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Management Science Department

Global Supply Chain & Operations Management Track (GSCOM)


GSCOM Program Highlights

GSCOM Merit Based Scholarships Information

GSCOM Undergraduate Scholarship OnLine Application Form  (as a Word document)

Description of the Track:

The description of the GSCOM program is organized into the following sections.  Please scroll down to the desired section or click the following links.

1.  What is “GSCOM”? 

2.  Are “GSCOM Competencies” relevant to business graduates?

3.  What is the “Mission” of the “GSCOM Track” at the Moore School of Business?

4.  What are the “Salient Strengths of the GSCOM Track” at the Moore School of Business?

5.  Which “Employers” have hired Past GSCOM Graduates?

6.  What are the “Current GSCOM Internship Opportunities”?

7.  What are the “GSCOM Track Course Requirements”?

8.  “When” are the GSCOM Courses Offered?

9.  What is the “Recommended Schedule of Courses”?

10.  What are “Student Excellence Recognition Opportunities” in the GSCOM Program?

11.  “Who Teaches” in the GSCOM Program?

12.  What is “Global Supply Chain and Process Management (GSCPM) Center”?

13.  What Are the “Salient Recent News” About the Program?

14.  What Should an “Effective GSCOM Resume” Include?

15.  Who can provide “More Information” on the GSCOM Track?

1.  What is GSCOM? 

Global Supply Chain and Operations Management (GSCOM) is the critical organizational function that creates and distributes products and services; improves their quality; and ensures streamlined and efficient business processes and supply chains.  GSCOM dictates short-term survival and long-term profitability and growth of the organization; large or small, manufacturing or service, for-profit or non-profit.  In today’s complex global economy, GSCOM is a track determinant of success and leadership in industries.  Wal-Mart, Dell, Southwest Airlines, Proctor & Gamble, Bank of America, and Toyota are just a few examples of organizations that have become leaders in their industries by consistently utilizing their GSCOM competencies.     

2.  Are GSCOM Competencies Relevant to Business Graduates? 

GSCOM is very practical; with many career options in global manufacturing firms in production, purchasing, quality control, distribution and supply chain management; in service firms as general operations management and logistics/supply chain management; in consulting firms as business process and quality improvement consultants.  In fact, even while pursuing others professions as primary careers, GSCOM skills and competencies make one a better accountant, or finance manager, or marketing manager or human resource manager, or MIS manager. 

3.  What is the “Mission” of the “GSCOM Track” at the Moore School of Business?

We have launched a newly designed GSCOM track effective Spring 2007.  The mission of this new program is to graduate students with state-of-the-art knowledge and practical applied consulting experiences for GSCOM related careers in domestic and global manufacturing and service firms.

4.  What are the Salient Strengths of the “GSCOM Track” at the Moore School of Business?

  1. GSCOM track entails state-of-the-art curriculum deemed critical by industry.  It imparts a blend of analytical skills and managerial/organizational skills.
  2. GSCOM track offers a valuable double-track option leading to enhanced opportunities in other professional careers in accounting, finance, HRM, international business, marketing, and MIS in the global/international context.
  3. GSCOM track offers tremendous scheduling flexibility.  It can be completed by the end of Senior-Year Spring Semester even if declared as a track as late as in Junior Year – Summer Session.   On the other hand, students can complete all GSCOM requirements as early as the end of Junior Year – Spring Semester if MGSC 395 is taken before Junior Year-Fall semester.
  4. GSCOM track is supported with value-add practical experiences through the Center for Global Supply Chain and Process Management (CGSCPM).  The Center features corporate sponsors such as Sonoco, Pfizer, and Westinghouse.  The Center is looking to attract other corporate sponsors.
  5. GSCOM track offers opportunities to students to work on real world supply chain and process/operations improvement projects before they graduate.  These opportunities lead to significant career opportunities with leading firms in the region.

