Final GRC Proposal

Graduate Review Committee Proposal
Isis Quiñones Sánchez

Professional Studies (MS)

Samuel McQuade III

Fall 2011

1

Executive Summary

The intent of this document is to propose a graduate plan of study that will lead to
a Master’s of Science Degree in Professional Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology.
This document presents a personal introduction, a literature review, a proposed plan of study,
a program learning objectives and a preliminary capstone project idea, supported by a
reference list of cited sources.

The concentrations of my multidisciplinary studies are Project Management (PM)
and Supply Chain Management (SCM). The motivation for these fields is because I have
experienced the opportunity of working in the area of project management when I was
accomplishing an internship in the Organization of American States (OAS). I collaborated as
a Human Resource assistant in the introduction of a new technology software system titled
“Performance Evaluation System (PES)” in order to improve the efficiency of the evaluation
performances of the difference OAS staff members. This was a combine project of new
technology introduction and reengineering process in order to adapt OAS organizational
standards within the international standards. During my participation in the design and
implementation phases of this specific project I redeveloped my career objectives focusing in
PM as a desire and potential field of study.

My second concentration is SCM which I consider as an enormously supportive
skill for Project Managers. During my participation in PES project I experienced the
challenges of scarce resources, lack of logistics, pressure to finish project before planned time
and on budget. Throughout this project experience I realized that SCM is an essential
instrument in order to efficiently and effectively manage resources and risks.

A possible Capstone Project will include the study of how PM can facilitate to
overcome the different SCM problems related with risk management, planning, supply chain
control activities and developing contingency plans.

The purpose of this document is to gain support and approval of the RIT
administrators to pursue the presented Master’s of Science Degree program.

2

Introduction

Being born in the center of a unified family and having my parents next to me
gave me the opportunity to be educated with precious values and motivations that today allow
me to be the personI am. I have started setting goals and objectives since I was a little girl.
After accomplishing my bachelor degree in Business Administration, I decided to apply for a
scholarship position offered by the Korean Government to study in Kyung Hee
Universitywhere I recently completed my Master in International Business.

My dream is to become a member of a prestigious and ethical organization where
I can develop my critical thinking, problem solving and integrative communication
capabilities.After achieving a M.S. in Professional Studies I wish to become an
interdisciplinary professional managing the fields of International Business, PM and SCM.
My visionis to have the opportunity to build upinnovative strategies to help organizations
manage the adverse effects of globalization while also taking advantage of this phenomenon.
My interest is to be able to travel and study foreign markets in order to develop approaches to
deal withglobal SCM, customer relationship management, diversity workforces, cross
cultural negotiations, currency fluctuations/risks and develop strategic relationships
amongorganizations’ stakeholders.My contributions will support the organization to
accomplisha global leading position through my effective management approach.

I would like people to talk about me as a courageous person who always
established goals and objectives to accomplish her personal vision. It is significant for me to
be remembered as a person who cares about her family, friends and co-workers. In the
professional aspect I would like to be distinguished as an ethical and successful professional
who adapted her leadership and management style to different situations in accordance with
her emotional intelligence. The MS in Professional Studies Degree is unique in allowing me
to pursue these dreams with course concentrations of particular interest and importance to the
world as I see and experience it.

3

Literature Review

These days it is surprising how easily a person can findCoca-Cola brand beverage,
a McDonald’s restaurant, or Starbucks coffee shop among many other kinds of products or
retail outlets. This is true in the U.S. and increasingly throughout the world as products and
services expand to overseas markets. Marber (2009) expresses that as a result of globalization
effects we have more technological advances, free trade agreements, economic integration
processes and free movement of labor, which has smooth the speed of global business
including the global SCM. According to Heizer and Render (2006), SCM consists of a
combination of actions to ensure that needed “materials” can be processed into final products
and delivered to end users. SCM is a holistic process that represents a planned mechanism for
strategic relationships management across different places, contributors and functions (e..g.
product designer, production, sales, marketing, logistics, finance and information technology)
(Tang, 2006). The topic of SCM has been considered by scholars in many different ways,
being Risk management one of the most discussed problematic due to the increase number of
cross-border activities among firms and the challenges that this represents.

Since the 2007 financial crisis many companies around the world are constantly
experiencing huge increases in their production costs due to different unfavorable
consequences and unstable economic scenario across countries. In short, markets are
expansive, intertwined and difficult to control or manage. This crisis situation represents
one of the great motivations as to why companies with cross-border activities are now
evaluating their different SCM strategies in order to reduce costs and become more efficient.
United Parcel Service (UPS) (2005) expressed that they needed to develop a SCM strategy
more aligned with their business process strategy in order to improve profits by reducing
costs. The aligned SCM strategy developed by UPS clearly establishes a formalized work
process with the different SCM stakeholders and more interconnected relationships with
business processes, information technology systems and cross-border activities.

According to Zygiaris (2000) SCM is a novel outstanding source that companies
are strategically using in order to develop a “Competitive Advantage (CA)” To support this
idea Burgess, Singh and Koroglu (2006) also classify SCM as a “young field”.
Companies are able to start an internationalization process when they have a
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specific CA which differentiates them from competitors. Some companies’ CA could be a
specific know-how, distinctive business processes customer focused strategy, etc. However, it
is important to realize that today’s global management of supply chain represents an
important milestone of companies’ CA that enable them to become international, being risk
management one of its principal constraints. According to Manuj and Mentzer (2008) there is
not a clear definition that explicitly define risk taking into account all the different aspects of
global SCM. When the SCM becomes global the relationships among the different
stakeholders represent a major risk due to cross-borders activities uncertainties (e.g.
recruitment of nativehuman resources, quality of local resources available in host country,
transportation risks, infrastructure, cultural differences, exchange rates, logistics constraints,
level of technologic development, government regulations etc.)

