not only respond well to disruptions, but also recover well from them, eventually returning back to the original condition it was in when the disruption started. Not only this, but truly resilient supply chains can return back to an even better performance level after a disruptive global event has transpired.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of a complex change for the entire globe. Not only has it disrupted our style of living, but it has also shaken the business world as a whole. Companies today find themselves in a precarious situation with their legs within rough tides.

As most supply chains try to cope up with the relentless pressure of logistics during the pandemic, other more resilient supply chains have used years of practice, implementation and technology to power a remote style forward.

Smart Strategies to Build Supply Chain Resilience

Many C-level executives today have cited risk management as one of the biggest challenges facing supply chain and procurement teams. Businesses are exposed to supply chain risks in ways more than one, and only a resilient supply chain can survive and prosper. Based on the consistent pace at which risks around us have evolved and become even more complicated, it is even more necessary for organizations to build a resistant logistics method.

Some strategies to build supply chain resistance in the world today include:

Knowing the Risks of Each Supplier

Every supplier brings with them a certain set of risks. These risks often deal with the geographical distance between the customer and supplier, the lack of communication or any other related cause. Knowing the presence of risk in supplier relationships, organizations should understand what risks come up with all suppliers. They should also comprehend the significance of supplier risks, and the likelihood or chances of offsetting them. When organizations and global supply chains of today understand the common risks associated with global suppliers, they can take proactive measures to not only mitigate the damage, but to also make a stitch in time and save themselves from future predicaments.

Supply chain managers should drop the ‘tick-box’ mentality and go for a progressive and mature approach toward selecting suppliers. Your supplier should be capable of managing threats and counterproductive events and should have multiple streams or passages to get your raw materials to you.

Talk to Suppliers

There is no way for suppliers to get a hold of your expectations without a proper communication channel. Set clear expectations from the very outset and encourage proper dialogue and communication with your suppliers. The presence of a communication channel can help build mutual confidence and trust within suppliers, while minimizing the chances of any surprises.

Also communicate your concerns to suppliers, where and when you detect a certain risk. Consult them on what can be done to improve the situation, without giving the impression that you’re looking for means to bait out of the deal. Suppliers often hide certain risks in a bid to keep a contract. Give suppliers the confidence they need and work with them for the betterment of the deal.

Study the Long-Term

Supply chain planning and strategies have to be focused on the long-term. Reactive responses, inappropriate short term cash flow strategies and just-in-time procurement methods combine to form an increasingly short-sighted plan of progress. These short-term incentives do add a shiny layer of efficiency, but they also open organizations up to a heightened threat of risks. You can flip this around by reviewing geo-political and global threats and also asking suppliers to deliver a transparent model. Keep reviewing possible threats in the supply chain and improve them for all parties involved.

Learn and Adapt to Evolve

Projects go wrong, technologies can backfire, disruptions can lead to downtime, but through all this a resilient supply chain should continue to flow and evolve. Rome wasn’t built in a day and similarly your resilient supply chain will take some time to shape up, however you can start the process toward that overnight by implementing an attitude of learning, adapting and evolving.

Start by creating a knowledge base of best practices and benchmarks followed by others. Implement these changes across the organization and look at what can be done to drive the chances of future success.

Adopt Emerging Technologies

Organizations can also improve their supply chain resilience by adopting futuristic technologies with solutions for disruptions in the future. A remote supply chain collaboration model between all stakeholders, including customers, wasn’t implemented by many global supply chains. The implications of the COVID-19 pandemic have found all such organizations wanting and have clearly displayed the efficacy and preparedness of organizations with a remote model

The use of tech solutions can enable businesses to survive during tough times, without disrupting their business reserves.

Always Look Ahead

Keeping the current scenario in perspective, sales and demand figures are bound to bounce back when the pandemic and its repercussions subside. Supply chains should already be picking up the pace to prepare for this surge in demand for when the pandemic ends. An increased demand will require the most out of the supply chain, which is why processes should be oiled and fine-tuned in time.

Risk has evolved drastically over time and is present at the center of all supply chains. However, better communication with suppliers and a decent understanding of your weak points can drive resilience forward.

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Executive Summary

Chapter 1: Critical Review of Global Supply Chain Risk

With the exponentially growing number of uncertainties facing the business world, the importance assigned to risk detection and mitigation has significantly grown. In recent decades and years, we have seen risk management and mitigation theories being applied in finance, decision theory, actuarial sciences, marketing, healthcare, management, psychology, emergency planning and supply chain processes.

Each process undertaken and decision made by an organization is prone to uncertainty and doubt. Since misjudgements and wrong assessments lead to unforeseen situations and developments, uncertainties need to be continuously monitored and mitigated if organizations want to improve their performance. Most risks and uncertainties in the business world today tend to have consequences and damages that are often detected too late, when the situation has deteriorated further.

The notion has particularly been felt in supply chain management, as managers and organizations have somehow tried their best to capture risk and reduce the complications involved. The global supply chain of today is based on the modern principles of interrelationship, which makes risk management and mitigation even more complicated and difficult than first imagined. Due to this interrelation of the global supply chain, organizations are unaware of the type and nature of certain developments, and are unable to predict the repercussions that they might lead to.

Besides the unpredictability of impact, organizations also face complications in the form of major world events. Major disruptions like the current COVID-19 crisis, piracy attacks offshore, global economic crisis, European ash-clouds, flooding in Asia and earthquakes/tsunamis across the world have shown project managers’ lack of preparedness toward uncertain and unpredictable global developments in general.

A closer look into the use of the phrase ‘supply chain risk’ in particular has revealed that the identification and interpretation of the term is far from clear. In fact, the term ‘risk’ itself is maligned with multiple interpretations, a few of which are a far cry away from the original meaning. The World Economic Forum has established a Risk Response Network, which has after deliberate negotiations, recently identified the need for more effort and time to be put into the creation of a global definition for the term ‘supply chain risk’. These explorations would require both, methodical and conceptual work, across the fine lines of the global supply chain.

Defining Risk

Having looked at the general context of risk and the critical analysis of how it is interpreted in supply chain, we can now take a more defined and clear look at what is meant by it. Once we do that, we will categorize risk into its main forms, and delve deeper to fully explicate the impact it has on the global supply chain.

We will then briefly consider and mention ways for analyzing and mitigating both, financial and non-financial forms of risk in the supply chain. This is to be done through risk mapping and risk assessment. Obviously, the concept of risk and its analysis in the supply chain will span over this entire coursework, but the concepts mentioned in this chapter will act as the perfect blurb for what’s to come.

