Understand the Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management with this MicroMasters edX Program

Supply Chain Management MicroMasters® Program is an online, self-paced MicroMasters program by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The variety of instruction methods reinforces the learning process through the quick application as well as repetition. The variety also helps touch on different methods of learning.

The lead instructor is Chris Caplice, the Director of the MicroMasters program. Caplice is a renowned teacher who has been awarded the 2018 MITx Prize for ‘Teaching and Learning in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)’ and the 2018 MIT ‘Teaching with Digital Technology Award’. Other instructors from the CTL department include Alexis Bateman, the Course Lead of the MicroMasters program and  Yossi Sheffi, former Director of MIT's Engineering Systems Division.

The supply chain management course covers traditional supply chain topics like forecasting, inventory management, production planning, and transportation as well as complex issues like system dynamics and resilience. The course concludes by introducing hot topics such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and blockchain applications.

Completing the entire MicroMasters Program takes around 1.5 years. It usually asks for an effort of around 5 or 6 hours per week to watch video content and practice all the exercises.

Each fundamentals of supply chain management course has a discussion forum that brings learners together. This is very beneficial to get peer help with questions about the lessons. Also, the forum offers the opportunity to hear about issues from learners around the globe. Cross-functional and cross-cultural exposure broadens one’s understanding of complex issues underlying business cost trade-offs and global trade.

Each course will have graded assignments every week, a midterm exam and a final exam on every module and learners have to score more than 60% to get the certificate. The practice problems can be attempted multiple times and are not graded. For weekly assignments, mid-term and end-term, there would be 1 to 2 attempts per question. However, the final comprehensive exam is proctored, and the only notes allowed is the Key Concepts Document (KCD) given in the course notes.

There is a supply chain comprehensive exam (CFx) after finishing all the courses and before earning the credential. The CFx exams will be a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions and cover contents from the courses of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) MicroMasters series (SC0x, SC1x, SC2x, SC3x, SC4x).

My current role is as a Senior Consultant in xto10x, a firm with the mission to help startups scale. Founded by seasoned professionals in the startup ecosystem with a strong team with a cumulative 500+ years in scaling startups. My role is primarily to help startups solve their operations-related challenges with a focus on organization design, people engines, governance mechanisms, operations design, and cost transformations.

This course helped me understand the fundamentals of supply chain management. It imparts a solid theoretical understanding using practical examples and problem sets. It is a curriculum very relevant to the industry, especially emerging trends in the supply chain. The whole set of 5 courses would help one prepare into a very solid supply chain practitioner. And the courses touch upon a broad range of topics such as supply chain management process, analytics, design, dynamics, and technology.

Having worked in the field of e-commerce supply chains in different supply chain management jobs for around 3.5 years, these courses helped to reorient my practical knowledge with more academic understanding and helped shape my experience into a solid practitioner toolkit. This course has arguably become more relevant with respect to the global trends of the last couple of years. The pandemic also has raised people’s awareness of the supply chain management profession. Many of the challenges brought by the pandemic, such as product scarcities and difficulties in procuring personal protective equipment, are framed as supply chain issues. The term “supply chain” has become a common currency during the crisis.

The supply chain profession is highly ranked in terms of job outlook and compensation. Companies are contemplating creating a C-suite level role of Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) that underlines the importance of supply chains in the future economy. Supply chain management will be a core skill required for working professionals in the global and digital economy. Whether you're seeking career advancement or looking to expand on your knowledge of the four fundamentals of supply chain management, Supply chain MicroMasters program by edX is an excellent, well-structured program to help oneself understand the fundamentals of supply chain and become a well-rounded supply chain practitioner.
 

Explore Logistics & Supply Chain Management Courses

Explore Management Category