Feedback from former students who work at TACOM (great government jobs, this might surprise you)…

Subject: Read: Feedback from a Bronco who works at TACOM (great government jobs, this might surprise you)... See attachment and end of email for details on DoD internships. Students (great government jobs & they often welcome all majors): The government at the federal, state, and local levels has very good jobs that require college degrees.  Further, in general, your major does not have to be a perfect fit for the job.  Many...

Feedback from former student on consulting jobs after graduation…

Students:Feedback from former student on consulting jobs after graduation...Would you find a consulting job after graduation appealing? Hopefully, we are training our students to become consultants…to their own organization (i.e., problem-solvers).Hi Sime (from my former SCM student), First of all I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to work on research with you because that was a significant selling point when I interviewed for my current job...
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Syncing your school email accounts to your mobile devices.

Students:  I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to discuss something that I believe can significantly enhance our communication and your overall learning experience: syncing your school email accounts to your mobile devices.  Android: Android Outlook App Setup (preferred) (wmich.edu)IOS: iOS Outlook App Setup (preferred) (wmich.edu)IOS Native: iOS Built-in Mail App Setup (wmich.edu) On avg, professionals spend 28% of their workday just reading & writing emails, which amounts to...

Red Alert…Notice which majors are the front runners in AI adoption…

Students (see the AI CIS 5550 class below):  https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/ai-adoption-by-industry/?utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_medium=social&utm_content=Visualizing+AI+Adoption+by+Industry Red Alert…Notice which majors are the front runners in AI adoption & also have the highest demand for AI talent (Finance and Accounting!).  Also, notice how Production and Supply Chain Management are NOT the front runners in AI adoption & also have the lowest demand for AI talent.  All other majors appear to be in-between (HR is right up there and...

Negotiating a job offer (i.e., internships & your starting salary)…

Subject: Negotiating a job offer (i.e., internships & your starting salary)...Note, Negotiation is a problem-solving skill set that every manager needs (and most are very bad at at).  WMU HCOB has a class on this (and it is exceptionally well taught): MKTG 2750 - Global Negotiation (this is now a required class for SCM majors) This course is designed to be a "learning laboratory" for developing negotiation skills. The course will...

Advice: 4 themes – Feedback from Alumni, Delaying graduation, Drugs & if you have a criminal record…

Subject: 4 themes - Feedback from Alumni, Delaying graduation, Drugs & if you have a criminal record...  Students: Recent feedback from managers (WMU grads) about WMU students…    Overall WMU students perform significantly better than other schools in Michigan.  Customer service skills – I don’t think that this is touched on much in the program (at least when I was a student), but it is a large part of supply chain...

Lecture notes: How should companies use competitive bidding (think long-term)?

Students (some of my lecture notes from class):  Typically, buying organizations will use several rounds of the competitive bidding process to pick a low cost supplier. Buying organizations will send out RFQs to get bids from suppliers. RFQ stands for a Request for Quotation. In other words, please give us a quote for this business. Unfortunately, several iterations of the competitive bidding process can be very resource intensive, especially for...

Lecture Note: How do companies outsource strategically? Some companies (both large and small) are going beyond just outsourcing commodities to also outsourcing core/strategic parts.

My notes from class (lots of people gone, ugggh)... Students (I lecture fast, but here is a recap of it, I will finish this up next week also): These are basically my notes and transcripts from class lecture.  I would recommend reading forthcoming material slowly and/or multiple times.  It needs to resonate and register with you. My video/podcast explanations are pasted at the end of this email.  However, I think you...

ROI HW: Let’s say you just started working for this company and you are a problem-solver that is obsessed with finding ways to do every part of your job better, faster, and cheaper.

Students: See the one-page financial statement on ROI (same one from class).   See: https://wmich.edu/supplychain/handout Let’s say you just started working for this company and you are a problem-solver that is obsessed with finding ways to do every part of your job better, faster, and cheaper.  Over a six-month period, you work very aggressively to reduce your organization’s direct material purchases/costs by 5%.  For example, you figured out a way to...

So, what does a supply chain manager do?…

Students:  See attached.  It is a little older, but not in the least bit dated.  It is still very spot on.    I actually had a student very recently ask me:  …“if you could please go more in depth about what a Supply Chain Manager actually does on a day-to-day basis. I'm struggling to get an answer on what supply chain management really is inside of the workforce.”  My thoughts: ...