The word risk is said to be derived from the Latin word risicum and the Arabic word rizq. The meanings of both these terms quite literally come together to form an amalgam that gives us the meaning for the English term risk, in the context that we look at it today. The Latin word risicum initially talked about the challenges and complications presented by hindrances in the sea to seafarers. The term implied a negative outcome that would result due to the challenges at sea. The Arabic word, on the flipside, looks at a more positive perspective and refers to everything or anything that has been given to you by God and from which you can derive a beneficial outcome or satisfy your needs.

A Greek twelfth-century derivative of this Arabic word referred to the role of chance, and how there is no set positive or negative implication involved. We can quite literally form an amalgam of all these definitions and find out what the term risk means. By this approach, we can infer that risk is every ‘uncertain future outcome that comes with the potential to worsen or improve any given position.’

There are two key elements implied through this definition:

1. Risk is probabilistic – The likely outcome is not known to any party. It can be assessed or mitigated, but is relatively unknown.

2. The outcome is based on chance – The outcome can be either favorable or unfavorable for the supply chain player.

It should also be noted that the definition for risk does not necessarily imply a symmetrical conjunction in the upsides and downsides of a risk undertaken by a business. In most risk situations facing supply chain businesses today, outcomes are skewed. This means that the positive outcome resulting from a favorable situation could be far less than the negative repercussions carried by that risk. Most supply chain players consider risk to be symmetrical, with an equivalent risk and reward parable. However, the negative outcomes often outweigh the positive ones, neglecting which can result in criminal negligence.

The Risk Management Process

A supply chain’s attitude toward the different forms of risks it is exposed to can act as a direct interpretation of its business strategy and success pattern. This comes with certain implications; the strategy should address and fully comprehend the appetite for risk within the organization. An organization with lower capacity for risky decisions will eventually maintain a lower risk appetite. Once the risk appetite is identified, the actions and decisions taken by the organization should be based on that appetite and capacity. This process of lining the risk appetite of a business with its risk exposure is known as risk mapping, and is said to be a key part of the risk identification and mitigation process.

Risk mapping is also something that we will discuss in greater detail as this coursework rolls out. The risk mapping process is divided into sequential stages, as outlined in the list below:

• Stage 1: Identifying Risk Exposures
• Stage 2: Measure and Estimate Exposure to Risk
• Stage 3: Assess the Effects of Exposure
• Stage 4: Form a Risk Mitigation Strategy
• Stage 5: Evaluate Performance

All these stages are looked at in greater detail within this chapter. We study a number of other sub-processes within these stages and look at the impact they have on the risk management process.

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Chapter 2: How Global Supply Chain Risk Has Evolved Over the Years

This chapter continues the concepts we developed in the first chapter, to look at just how risk has evolved to stand where it does today. The chapter takes an in-depth look at the development and evolvement of risk.

As we have discussed previously, global supply chain risk can never be discussed or looked at as a separate identity. The best way to study this risk is through the lens and context of factors influencing it. The supply chain has drastically evolved during the last century or so. The global supply chain has shifted its focus from the daunting, labor-intensive processes to the incorporation of present day engineering and automated solutions. These solutions now bring the world closer than it ever was and offer businesses and stakeholders an opportunity to relish the experience of a global village.

Having studied the evolution of risk in the more general and economic direction, we now study just how much the supply chain has evolved and the challenges that this brings for organizations globally.

History of SCM

We start by exploring the history of supply chain management. The roots of both, operations research and industrial engineering, can be found in logistics and supply chain-oriented research patterns. Frederick Taylor, who is accredited with writing The Principles of Scientific Management back in 1911, is considered to be the father of both, operations research and industrial engineering. The research conducted by Fredrick Taylor was inspired by logistics, after his early life experiences as a manual loader.

Operations Research gained precedence when scientists and innovators demonstrated just how useful analytics could be in studying and solving key military logistics problems. The complex requirements of the World War II required new innovations and strategies in military tactics, which is where these advancements came in particularly handy.

While both Industrial Research and Operations Engineering have been maintained separately, both these factors have found their best success when used together in the supply chain. The integrated framework used in global supply chains of today is the amalgam of both operations engineering and industrial research. This integrated framework helps address logistics and supply chain issues, while providing feasible conclusions and solutions for everyone involved.

This amalgam of engineering with operations planning is known as the supply chain engineering approach and is a major part of the supply chain today.

Supply Chain Management in the Early Years

Back in the early 1940s and 1950s, the focus of most research conducted in logistics was on the use of mechanization. Mechanization processes such as pallet lifts and pallets were becoming increasingly common during the period, and research was focused on improving the tiring labor intensive processes in logistics, and to find a better racking and layout technology that would utilize space. The lack of technology and the extreme reliance on manual labor meant that racking and utilization of space in the warehouse was an integral issue in the supply chain process.

The ‘unit load’ concept gained particular popularity during this period, with readers and aficionados of the supply chain. The use of pallets became common with the rising popularity of the unit load concept. The concept of unit load and pallets was even extended to transportation management in the 1950s, with the innovation and development of containers for trains, trucks and ships. Although supply chain globalization actualized much later, the founding stones had been set during these decades and the progress was evident. While these advancements and processes are termed ‘material handling’ and ‘warehousing’, it is best to include the functions under fundamental and core applications of industrial engineering, rather than creating an entirely new discipline.

The arrival of the 1960s saw a clearer trend toward the use of trucks in the transport networks. While rail tracks were previously used for shifting more time-dependent freight transport, trucks provided a more lucrative, efficient and easy to manage alternative. This alternative was greatly enhanced with the growing infrastructure of highways, filling stations and logistic points in developed countries. The inclusion of trucks in local transport led to the much-needed development of a separate segment known as physical distribution.

The National Council of Physical Distribution Management was formed in 1963 to focus the attention of supply chain stakeholders and governments toward this field. The interest showed by governments was followed by enhanced academic research and education. This academic research satisfied the growing needs of the paradigm change.

This section will also explore the technological revolutions of the 1970s.

Coming of Age for Logistics

The 1980s was the decade of change for logistics and the relevant supply chain management details. The emergence and widespread adoption of personal computers in the 1980s had led to the provision of better computer access to all planners and executioners involved in the supply chain.

The Production and the Distribution Research Center was an early innovator in this regard as it helped spread a flood of technology. It was during this time that flexible spreadsheets and map-based interfaces were hugely improved and implemented in the supply chain. The Material Handling Research Center had also largely settled into its role and initiated major tech upgrades in the material handling and automation process.

