New 1-year MSc in Global Supply Chain Management

Supply chains under pressure

Global supply chains have become longer and more complex. For decades, companies have been optimising for lower costs and more efficient operations, with just-in-time becoming an ideal. But that same optimisation can also make chains more vulnerable. When a shock hits one link, it can quickly propagate and trigger cascading effects in the rest of the network.

We saw this in the cyberattack against A.P. Moller – Maersk in 2017. Port terminal breakdowns caused delays and bottlenecks for suppliers and customers around the world. The effects spread through a global network under pressure.

These are the types of interconnected risks that the new 1-year master's degree programme in Global Supply Chain Management will give graduates the tools to understand and manage.

Two tracks with risk at the centre

Simon Sølvsten, associate professor and research group leader at the Department of Business and Sustainability, has been responsible for the academic content of the supply chain track and for developing the programme's academic profile within the MSc framework.

– We have tried to make it more specialised, so it's a programme that you can't easily find elsewhere, he says.

The programme has two tracks: the classic supply chain discipline focusing on operations and optimisation and a more quantitative track on risks in supply chains. The candidate must not only be able to identify a risk but also assess the consequences and decide how to deal with it, also in terms of hedging against losses.

Many employees work professionally with risks in supply chains, but they are rarely trained specifically for the task.

– There is plenty of practical experience, but there is a lack of a common professional foundation and a more systematic way of working with supply chain risks. This is one of the things the programme is designed to provide.

Analytical rigour and strategic understanding

The programme combines data-driven methods with strategic perspectives such as sustainability and circular supply chains. Overall, it's a fairly even balance. Graduates of the programme leave with an MSc profile that allows them to analyse and measure while understanding the organisational and strategic contexts in which they operate.

The teaching is case-based and closely linked to practice, in some cases with data from companies.

Target group and employers

The programme requires a background in business administration. It is aimed both at students who want to work in supply chain management and at people in jobs with responsibility for supply chains or risk management. Ideally, the programme accommodates both groups so that experience and immersion can work together.

Typical employers are medium and large companies as well as specialised consulting and service companies. As supply chains become more complex and divided into specialised functions, the need for employees who can combine an operational perspective with a systematic understanding of risk increases.

Graduates have a solid methodological foundation and a clear focus on supply chain operations and risk understanding, but the competences are really shaped in practice.

As head of studies, Niklas Woermann, associate professor at the Department of Business & Management, has been responsible for coordinating the elements that need to come together when a new master's degree programme is established – from dialogue with employers and students to research environments and formal requirements.

He emphasises that the one-year master's degree is not a shortened version of an existing programme.

– This is not a master's programme that has been cut down. It has been developed from scratch with new subjects and a clear prioritisation so that it makes academic sense in one year, he says.

Whereas a traditional 2-year master's degree can more easily accommodate broader combinations, the 1-year programme is organised with a more focused aim and a clear career profile. This requires structure and progression but also provides the opportunity to target competences more precisely.

The reform as a framework and opportunity

– The reform is a tool that allows us to develop programmes that target specific needs. These are not master's degree programmes for all students, but for those who want a more focused and intensive course.

For him, it is crucial that the discussion is not reduced to a question of the number of ECTS or 1 or 2 years. Quality depends on whether the programme is designed to provide graduates with the level of knowledge and skills required at master's level and to match the needs of employers.

The ambition is to have a stable intake and graduates who find strong job functions in companies where the complexity of global supply chains requires the combination of operations and risk understanding that the programme is based on.

In the longer term, the aim is for the programme to make its mark internationally as a specialised offering at a high academic level.