SEMESTER: Spring 2018

COURSE NUMBER: EW247.11

This course is dual-listed with the Full Time MBA program

COURSE NAME: Business and Sustainable Supply Chains

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1

INSTRUCTOR: Omar Romero-Hernandez

E-MAIL ADDRESS: oromero@haas.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME:  The course will meet over 2 Sundays, March 4 and 18, from 9AM to 5PM.

Please note the unorthodox nature of this course, which meets all day on 2 Sundays. To earn a passing grade, you must attend BOTH class sessions in their entirety.

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: A mixture of lectures, cases, and guest speakers

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Case briefs, class participation, and final project

CAREER FIELD: This course is suitable for those pursuing a career as Marketing Director, or in the areas of Supply Chain Management, Product Development and Corporate Sustainability.  The course will place emphasis at teaching how to embed sustainability into the functional areas of the organization.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This special topics course builds on other core courses such as Operations Management. The objective is to find the best ways to match supply and demand as we focus on two important components: social and environmental issues. The aim of the course is to help students understand the main environmental and social challenges of complex supply chains that stretch from our local stores to farms and factories around the world. Students will learn tools to identify and measure these impacts, and understand the main initiatives and opportunities to design and successfully operate sustainable supply chains.

Social issues, including human rights abuses, unfair salaries, forced labor, child labor and safety standards, are part of the agenda in most leading organizations. Companies understand that social issues may lead to severe problems on their supply chain, including higher risks of disruption and loss of brand equity. Operating a socially responsible supply chain is a complex task as it includes large global networks, which extend five or six tiers deep. Constant auditing does not seem to solve these issues. Unsafe conditions in the textile sector in Bangladesh, child labor in Pakistan, and overwhelming work hours in China are still in the headlines of major newspapers.
Environmental issues are also at the forefront of concern. From water shortages in the food sector to climate change and costly energy supply, business managers deal with the immediate risks of these matters. Leading companies are becoming successful at turning environmental challenges into business opportunities that create value. It is possible to find cost effective ways to lower the carbon and water footprints of their supply chains while also lowering resource consumption. Yet, not everyone knows how.

The course incorporates business and sustainability (social and economic) aspects with the field of operations management. Students will be given learning tools and are expected to use them to solve practical management problems relevant to business, the environment, and society at large. The course concentrates on four fields: (i) Global production and consumption; (ii) Social challenges and opportunities; (iii) Environmental challenges and opportunities in complex and global supply chains; and (iv) Leading practices and current alternatives to the linear “take – make – dispose” model of consumption. In particular, we will relate these topics to a business context. Students are expected to complete assignments distributed in class based on real and relevant management problems. 

Taking this course will help students to support their decision-making process related to creating value from the use and conservation of natural resources, the adoption of socially responsible strategies, and the inextricable link with competitive advantage.

Grading Scheme:
Attendance and participation in both sessions is required during all lecture time: 9:00am to 5:00pm.  Make sure you go over the reading material. Many of these readings are relatively short (1 or 2 pages) and provide a good background for discussion.

Office hours will be held after class on both days for as long as needed. There will also be extra office hours on the second Sunday from 7:30-8:30am, and earlier if needed. We may also be able to meet in person during the intervening weeks by appointment.

There will be no tests. Final grades will be based on the following:
            20% Participation        40% Two Short Assignments                         40% Final project
Students are expected to complete two short assignments in this class. Each assignment should be completed in the form of case studies.

The first assignment is to be completed before the first day of class. Students may opt to analyze one of two cases and provide a two-page report including business context, sustainable supply chain challenge, and key implementation steps towards a more sustainable supply chain. 

The second assignment is to be turned in a week after the second and last session. This assignment includes a business case and material covered in lecture on supply chain network design and optimization:
Case: Hans Solar and the Sustainable Supply Chain or equivalent (tbd)              
Students are prompted to identify the network design (locations, transportation modes) that minimizes environmental impact subject to a maximum network cost. Additionally, students analyze the effect of network designs on product delivery time. As a result of this second assignment, students will get familiar with trade-offs among cost, environmental impact, and delivery times.

Final Project: Students will form groups of no more than three members (tbd) and complete a final class project.  The expected delivery is a brief presentation on the last day and a research paper of 2000-3000 words. The deadline for this final paper is one week after the last session. We will grade research sources, clarity, content, and your recommendations or conclusions. A well formatted and professionally prepared document is expected.

Please choose one of the following two options for your final project:
Option 1. Deep dive into one of the course topics. An in-depth analysis of a topic related to the class. Students must consult with the instructor on the topic and are expected to use and apply methodologies that are part of class material. Make sure you present or email, before session 2, one page with your topic, objectives, and research strategy to the instructor so that he can provide feedback and, eventually, approve your proposal.