The Computational Optimization Center developed a number of new and implementable algorithms that initiated and highlighted solutions for airline scheduling problems. Much of all the innovations and methodologies unearthed in these centers made its way to the commercial technology of that era.

Perhaps the biggest trend in favor of logistics in the 1980s was that the industry had finally started getting the recognition it deserved. Logistics was now considered a very important, very complex and extremely expensive process to manage. And, with the growing drive for picking out all inefficiencies in the chain, executives and organizations sat down to become aware of logistics as an area that presented immense opportunities for them to improve.

The Technology Revolution

The logistics boom of the 1980s was fueled further in the 1990s by the emergency of ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. ERP systems were motivated by the success of the Materials Requirement Planning systems of the past and acted as an upgrade over the previous system. These ERP systems opened the doors to a number of innovations and upgrades in the field of global supply chain technology.

The Material Requirements Planning Systems were developed back in the 1970s and were partly replaced due to the intrinsic need for more automation and partly due to the fear that these systems will not be able to manage the dates that come with the start of the 20th Century.

Despite the complications and the issues that came with the widespread implementation and installation of ERP systems, most major supply chain players had these systems installed by 2000. The move to ERP systems resulted in a tremendous improvement with data availability and accuracy modules. This improvement was achieved through the ability of ERP systems to provide and update accurate information at all hours. The new ERP software also dramatically increased the need for more integration across all components and stakeholders of the supply chain. This recognition eventually led to the creation of APS or Advanced Planning and Scheduling software operations.

Globalization in the Supply Chain

The widespread recognition and use of the term ‘supply chain’ is owed primarily to the globalization in manufacturing since the start of the 1990s. The growth and globalization of the supply chain was achieved through manufacturing processes and the brilliance of China in providing the world with easy to source products. United States imports from China grew from some $45 billion during the year 1995 to over $280 billion per year in the year 2006. The growing focus on globalization also highlighted the need for global strategies with effective communication standards to be formed within stakeholders. This accented the need for an internet model that connected suppliers with customers and helped in the efficient communication of needs and demands. The growing association of supply chain management with the strategies in play within logistics was accentuated through the decision of the Council of Logistics Management to change its name to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals back in 2005.

The organization made the distinction that, “Logistics is that part of the supply chain process that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements” while “Supply Chain Management is the systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole.”

The internet can be accredited for playing a vital role in the widespread adoption of global supply chain strategies. The internet not only improved communication between global partners, but also helped in the accuracy and provision of data to all partners.

Future of Supply Chain and Logistics

Ever since first being implemented in the 1980s, computer technology has advanced at a phenomenal rate of knots. The technology we have today is far ahead than what most supply chains in the global market have plans to utilize. Given just how many internet users access the internet today, one finds it hard to fathom that Internet Explorer – Microsoft’s first internet browser – was initially launched in 1995.

The communication capabilities highlighted in the previous section as well have changed the way supply chain partners deal with each other. The distributed collaboration and team work we see today is definitely a harbinger of good times to come, where an efficient supply chain would greet us every time we talk about the global sphere.

There are modern implementations of the global supply chain in areas such as healthcare and humanitarian logistics, which require technology to become even more proficient and better. Technology and implementation does come with risk, but as we have learnt from the history of the global supply chain, tech risks have almost always paid off.

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Chapter 3: Core Characteristics of Supply Chain Risk

This chapter will take the things discussed previously in other chapters and further the concept of core characteristics in the supply chain. These core characteristics display unique features and make management easier.

As we have discussed previously in this coursework, there is no unanimously approved definition of risk in the supply chain currently. There is, however, a vast amount of literature that deals with the topic of risk in the supply chain, and the multiple domains that fall under it. These domains include, but aren’t limited to, finance, decision theory, insurance, emergency management, safety, utility theory, environmental and reliability engineering, among others.

Based on these domains, supply chain risk understanding is driven by a number of core characteristics. The assessment and understanding of risks in the supply chain is very closely related to the objectives that organizations have to meet for achieving success in their relevant supply chain. The degree or level of achievement of these risks is based on the exposition of the supply chain. Risk exposition can further be classified into the supply chain’s abilities to handle major and minor disruptions, the time-based aspects of the disruption and the triggers that lead to the risk status of the supply chain.

Sources of Risk

Risk can come at you from multiple sources or dimensions. Obviously, it is very hard to manage or determine where risk is coming from, but a simple grouping can help you determine the course of action.

For supply chain managers, the sources of risks are of key importance. These sources are a major part of the risk, and need to be fully minimized or mitigated if a strategy is to be prepared. Sourcing your risks and being prepared for them can also lead to the aversion of possible dangers that result because of the risk.

Also, risk categories and sources aren’t meant to be exclusive. This means that the category basically operates as a tag or a label and that the risk in question can have more than one tag. In short, most risks are generated through inefficiencies in multiple sources and not just one.

Typical risk categories include:

• External
• Internal
• Project
• Product
• Technical
• People
• Organization etc.

External Risk

An example of an external risk for a global supply chain operator would be a supplier missing their deadline and delaying the shipment that they have to provide. These delays cannot only lead to customer retention issues, but also signal problems in revenue generation. However, since supplier delivery timelines are often out of the organization’s control, there isn’t much that can be done about them.

This is something that we discuss in greater detail within the rest of this chapter as well. Supplier relationships are a key part of averting supply chain risk, and with good relationships, organizations can mitigate and minimize the chances of risks.

Internal Risk

Internal risk factors come to the surface during change management. Change is a major part of supply chain progress, but can be really complicated for global operators to manage. Signaling a change in global sourcing and procurement patterns can lead to implications.

To take an example of internal risks, a management that isn’t involved in the organization’s transformation process will see a number of risks during the implementation of an Agile framework. These risks are however linked with internal management and external forces cannot be blamed for them.

Project

Projects can often act as sources of risk as well. Projects are a major part of every supply chain today and need to be managed carefully for the right results. Project managers should be involved in the process, so that the backlog items are ready for the next iteration. Failure to keep a check and balance on the project can lead to delays and backlog creation for the next iteration.

Product

Risk can also come through the final product being offered to customers at the end of a supply chain. All marketing attributes related to the product should be finalized and managed in a decent manner to manage the risks involved with them. If the product owner isn’t involved and sets either price, product, promotion or location wrong, the product is bound to suffer.

