Course Syllabus

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ESD.S43 – Green Supply Chain Management
4 Units (2-0-2), H-Level
2nd Half Spring 2012
Thursdays, 10-noon (April – May)
Room E25-117

Instructors
Dr. Edgar Blanco (eblanco@mit.edu) and Prof. Eva Ponce (eponce@mit.edu)

Course Description
The graduate course in Green Supply Chain Management (ESD.S43) will focus on the fundamental tools and techniques required to analyze and design environmentally sustainable supply chain systems. Topics covered include: closed-loop supply chains, reverse logistics systems, carbon footprinting, water footprinting, life-cycle analysis and supply chain sustainability strategy.

Class sessions will combine presentations, case discussions and guest speakers. All students will work on a course-long team project that critically evaluates the environmental supply chain strategy of an industry or a publicly traded company. Grades will be based on class participation, case study assignments and the team project.

Below is a preliminary schedule:

Week Date Lecture topic
1 Th 04/05 Introduction to Green SCM
2 Th 04/12 Reverse Logistics
3 Th 04/19 Closed-loop Supply Chains (Guest Speaker)
4 Th 04/26 Carbon & Water Footprint
5 Th 05/03 Life Cycle Analysis
6 Th 05/10 SC Sustainability Strategy  (Guest Speaker)
7 Th 05/17 Multi-stakeholder engagements (Guest Speaker)
8 Final Final Presentations

Prerequisites
Graduate level courses in operations management, logistics design and/or supply chain management preferred.

Grading
The course grade will be distributed as follows:

  • Team Paper (50%): A 10-15 pages critical analysis paper evaluating the environmental supply chain strategy of a publicly traded company. The paper should include a brief description of the industry, key products/business units selected, a summary of green dimensions addressed; critical analysis of the disclosed information; strategic gaps and research issues.
  • Final Presentation (15%)
  • Case Study/Assignments (20%)
  • Class Participation (15%)