Option 2. Analysis of a firm’s supply chain. Identify some of the key social and environmental challenges faced by a firm or organization along its supply chain. Include your research and your understanding of the problem and causes. Provide a thoughtful recommendation on how to solve this problem, and an action plan for the next two years. We expect your recommendations to be preferably based on the development and adoption of innovative practices rather than waiting for regulators to propose a new legislation.

The following section provides some guidelines on the expected schedule, topics, readings, and questions for discussion.

 

SCHEDULE – Day 1 (TBD)

Readings*

 

This schedule is subject to change

 

 

1. Introduction to Sustainable Supply Chains (SSC)
1.1 Globalization of products and services
1.2 Sustainable production and sustainable consumption
1.3 Social and environmental challenges
1.4 Business and sustainability frameworks

 

Reading: Accenture. Why Sustainable Supply Chains is a good business

Reading: How Sustainability can help you Strengthen your Supply Chain

 

 

 

 

2. Social Challenges and Solutions for SSC

 

 

2.1 The challenge behind global and complex supply chains

Short Reading: 93% of your Supply Chain is “Invisible”

 

2.2 The industry response

Creating Social Value through  supply chains.

Short reading: Starbucks-CAFÉ initiative and Unilever initiatives

 

2.3 NGO and market campaigns to influence corporations and consumers

Case: Building Value at the Top and the Bottom of the Global Supply Chain: Multinational Corporations and NGO Partnerships

 

 

2.4 Case studies on social impacts and sustainability

Case: Governance and Sustainability at Nike

Short Reading: The Sustainable Apparel Coalition

 

2.5 Solutions

Short reading: Why Unilever, Patagonia, PUMA lead the way, say sustainable leaders.

 

SCHEDULE – Day 2 (TBD)

Readings*

 

This schedule is subject to change

 

 

3. Environmental Challenges and Solutions for Sustainable Supply Chains (SSC) 

 

 

3.1 The challenge behind global and complex supply chains.

 

 

3.2 Tools for analysis and modelling. Optimizing systems for lowest environmental impact and lowest cost.

Case: Hans Solar and the Sustainable Supply Chain. No need to read this case in advance. Submission for this case is required one week after the second and last lecture.

 

3.3 The industry response
Big problems need big partnerships
Lessons from the electronics sector: Cisco, HP, Dell, Intel, Foxconn, and Apple

Case: Hewlett-Packard and a Common Supplier Code of Conduct
Short reading: Foxconn Technology Group

 

3.4 Improving products, processes, and systems. Green logistics, green procurement

Reading: Greening Transportation in the Supply Chain | MIT

 

3.5 Case studies on environmental impacts and sustainability
  WalMart’s Sustainable Supply Chain

 

 

3.6 Solutions. Visualize long term benefits.

Reading: 10 best practices you should be doing now

 

 

 

 

4. Leading practices and current trends on circular economy

 

 

4.1 Dealing with risk and creating value

 

 

4.2 Circular economy

Reading: Connected Consumption : A Sharing Economy Emerges

 

4.3 The sharing economy

 

Wrap Up – Designing successful sustainable supply chains

Reading: Managing Sustainable Global Supply Chains

 Readings will be posted on bCourses. Lecture notes are provided as handouts before each session or as electronic files.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Omar Romero-Hernandez, PhD., Lecturer on Business and Sustainability, Haas School of Business. Prof. Romero-Hernandez was one of the recipients of the 2010 Franz Edelman Award, the world’s most prestigious award on Operations Research and Management Science.

Prof. Romero-Hernandez has led internationally awarded projects in the field of sustainable business strategies, renewable energy, and business processes. Sponsors include the United Nations, Ministry of the Environment, Industry consortiums, S&P 500, the Stock Exchange, and NGOs. In 2010 he was appointed the National Leader of Mexico’s Business Summit task force on Economic Growth and Low Carbon Emissions, which delivers recommendations to the President.

Omar is also the Former Director of the Center for Technological Development (CDT) at the Autonomous Technology Institute of Mexico (ITAM). He is a Chemical Engineer with graduate studies in Economic Policy and Government, and a PhD in Process Economics and Environmental Impact from Imperial College, London, UK.

Omar has worked for a diverse range of public and private organizations such as Procter & Gamble, PEMEX (Oil & Gas), Accenture, and the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources. In 2001, he was appointed as Professor at ITAM, UC Berkeley Fulbright Professor in Haas (2009), and Energy Biosciences Institute Researcher in 2010. Currently, he is a National Researcher and author of three books: Renewable Energy Technologies and Policies, Industry and the Environment, and Introduction to Engineering – An Industry Perspective, as well as several international publications on engineering, business, and sustainable development.

He has received several international awards, including a Fulbright Professorship, the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership Award, National Leader at Mexico Business Summit, Royal Society (United Kingdom), Distinguished Visiting Professor, and first and second prizes for applied research at International Sustainability and Operations Conferences.