Contact
Zhengping Wu, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management
519 Whitman School of Management
315-443-1255
Program Description
Supply chain management is an interdisciplinary field that emphasizes cross-functional links and seeks to manage those links to enhance a company’s competitive advantage. It involves forecasting, resource allocation, production planning, flow and process management, inventory management, customer delivery, after-sales support and service, as well as a host of other activities and processes familiar and basic to business. Competitive pressures are intense. Sophisticated techniques have been devised to expedite information and financial flows, including on-board computers for trucks and ships, satellite tracking systems, the electronic transmission of order and shipping information, and supply chain finance solutions.
An understanding of supply chain management is an asset to any manager, and there is a strong demand for specialists in the area. Managers attracted to SCM enjoy the variety and challenges in the field, its sophisticated technology, and its importance to the overall economy and the global marketplace. Entrants to the field look forward to an entrepreneurial environment and opportunities to deal with a wide array of people from a variety of organizations. SCM managers also like a hands-on approach. They use sophisticated decision tools, yet they can always envision the underlying physical processes-processes that are familiar enough to be taken for granted, yet subject to managerial initiative and rapid change.
Syracuse University offered the first supply chain program in the country in 1919. Today, supply chain management programs are offered at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level, including an MS in SCM offered through a distance learning format. Coursework is completed online and independently with three residencies per year on the Syracuse University campus. Distance learning courses have been offered through the iMBA program since 1977.
Accreditation
The Whitman School has been accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) since 1920.
Admission
Students are recommended to take the GMAT as part of the application process. Applicants will be considered for the program based on their GMAT score, previous academic experience, work experience, professional references, and personal statements.
Financial Support
Students may apply for several loan programs to cover the cost of attendance. (Federal Direct Loan, ProgramFederal PLUS Loans, Alternative Loan Programs) Part-time students must be enrolled for at least six credits (half-time status) to be considered for loan programs.