Technical Risks

With the higher dependency on tech solutions in the supply chain, there are a growing number of technical risks involved as well. Technical risks make management difficult and can lead to massive downtimes if your management team and the tech team aren’t well equipped in the processes that they should follow for risk mitigation.

In short, the greater an organization’s reliability on tech solutions, the higher will be their chances of falling for technical risks. Automated solutions do make global supply chain processes easier, but they also come with their own perils in the way.

People

The people employed in a global supply chain also carry their risk. Global supply chains are stringent in their hiring procedures and hire the crème de la crème to represent their business. This is because people play an important role in not only mitigating, but managing risk as well.

Training is an important part of the process here, where employees are trained to follow best practices in the industry and to ensure that they are up and available whenever the need be. If recruitment fails to rope in the best candidates and does not improve the pipeline, performance is bound to suffer.

Organization

The management and organization of processes is also a key factor in determining and dictating risk. The organization of key resources can either increase or decrease risk, based on the reaction to it.

We will look at the sources of risk and the common risks found in supply chains in greater detail in the coming chapters.

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Chapter 4: Risk Assessment Process in Global Supply Chain

There are many areas of risk inside an organization. These areas can have differentiating impacts, often leading to complications in revenue generation and profitability. There are many areas of risk, with the greater ones leading to loss of business, financial failure and major interruptions to operations in a number of different ways.

When it comes to human rights and sustainability risks, the discussion hovers around the impact the risk will have on the outside environment and the reputation of the supply chain and parent organization. While organizations often look through the lens of profitability, they have now realized the importance of providing friendly working conditions to workers and practicing sustainable measures to protect the environment from the perils of industrial smoke and transportation inefficiencies.

Risk Assessment Process

The risk assessment process is made up of several stages. Not all of these steps are relevant in most supply chain cases but a global supply chain should be able to identify or work on these assessment methods. The best approach to take toward risk assessment and the processes to consider will depend on the perspective carried by the organization, and the decisions they’re willing to take forward.

Shorter supply chains, with fewer suppliers, can be risk assessed without any major complications, but in most other cases, a thorough understanding is required.

Overview of the Risk Assessment Process

Before we delve into the details of the steps in the risk assessment process, let us first look at an overview:

Map Supply Chain

• Identify all suppliers and the locations they work from
• Address all tiers of the supply chain, and leave nothing out
• Identify the contractors you work with, along with the service providers related to you

Review All High Level Risks

• Look at all high level risks in the countries you operate in. Deeply consider the risks in your home country
• Look at and study all sectoral risks
• Study all tiers of the supply chain and understand all risks across tiers

Understand Supplier Profiles

• Understand the profile and delivery patterns of suppliers
• Build a workforce profile to understand how they work
• Form a commercial relationship, one that includes no discrepancies and can be long lasting

Assess and Prioritize

• This step deals with grading all your risks and ranking them based on their severity and the likelihood of them happening
• Consider all external and internal leverage

Follow Up Process

• Validate all your sources of risk
• Investigate the particular situations that lead to the risk in question
• Analyze all root causes and their resulting impact

Develop an Action Plan

• The process is finalized through the creation of timelines and collaboration plans
• Determine actions for buyers
• Determine actions for suppliers
• Set timelines
• Collaborate with all stakeholders

Risk Assessment and Compliance

A publication released back in 2011 by UNGP provided businesses with a framework they should follow for not only understanding their own responsibilities, but to also come up with a plan to mitigate and minimize the likelihood of risk. Human rights risk assessment is of great concern to the United Nations and was highly emphasized in the document.

When it comes to human rights risks, organizations should run consultations with all business stakeholders and determine strategies to combat risk. Stakeholders such as business partners, communities, employees, NGOs and even trade unions can share valuable insights to the process of policy making and setting the right course for risk management.

The UNGP made it clear within this document that the primary responsibility of ensuring human rights lies with the State. The private sector should uphold and comply with the laws mentioned by the State and should also be responsible for respecting and promoting human rights. Private sector entities should realize the negative attributes that come with their management styles and what can be done to limit them.

Compliance with the laws and regulative measures is necessary, but it isn’t entirely the only thing organizations are required to do today. Organizations in the business world today are required to also maintain a strict code of conduct, based on which they perform in a particular manner toward employees and the environment.

Most developing countries have concrete laws in place for risk management, but lack the steps that should be taken here. The lack of proper steps and decision making can lead to companies exploiting labor and not giving human rights the importance they should be given. Companies have a responsibility of their own as well, and should go beyond simple legal compliance to remain on the right side of ethics and the law.

Common Worker Rights and Environmental Risks Ignored by Supply Chains

There are a number of sustainability and human rights issues that businesses today can focus more on. The UNGP has termed the risks below to be the most salient ones and has crafted a policy to ensure businesses comply with risk management in this regard.

Fundamental Labor Rights

Workers suffer during the non-implementation of fundamental labor rights. The inability to provide these risks can land supply chains in hot waters.

Rights violations made here include:

• Forced labor
• Child labor
• Discrimination in employment toward people of a particular religion or caste
• Lack of respect for worker freedom and unions

Working Conditions and Remuneration Risks

Obviously, employees need to be given feasible working conditions to work in and should also be given the wages and remuneration they require. Risky violations that shouldn’t be made here include:

• Wages below the minimum wage level decided by the governing organizations
• Excessive hours of work
• Abusive treatment leveled toward employees for no violations per se
• Health and safety breaches
• Lack of access to the grievance mechanism
• Abuse of contracts

Social and Economic Rights Violations

These risky violations are mostly leveled on communities near the supply chain and manufacturing unit. The inability to address these violations can leave organizations with lasting repercussions, along with a supply chain that may never recover.

The risk factors involved in these violations include:

• Noise and air pollution affecting the local population in a specific area
• Emissions impacting the local water supplies or an improper drainage system
• Road transportation methods that create traffic constraints and lead to challenges
• Land grabbing activities without proper legal compliance

Civil and Political Rights Violations

Violations of civil and political rights are conducted by global supply chains and operators on communities and their own employees. These risk factors are a show of power and limit the voices against regressive policies.