5.  Which Employers have hired Past GSCOM Graduates?

Manufacturing and service firms in diverse sectors have employed GSCOM graduates from our programs.  These include Carolina First Bank, Daimler-Chrysler, Dayton-Hudson (parent company of Target), Lowe's, and Milliken, among others. Students have joined in various positions and roles in manufacturing, purchasing and sourcing, logistics and distribution, service operations management, and business process improvement.  We expect to attract several other manufacturing and service firms as potential employers of our GSCOM graduates in the future.

6.  What are the Current GSCOM Internship Opportunities?

We have identified several internship opportunities for GSCOM students for Summer 2007.  These are really valuable experiences that can turn into full-time jobs upon graduation.  They also enhance students’ competitive position when they apply for full-time positions before graduation. 
“Examples” of internship opportunities include:

  1. General Electric – Aviation:  Supply chain planning and process improvement internships –  Greenville, SC and Cincinnati, OH
  2. Sonoco Products Company: Sourcing, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management – Hartsville, SC
  3. Cooper Tools: Sourcing – Columbia, SC.

We have also identified internship opportunities in service firms like First Citizens Bank, Lowe's, Target, Ryder, and Walgreens. The first class of the newly designed track will graduate in May 2008.  As roll out the new track, we plan to proactively identify career opportunities with our GSCPM Center initiatives and a network of GSCOM employers we are developing right now. These employers will include leading manufacturing and service employers with State, Regional, National and Global footprint.  

7.  What are the GSCOM Track Course Requirements?
(15 Credit Hours)

In addition to the general graduation requirements (i.e., the university general education requirements plus the Moore School of Business core courses), the GSCOM track consists of five courses (15 credit-hours)

MGSC 485 - Business Process Management (3) (Prerequisite: MGSC 395).  Course entails learning and applying cutting-edge concepts and techniques of business process analyses to process improvement initiatives such as reengineering, lean and six-sigma. 
MGSC 486 - Service Operations Management (3) (Prerequisite MGSC 395). Course focuses on the management of service operations, with considerable attention paid to cutting-edge quantitative techniques.  Topics covered include facility location, waiting line management, and revenue management, among others.
MGSC 487 - Global Sourcing Strategies and Applications (3) (Prerequisite MGSC 395). Course covers skills necessary to pursue sourcing related careers in manufacturing, services, retailing, and government agencies, including discussion of cutting edge negotiation and global sourcing strategies pursued in exemplar firms.
MGSC 491 - Global Logistics and Distribution Management (3) (Prerequisite: MGSC 395). Course examines global logistics and distribution principles including cutting edge inventory management, warehousing, and logistics practices; and distribution strategies such as cross-docking, postponement, RFID, and green packaging issues.

or

MGSC 495 – Supply Chain Planning and Execution (3) (Prerequisites: MGSC 395). Management of systems that coordinate information and material flows within and between firms in a supply chain. Includes planning basics, lean systems, and constraint management.
MGSC 497* – GSCOM Capstone Project (3) (Prerequisites: MGSC 485; MGSC 486; and MGSC 487). Course entails executing projects that apply GSCOM concepts to solve significant operational or supply chain problems at simulated or actual firms. Teams write recommendation reports and oversee implementations when feasible.

* At the discretion of the area coordinator, other courses may be substituted for MGSC 497.  These courses include, but are not limited to, BADM 499, MGSC 525, MGSC 591, and one out of MGSC 491 or MGSC 495.

8.  When are the GSCOM Courses Offered?

GSCOM Business Core Course (for all business majors)
MGSC 395:    Fall, Spring, and Summer

GSCOM Required Courses (15 Credit Hours)
MGSC 485:    Fall
MGSC 486:    Fall
MGSC 487:    Fall
MGSC 491 or MGSC 495:   Spring
MGSC 497:    Spring

9.  What is the Recommended Schedule of Courses?

 Option A:  Fast-Track
 (MGSC 395 completed during or before Sophomore-Summer)

  Complete MGSC 485, MGSC 486, and MGSC 487 in Junior-Fall 
  Complete MGSC 491 or MGSC 495 in Junior-Spring
  Complete MGSC 497 in Junior-Spring, or Senior-Spring

