MBA DISSERTATION MODULE

Candidate Name: Cheekoti Rakesh Enrolment Date: January 2010 Candidate reference number: 099087849/1 Project Title:
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: CASE STUDY ON IBM, UK

1. Project Background: (Rationale for selection

including previous work) This dissertation deals with various aspects of the supply chain management as well as various activities related to the supply chain management with a special focus on IBM, UK in light of the following aspects: Increased globalization through outsourcing, which elongates end-to-end supply chains Additional regulatory compliance imposed by government entities, further complicating international trade Increased levels of economic uncertainty, which create additional variability in supply and demand Shorter product lifecycles and rapid rates of technology change, which increase inventory obsolescence Demanding customers who have created additional time-to-market pressures by requiring better on-time delivery, order fill rates and overall service level
efficiencies.

2. Objectives: (Intended outcomes/significance and

scope of the project)

The main objective is to find out various aspects of supply chain management such as: Distribution Network Configuration Distribution Strategy Trade-Offs in Logistical Activities Information Inventory Management Cash-Flow Also find out what all changes IBM has experienced in the past years and what all changes have impacted the performance of the IBM. How IBMs ISC aligns and manages core processes, form performance related information and knowledge transfer.

3. Procedures: (Details of techniques, data collection, data recording, etc.) Explanatory research will be used and as it is a secondary research all the data will be collected from internet and case studies. Also various magazines, journals, newspaper articles will be used as the source of the information. IBM case studies will be used as the reference to find out the various factors which have affected the supply chain performance of IBM in UK. Various report formats will be studied in order to find out the structure which will be most suitable for the report formation.

MBA Dissertation

Key Activities

Time-scale

Resources

(Milestones)

(Plan of action) Study of supply chain management Through secondary research

Topic selection and background study Literature review Methodology Questionnaire Formulation of the report

required (Equipment, software, personnel etc) IBM Case studies and various journals. Internet ,Journals, articles and website data Journals, magazines, newspapers, articles, companys reports etc. Primary research with help samples approved Various available reports should be properly studied so that report can be prepared in a better way. Through the proper analysis of the report, recommendation and conclusion will be drawn

All the collected data has to be analyzed so that it can be aligned with the scope of the study Primary data After proper analysis all the data has to be arranged in the report form. Supply chain mgmt will be studied and evaluated. Conclusions will be made about the factors that ensure the company's competitive advantage over supply chain mgmt and recommendations will be given As used and applicable

Conclusion & Recommendations

As used and applicable

Bibliography and references

Total

Supervisor Comments (Any comments or amendments appropriate to the project should be recorded here)

References