Violations that can lead to this risk include:

• Preventing workers from forming unions and being part of unions together
• Collaboration within companies and security forces to repress community complaints against regressive measures
• Bribery and land grabbing policies

High Profile Risk Drivers

This chapter also includes a summary of all high profile risk drivers in the supply chain. These high profile risk drivers include:

Major Governance Risks

Governance risks can complicate things for supply chains operating at a global level. The risks include:

• A repressive regime in one of the countries’ part of the chain
• Civil unrest and internal security movements in the region
• Inadequate environmental protection and labor laws in the country. No regulation on local competitors breaking laws
• Inadequate inspection and enforcement of laws
• High levels of corruption with bribing being considered the norm
• Lack of proper channels to access justice and demand the right treatment

Economic Risks

Economic risks are again of high importance for global supply chains and are outside their domain of control. Some important economic risks that can influence supply chains include:

• High levels of poverty in the host region
• Growing economic instability
• High rates of interest and depleting forex rates
• Lack of proper opportunities
• Economic recession
• Lack of proper labor

Social Risks

Social risks again vary across countries and often trouble global supply chains, since they operate at a global level. Some social risks that are of high importance here include:

• Discrimination against minorities or women in a region
• Difficulties for all members of civil society to raise their voices and talk about integral social and cultural issues
• Weak definition of land tenure

Demographics and Labor Risks

The risks involved with the demographics and labor rights across different organizations can also pose a threat to organizations. These include:

• Internal migration in specific countries
• Presence of indigenous people
• Poor functioning of labor markets with no proper control over procedures
• Predominance of low-skilled employees
• Seasonal production patterns, where particular seasons prompt better productivity
• Dangerous production processes that can hinder efficiency
• Over reliance on female workers to get things done
• Dangerous production activities

Environment

Finally, there are a number of environmental risks as well that can be involved here:

• Water intensive drainage and production processes
• Energy intensive processes
• Processes leading to or producing toxic amounts of waste

These risk drivers and the information pertaining to them can be accessed from a number of sources. Information sources include UNDP and the ILO among many other agencies.

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Chapter 5: Common Risks Involved in Global Supply Chains

Risks in the supply chain have evolved to become even more prevalent and common with time. The risk management strategies that businesses implemented and followed in yesteryears have failed to stack up in this day and age. The policies of days gone by have failed to maintain their efficacy during these modern times, and businesses now have to improvise and adapt to the changing environment.

No type of provider can avoid the risks of a global supply chain today. Even with the growing addition of security across the supply chain, risks exist across ocean, land and air freight. These risks are often unavoidable and inevitable for global supply chain businesses, since there is no way around them.

A poor understanding of hazards and complications across your supply chain will diminish brand value and land you in hot waters as far as your costs are concerned. Knowing the cost of negligence in this regard, it is in your best interest to not only understand the top global supply chain risks but also work on minimizing the impact that they carry for your business.

Through an understanding of the risks in the global supply chain sphere, supply chain stakeholders can work to mitigate the occurrence of disruptions across the board. In this chapter we will study the most common risk factors found in the global supply chain today and what can be done to minimize the impact. We will then follow these risk factors with metrics you can look at to track and manage the risk factors in your supply chain.

Extreme Weather Events

Tropical storms in the sea can wreck havoc to supply chain schedules and can toss ocean carriers and shipments aside like pieces of trash. Tropical storms can pose a major threat to operators, based on the route of the shipment and the weather conditions that they will meet on the way.

Extreme weather currently represents one of the biggest and most significant risks to ocean freight across the globe. The weather conditions across the globe tend to vary based on a number of factors. The diversity in weather makes it increasingly difficult for supply chain managers and key stakeholders to maintain a lookout on the happenings. A lack of proper control can lead to a number of different problems.

Political and Government Changes

Political instability is one of the top ranking factors when it comes to factors that can impact and risk a global supply chain. One of the imminent hallmarks of a global supply chain is that it operates across countries more than one. Expanding into such developed foreign markets comes at a cost, which is often associated with the growing risk of political instabilities globally.

Environmental Risks

Impact on the environment is a key factor to consider in the global supply chain ecosystem. The impact left on the environment, hence, forms another major risk for global supply chain operators. Organizations are given a defined list of statutes to follow in a bid to ensure optimal efficiency and complete adherence to the law. As countries and organizations amp up their compliance procedures, the onus now lies on organizations to ensure that they’re adhering to these strict rules and aren’t letting them slip by without taking any prompt action.

As more laws are passed concerning ocean freight carriers and others of the sort, there is going to be additional scrutiny of ocean freight carriers and how they impact the environment. The scrutiny will be focused on the impact these carriers have on our marine life, and whether they disrupt natural patterns or spill oil into the sea.

Economic Instability

After political instability, economic instability is the second biggest threat to the global supply chain model today. Economic instability isn’t just a threat to the global supply chain model, but it is also a threat to global trade across major avenues.

The recent COVID-19 crisis has put organizations and supply chains in an even bigger predicament through the economic instability and crisis that has stemmed as a result of it. While systematic lockdowns and route closures offer a different kind of risk, which we will follow later on, the rise in an economic crisis or period of instability can put businesses of all kinds in a state of bother.

Catastrophes

Catastrophes include all natural disasters or human made problems that do not really come in the category of weather-related events. Catastrophes can include famines in an operating country or a debilitating earthquake that damages infrastructure and leads to a number of other problems.

According to leading supply chain executives today, almost 50 percent of supply chains don’t have a continuity plan ready to deal with a catastrophe when it arrives. The recent COVID-19 pandemic was a catastrophe of sorts in the health sector. The catastrophe wrecked the very way of living that we had been following for as long as we can remember. Many people were forced to keep to their homes and there was a new normal that humans were suddenly supposed to follow. Businesses, especially those involved in the supply chain, suffered the most during this period, and had to put up with additional restrictions in trade.

Cyber Attacks

Ever since organizations made the move online, a number of malicious threat actors have jumped in and come up with a number of ways to scam organizations. If your data is present online as well, there is a significant chance that your resources will be subjected to such cyber crimes. Many global supply chain players have incorporated measures to minimize the damage caused through these cyber attacks and to also ensure that the errors are basic or minimal.

The only way out of this conundrum is to have stringent security systems that protect your resources. A security team can also come in handy here, as it will protect your resources.

There are a number of other supply chain risks as well, which we look at in greater detail within the course manual.

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Chapter 6: Understanding Supply Chain Risk Management Practices

Global supply chain operators realize the impact that a poor risk management strategy can have on their plans, which is why they are in the process of not just redefining their strategy, but also ensuring that all forms of supply chain risks are minimized and mitigated in a thorough manner.

What Is Supply Chain Risk Management?