 Option B: Regular-Track
 (MGSC 395 completed in Junior-Fall)

  Complete MGSC 491 or MGSC 495 in Junior-Spring
  Complete MGSC 485, MGSC 486, and MGSC 487 in Senior-Fall 
  Complete MGSC 497 in Senior-Spring

 Option C: Just-in-Time-Track
 (MGSC 395 completed in Junior-Spring or Junior-Summer)

  Complete MGSC 485, MGSC 486, and MGSC 487 in Senior-Fall 
  Complete MGSC 491 or MGSC 495 in Senior-Spring
  Complete MGSC 497 in Senior-Spring

10.  What are Student Excellence Recognition Opportunities in the GSCOM Program?

We have instituted student excellence recognition opportunities throughout the program as follows:

  1. GSCOM Senior-Year Scholarships: Up to 15 merit-based scholarships of $1,000. 
  2.  APICS-sponsored (see http://www.apics.org and http://midcarolina-apics.org ) awards for three best applied research papers in survey of GSCOM.  These three papers are then nominated by the Columbia APICS chapter for regional and national student research paper competition. 
  3. Final Semester Best Capstone Consulting Project Award: Cash Award for the Best Project.

11.  Who Teaches in the GSCOM Program?

We have a very unique group of faculty members who teach the GSCOM courses.  They are competent and established researchers in various domains of GSCOM.  Many of our professors have also engaged in professional consulting to various manufacturing and service organizations.  Thus, they have practical perspectives on teaching and applying concepts and tools for operations and supply chain improvements in actual firms.

12.  What is “Global Supply Chain and Process Management” (GSCPM) Center?

This is an industry outreach consulting Center of the GSCOM program.  Member firms (annual membership fees of $30,000) enter a formal strategic partnership with the program to implement a mutually beneficial set of activities including but not limited to actual operations and supply chain improvement projects.  These projects are led by GSCOM faculty members and executed by MBA and undergraduate students majoring in GSCOM.
As of February 2007, there are four global firms that have joined the GSCPM Center: Sonoco Products Company, Pfizer (Capsugel Division), Westinghouse (Nuclear Fuels Division), and MeadWestvaco Company (Chemical Division).  The Center has executed a series of value-add projects for the member firms, and efforts are underway to attract more firms from manufacturing and service industries (banks, hospitals, hotels, and department stores) to the Center partnerships.  These partnerships will provide a crucial competitive advantage to our students through hands-on application of operations and supply chain improvement skills, and also provide direct professional development and networking opportunities and actual career opportunities in the member companies and other high-profile organizations.  

13.  What Are the Salient Recent News About the Program?

APICS-Awards for Fall 2006 Competition Given on February 13, 2007.

First Award Winners: Ken Maeda, Amber McCarter, and Karen Wurster: Operations Analysis of Jazzman’s Café.
 
Second Award Winners: Janelle Conaway and Whitney Jones: Operations Analysis of Beauty Salons.

Third Award Winners: Malcolm Jenkins and Raymond Brown: Survey of Operations Improvement Issues in Banks.

14.  What Should an Effective GSCOM Resume Include?

  1. Keep it to one-page.
  2. Write career-goal related to GSCOM or use of GSCOM competencies in your primary career in other discipline.
  3. Specifically mention keywords about GSCOM-specific competencies (e.g., lean and six-sigma, supply chain modeling, simulation and optimization, sourcing strategies, logistics and distribution).
  4. Include major awards and recognition.  Exclude trivial work experience.
  5. Write specific software packages that you learn (e.g., Process Model, Solver)
  6. When you are in the final semester, write an abstract of the “consulting project” that you are executing.
  7. Review the templates for Professional Resumes at USC Career Web site (http://www.sc.edu/career).

15.  Who can provide more information on the GSCOM Track?

Professor Sanjay Ahire
Management Science Department
Moore School of Business, BA 709
University of South Carolina
1705 College Street, Columbia, SC 29208
E-mail: Ahire@moore.sc.edu 
Tel:  (803) 873-3376