The need for supply chain risk management has never been felt more than it is being felt today. Organizations realize this and are handing over their manufacturing processes to supply networks operating externally. These supply networks form a completely different chain of their own, and ensure optimal delivery across the chain for best results. However, working with a 3PL or third party logistics provider ensures better production cycles, new technology, timely strategies and a number of other benefits.

With a growing network of prospects and global dependencies, organizations today realize that a slip in supply chain efficiency can eventually lead them to a stage of chaos and panic, where they lose customers left, right and center.

Risks including the shortage of raw materials, miscommunications with clients, plant failures as a result of negligence or natural disasters can be debilitating for any organization. The process that organizations today come up with, to not only minimize the perils of the risk but also to ensure the perfect output for everyone involved, is known as the supply chain risk management strategy.

The Benefits of Supply Chain Risk Management

Supply chain risk management obviously comes with a unique set of benefits. Before we discuss management strategies and the policies you can follow, let us first shed some light on the benefits of supply chain risk management in the modern global supply chain of today.

Ignorance Isn’t Bliss

Organizations that do not actively approach the topic of risk management in their supply chain processes form the equivalent of a person driving with a blindfold on their eyes. Ignorance toward important problems is not bliss in this case, and it is time operators took the blindfold off their eyes and saw the situation on ground zero.

You cannot manage aspects of the supply chain you cannot see. Obviously, if you want to exercise your control over the entirety of the supply chain, it is necessary that you manage aspects that were previously hidden from you.

Study the routes that you have drafted for your logistics and look at all the processes in detail. Where do your raw materials come from? What locations do they pass through before arriving at your facility? Where are your distributors located and how efficiently do they perform? Are there any complaints being given by the end customer or the retailer that you need to deal with, with regards to the service provided by distributors? These are all questions that you need to know answers to.

Supply chain risk management allows global supply chain operators to maintain a keen eye on all happenings across the supply chain. Not only are risks identified, but concrete measures are also taken to minimize the damage that they might cause. Analyze the supply chain in detail. Simplify it. Criticize it. If you don’t, you’ll always be the person driving the car with a blindfold on their eyes. The devil almost always lies in the details, and can only be unearthed when you jump deep into the details related to a particular project and find everything that is troubling you or deserves immediate attention.

Stimulates Supply Chain Best Practices

Risk management is ideal for reducing and eliminating inefficiencies from your supply chain. Wasting resources and inefficiently going about processes can add an element of risk to any organization with a global supply chain presence. Organizations looking to maintain and uphold their global stature need to build their risk profile and keep a check on it for early detection of risks across the supply chain.

Helps Build Response to Events

Supply chain risk management can help organizations with a global supply chain presence respond easily to risks and unexpected events across the supply chain. Such unexpected events warrant a quick response with appropriate solutions being generated and passed around the supply chain.

The first step in the process is to identify the risks that might cause unexpected delays in the delivery of products to customers. Once that is done, organizations may find themselves in a better place to mitigate undue delays and respond to errors in the supply chain.

Shoulders Fragile Supply Chain Processes

The strength of a global supply chain model lies not at its strongest point, but at its weakest point. It is the weakest link in the chain that is often infiltrated during a disruption or the subject of major risk events. Organizations should create a risk profile that helps them identify areas where they are the most vulnerable and the chances of risk are highest. An example of this would be identifying weak links in logistics and trying to limit the exposure at these risk points.

The course manual will take you through the entire risk management process with additional details on risk mapping and identification.

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Chapter 7: Understanding Supplier Profiles

This chapter in the course manual will take an in-depth look at the concept of risk while dealing with supply chain and looks at all avenues of the interaction to give you tips on what can be done to avoid or minimize that risk in full.

In a global supply chain, the supplier is defined as the person or organization that provides a service or product to another business. Supply chains with a global presence are dependent on positive supplier relationships as part of their risk mitigation strategy. A number of strategic risks can be avoided by maintaining a positive relationship with suppliers, and minimizing the chances of miscommunication between both parties.

Managing Expectations While Hiring a Supplier

Many factors need to be taken into perspective while hiring a supplier. Some of the things you should prioritize include:

Payment Terms and Conditions:

The payment terms are also best discussed during the start, since confusion can arise with payment issues later down the line. Appropriate payment terms and conditions should be decided.

Communication Standards:

This is something that you can gauge throughout the discussion and selection process. Look at their communication standards and decide whether they match with your own or not. Your communication standards should be the same as the supplier’s if you want effective communication to develop and prosper with them. Language barriers can often be a problem when dealing with foreign or overseas suppliers.

Ideal Lead Time:

Ideal lead time is the time a supply chain would have to wait to receive their goods after placing an order. The lead time should be as short as possible, as global supply chains need immediate replenishment to meet global demand trends.

Maximum and Minimum Quantity:

The maximum and minimum order quantity limit is an important parameter in the process, which allows organizations to settle on what their possible maximum and minimum order limits would be. A low-scale supplier will not be able to meet your limits, which is why it is best to clarify these limits right at the start, rather than leaving them for later.

Return Policy:

Many suppliers operate with a strict no-return policy, which is often a red flag of its own. Deal with suppliers that are a bit relaxed when it comes to the return policy and don’t operate under any strict obligation.

Drop Shipping Capabilities:

Drop Shipping is a growing supply chain model today that requires suppliers to directly drop ship products to the end consumer. This takes the retailer or the seller out of the picture and builds communication between the supplier and customer. Drop shipping, however, can only be possible if you have a supplier that you trust.

Quality Assurance Processes:

The customer base you enjoy is a direct result of the quality of the products you provide. The steps suppliers take to ensure quality assurance will eventually be replicated in your end products as well.

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Chapter 8: Mitigating Transport and Logistic Risks in a Global Supply Chain

Transport risk management is a growing industry today and is inundated with a number of options. Risks faced by supply chains when it comes to transport include fleet integrity and management, driver return, compliance issues and others that we have mentioned. Some of these risks can be influenced by the supply chain executives, but there are others that are out of their control and are dependent on external factors, such as the weather.

With so much on the line for the business, every transport and logistics company needs to touch base and determine a risk management solution for their transport business. These risk management practices should guide their operations and policies. A transport risk management solution can help organizations mitigate risk, and can also ensure that your goods always remain safe and reach where they’re intended to be at times.

When a global supply chain does not prioritize risk management in transportation and logistics, they communicate this to their employees and stakeholders. This announcement has a detrimental impact on morale and can push a number of key employees away. Many shippers today are incorporating and integrating policies that reduce risk.

Supply chain members often use third party transportation services for goods shipment and delivery, and they can get in touch with them to ensure the smooth delivery and provision of goods.

A transport risk management strategy can be developed here to prioritize and minimize risk in logistics. These strategies can help businesses achieve better growth patterns over time.

Transport Risk Management Strategy

A transport risk management strategy may not be the same for every industry, organization or department. There are, however, a number of foundational and fundamental elements that should be present in the policy that is implemented. Some of the directions that help in the creation of a transport risk management strategy include:

• Defining the leadership and organizational responsibilities related to risk management.

• Developing support for risk management solutions to truckers and employees on-the-go.

• Using a holistic approach to formalize risk management. This holistic approach can help support decision making processes and also improve the progress toward strategic objectives and goals.

• Risk management can be used to reexamine all existing standards, processes and policies.

• Risk management should be embedded in existing business processes so that all factors can be combined to make successful decision making.

• Identifying all risk owners.

Modern solutions in place within organizations today enable supply chain operators to analyze the severity of risk involved and automate the task of finding lower-risk alternatives.

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Chapter 9: Practical Approaches to Build Risk Resilience

Supply chain risk resilience is achieved through strategic investments in your organization over a period of time. Supply chain managers need to take concrete measures for insurgency planning and to signal improvements in supply chain patterns for the time to come.

Resilience oriented investments can be divided into eight basic categories, with each category demanding continuous improvement and money to be invested into the business from time to time.

Information

The second category is of information, where businesses invest money to improve the speed, quantity and quality of the information making rounds across the supply chain. This is done to minimize informational downtime during the course of a supply chain emergency.

Investments in information are initiated by improving the information technology mechanism. Additionally, businesses can also invest in an effective communication model that hears from all stakeholders present within the firm. This can help streamline opinions and can open doors for enhanced communication between organizations. Investments can also be made to improve the visibility of information in and around the supply chain.

Discovery

The first investment in the endeavor for resilience goes toward discovery. In this investment category, you evaluate and implement investment strategies that allow your firm to identify potential problems present within the supply chain and to come up with quick resolution methods. Supply chain disturbances can often have a subtle impact, which needs to be discovered and monitored for a resilient strategy to develop.

An organization can initiate their investment in discovery by improving the information technology and information sharing system they have in place. These systems can work as an early warning mechanism to alert supply chain stakeholders about possible insurgencies in the future. Additional investment can be put into demand sensing, forecasting and monitoring the performance of different areas in the supply chain. Investments here would help in the discovery of emergencies.

Supply Chain Design

Altering the supply chain design is perhaps the most important area of investment for achieving resistance in the purest form. This investment is meant to create and implement supply chain models that can be quickly configured in response to certain changes in the political and the general environment involving stakeholders. These changes in the environment could either come through a supplier that you work with or through a specific market that you sell in. Regardless of the source of this environmental uncertainty, the supply chain should be equipped with flexibility and designed to quickly respond to all such changes.

Investments here are focused on supply base management, where suppliers go through a rigorous process of training and information before a proper agreement is created. Additionally, investments can also relate to supply base configuration for more flexibility in choosing supply chain partners and suppliers.

These investments build the risk resilience of organizations in the supply chain and also help amp up the core processes implemented within the supply chain. With structural upgrades, organizations can ensure that the progress is maintained for longer and shows the rewards that are expected of it.

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Chapter 10: Best Practices for Supply Chain Risk Management

Supply chains are volatile to disruptions and risks that can change the efficacy and efficiency that they host. Supply chain disruptions and risks materialize from inside and outside the supply chain, and vary based on the effects they carry, magnitude and the attributes. As a result of these differences, the impact and nature of these risks can be highly divergent. Consequently, different types of risks have different kinds of impacts on the market. For instance, a delayed shipment of a non-critical material, which is already in supply within your factory, may have a less serious impact than a labor strike organized by labor workers inside a supplier’s main production facility. The latter can obviously halt your production and send management into a frenzy.

Risks in the supply chain market are broken down into either internal or external risks. Internal risks are related to happenings within your own organization, whereas external risks are related to conditions outside of your organization. We look through both these risks in greater detail within this chapter, along with an eye on the best practices for supply chain risk management.

Internal Risks

• Cultural Risks: Cultural risks are a result of the culture in place within an organization. Most organizations have a toxic culture to hide and delay negative information that can impact workflow processes.

• Planning and Control Risks: Planning and control risks are caused by an inadequate standard of planning and assessment inside an organization.

• Manufacturing Risks: Manufacturing risks are caused by basic disruptions to the internal processes and operations in your organization. These risks basically include unplanned stops and disruptions in the manufacturing process.

• Mitigation and Contingency Risks: These risks are caused due to the lack of contingency or mitigation planning. As we have studied earlier in this chapter, businesses can achieve a competitive advantage through their resilience.

• Business Risks: Business risks are risks caused due to the change in key management personnel, business processes, reporting structures and other business coordination methods.

External Risks

• Physical Plant Risks: Physical plant risks usually relate to risks at the supplier’s physical facility. Lack of regulatory compliance or lack of proper measures at their plant can lead to disruptions within your supply chain.

• Environmental Risks: Environmental risks come from outside the supply chain and are usually related to the social, governmental, climate and economic factors in your country.

• Business Risks: There are external business risks as well such as the instability at a supplier’s firm.

• Demand Risks: Demand risks are caused due to unpredictable fluctuations in end-customer demand. These can lead to unpredictability and wastages.

• Supply Risks: Supply risks are caused by undue expectations in the delivery of materials. From raw materials to parts, delays in supply can lead to delays in the entire supply chain model.

The chapter in the course manual studies the key risk management processes and how they can be utilized for better results inside organizations.

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Chapter 11: Mining for Potential Global Supply Chain Threats

This chapter looks at the mining process for potential threats, and the best way to minimize the impact these newfound risks have.

The stage is all but set for global supply chains to seize the day. In lieu of this, it is only justified that supply chain operators mine for threats at all times and minimize the damages they have on their global stature.

Potential global supply chain threats can be minimized through the following steps:

Know the Risks of Each Supplier

Supply chain managers should drop the ‘tick-box’ mentality and go for a progressive and mature approach toward selecting suppliers. Your supplier should be capable of managing threats and counterproductive events, and should have multiple streams or passages to get your raw materials to you.

Talk to Suppliers

There is no way for suppliers to get a hold of your expectations without a proper communication channel. Set clear expectations from the very outset and encourage proper dialogue and communication with your suppliers. The presence of a communication channel can help build mutual confidence and trust within suppliers, while minimizing the chances of any surprises.

Study the Long-Term

Supply chain planning and strategies have to be focused on the long-term. Reactive responses, inappropriate short term cash flow strategies and just-in-time procurement methods combine to form an increasingly short-sighted plan of progress. These short-term incentives do add a shiny layer of efficiency, but they also open organizations up to a heightened threat of risks.

Learn and Adapt to Evolve

Start by creating a knowledge base of best practices and benchmarks followed by others. Implement these changes across the organization and look at what can be done to drive the chances of future success.

Adopt Emerging Technologies

Organizations can also improve their supply chain resilience by adopting futuristic technologies with solutions for disruptions of the future. A remote supply chain collaboration model between all stakeholders, including customers, wasn’t implemented by many global supply chains. The implications of the COVID-19 pandemic have found all such organizations wanting and have clearly displayed the efficacy and preparedness of organizations with a remote model.

Always Look Ahead

Keeping the current scenario in perspective, sales and demand figures are bound to bounce back when the pandemic and its repercussions subside. Supply chains should already be picking up the pace to prepare for this surge in demand for when the pandemic ends. An increased demand will require the most out of the supply chain, which is why processes should be oiled and fine-tuned in time.

Global supply chain operators realize the impact that a poor risk management strategy can have on their plans, which is why they are in the process of not just redefining their strategy, but also ensuring that all forms of supply chain risks are minimized and mitigated in a thorough manner.

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Chapter 12: Risk and Compliance in the Global Economy

Supply chain compliance is among the biggest challenges facing procurement and supply chain organizations. Almost 45 percent of all executives in global supply chain say that they experience enhanced pressure for internal compliance and regulatory compliance.

Compliance is a hot topic across the supply chain, as supplier management and other relative hazards come to the picture as well. Global supply chain manufacturers can also be sued over inabilities to maintain a strict check over supply chain practices.

Pitfalls That Can Sink Your Compliance Program

With the increase in global supply chain operators, we have also seen a massive increase in the number of compliance frameworks in play today. Organizations have come up with all sorts of compliance frameworks that make management easier and help them pass through critical situations and crises.

Every established global supply chain operator has a compliance risk management framework in play already. However, this framework itself isn’t clear of all flaws and errors. A majority of all organizations have key flaws in their supply chain compliance management framework. Rather than developing a reactive approach and fixing these flaws once they have already led to financial errors, it is necessary that businesses fix the flaws before anything major pops up.

Compliance should be viewed as a means to develop competitive advantage rather than a means of being run over by competition. We’ve highlighted some of the common pitfalls and blind spots that organizations can look into to avoid compliance risks.

Failure to Study the External Operating Environment

Market driven factors, including situational factors such as political developments and geo-political tensions, are very likely to elevate the risk of compliance programs in companies operating at a global level. Sometimes even major global players with strong frameworks find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Due to the failure to plan for the situation, they’re often found lacking on different parts.

Considering Only Compliance Enforcement

Compliance failures or breaches in regulations have an impact far beyond the sanctions most people can see around them. Implications in compliance can create a number of obstacles and challenges for business, both locally and across the global supply chain.

Compliance related disruptions often lead to civil society actions against organizations, disruption to business operations and extreme regulatory pressure on the organization. These issues can eventually damage the reputation of the firm and lead to implications in other parts of the business as well.

Hence, global supply chain operators should look at compliance in a different light than before, and should also consider the broad-based impact it can have on the business. This approach enables compliance teams to raise awareness regarding the risks that can be activated through a rather simple compliance breach.

Failure to Use Resources in a Sustainable Manner

Resources are often scarce, and compliance teams have to ensure that they manage their work in the best manner possible, without letting the limited resources become a problem. Most organizations have a specific compliance budget at hand, and the failure to use that budget and other resources in a sustainable manner can lead to a number of repercussions across the board. Businesses should look to optimize their resources and minimize any wastage in the process. A frugal approach to resource management can work wonders for the organization.

The course manual studies these compliance pitfalls in greater detail, along with the best strategy to improve compliance and minimize risks involved in the process.

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Curriculum

Global Supply Chain Development – Workshop 8 – Risk Analysis

1. Critical review of Global Supply Chain risk
2. How Global Supply Chain risk has evolved over the years
3. Core characteristics of Supply Chain risk
4. Risk assessment process in Global Supply Chain
5. Common risks involved in Global Supply Chains
6. Understanding Supply Chain risk management
7. Understanding supplier profiles
8. Mitigating transport and logistic risks in Global Supply Chain
9. Practical approaches to build risk resilience
10. Best practices for Supply Chain risk management
11. Mining for potential Global Supply Chain threats
12. Risk and compliance in the global economy

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Distance Learning

Introduction

Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Supply Chain Process corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.

Study environment

You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.

Study tools & rules

Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.

Successful distance-learning

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.

Self-assessment

Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.

Accepting responsibility as a student

Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.

Planning

By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.

Management

Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.

Study objectives & tasks

The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.

Study forecast

As a guide, the Appleton Greene Supply Chain Process corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiation’s are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.

Performance management

It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.

With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.

With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.

Keeping in touch

You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.

Work colleagues and family

You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.

Making it relevant

The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.

Distance-learning check-list

Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.

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Tutorial Support

Programs

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.

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Support available

You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 12 months or 18 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.

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Support Process

Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.

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Time Management

It takes approximately 1 Year to complete the Supply Chain Process corporate training program, incorporating 12 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 1 Year of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Supply Chain Process program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 12-18 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.

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Distance Learning Guide

The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.

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How To Study

The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).

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Tutorial Support

Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Supply Chain Process corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.

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Tutorial Support Tips

Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.

Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails

Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.

Think about the impression that you want to create

Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.

Remember that quality is preferred to quantity

Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.

Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers

Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.

Keep a record of your tutorial support emails

It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Individual training workshops or telephone support

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Tutorial Support Email Format

You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.

Subject line of your email

Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.

Main body of your email

Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)

Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.

Question 1

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 3

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 4

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 5

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.

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Procedure

* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.

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How To Study

Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can help you to plan a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.

Planning your study environment

Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.

Planning your program objectives

It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.

Planning how and when to study

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.

Planning your study tasks

You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.

Planning your time

You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.

Keeping in touch

Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.

Charting your progress

Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.

Making it work

To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.

Reading methods

Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.

Speed reading

When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.

Content reading

Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.

Making structured notes on the course manuals

When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2.Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.

Organizing structured notes separately

You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.

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