Similar to Manuj and Mentzer thesis, Thung and Hoenig (2011) state that there is
lack of “empirical research” that could support the Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM),
which is defined as “the management of supply chain risks through coordination or
collaboration among the supply chain partners so as to ensure profitability and continuity’’
(Tang, 2006, p. 453).

Project management risk assessment and review techniques can support the
SCRM with an innovative and formalized risk managerial process creating solutions and
contingency plans to effective control risk. Larson and Gray (2011) recommend that project
managers develop a risk management process including risk identification, assessment,
response development, opportunity management, contingency planning, funding, and a
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) simulation to effective and efficiency
control risk.

Doing business globally implies global risk, especially when manufacturing or
distribution processes are centrally located in a given geographic area. To exemplify this idea
consider the Japan earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. This tragedy involved loss of
human lives, infrastructure and resources that effectively stopped various organizations from
doing global business, in some cases for extended periods of time if not permanently.

Consequences are described in the Congressional Research Service Report for

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Congress about Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami: Economic Effects and Implications for the
United States.For example, “Two Japanese plants accounting for 25% of the world’s supply
of silicon wafers for computer chips were closed” (Congressional Research Service, 2011 p. 6)
However, which Nissan used to import engines from a factory in Fukushima mitigated and
overcame risk by importing them from their plant in Tennessee. Hence, redundant and
distributed SCM capabilities are important to overcoming natural as well as potential
business disasters. And professionals who specialize in supply chain/logistics management
and project management have key roles to ensuring business continuity and risk management.
The Japanese catastrophe demonstrates how broad risk management is and how
unmanageable this could become.

In addition, Brindley and Ritchie, (2007) expressed that managers are becoming
more familiar with different SCM difficulties that are arising due to the diverse challenges
presented in the numerous opportunities that cross-border activities mean for organizations.
Similar to Zygiaris (2000), Burgess, Singh and Koroglu (2006), expresses that SCRM is
without doubt a new problematic presented in “operational and more strategic levels”.

To exemplify this situation, we can examine Japanese subsidiaries in the U.S.
where local managers became disturbed because they did not see any top managerial level
promotion opportunity in the organizational structure of these international organizations.
This situation was known as “Bamboo Ceiling” which created high level of turnovers
because local managers used Japanese subsidiaries as a bridge to find better job opportunities
in the future. When LG electronics started its process of internationalization to become a
global leading company they decided to recruit people from different disciplines and
geographies to manage their supply chain activities. Stamping out of “Bamboo Ceiling” LG
also recruited host country native human resources into their top management level positions
to manage cultural differences. LG encouraged cross-innovative problem solving attitudes
among their local and international managers. Manuj and Mentzer (2008) explain the
necessity of international organizations in formulating global management groups. It is
important to formulate a diverse group including native SCM host country professionals and
also international personnel. This strategy could represent a CA because of information
exchange across the different locations, gaining from cross-cultural professional’s activities,
mentoring, feedback processes and enhancement of an outstanding information sharing

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process across functions to effectively manage risks.

As the research shows Brindley and Ritchie, (2007) essential tools in the
development of their SCRM framework are the processes of communication, confidence,
structures, individual arguments and interaction among different managers, staff members
and functions. They also express the importance of developing a closer interaction between
SCM contributors and the improvements of solid “relationships”.

How can PM and SCM be used in an interdisciplinary manner to address the
SCRM problematic? The answer is: the interrelationship and similarity between PM and
SCM of having a “ . . . precise beginning, defined ending, scope, time associate, precise
inputs, systems view, customer focused . . .” (Henrie, 2007, pp. 3) allow us to develop a joint
beneficial interconnected relationship among these two fields of study. In other words, there
are synergistic and symbiotic connections between PM and SCM that goes toward increasing
professionalism of these fields. I wish to be part of this, and that is why I am proposing the
following plan of study.

An important point is that these two field are very influence by the different
globalization effects in terms of trade (e.g. import/export duties), finance (e.g. currency
exchange, interest rate), and culture (e.g. cross-cultural business negotiations) these are some
of the issues where PM and SCM could work in collaboration to obtain gains from
interdisciplinary relationship.

The strong relationship between PM and SCM is what has motivated me to
selected my plan of studies. In my opinion Supply Chain Managers need to acquire the
essentials tools, methods, techniques and knowledge of PM’s information system, in order to
effectively allocate SCM resources in a timely and under budget manner. On the other hand I
consider that Project Managers also need those technical SCM skills (e.g. logistics, networks,
procurement) to enhance projects’ coordination and allocation of resources.

Plan of Study
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Required
0699-705 Context & Trends 4

Concentration A: Project Management
0681-710 Intro to Project Management 4
0681-711 Advanced Project Management 4
0681-712 International Project Management 4

Concentration B: Supply Chain Management
0106-782 Statistics for Decision Making 4
0106-401 Ops & Supply Chain Mgt. 4
0106-745 Quality Control & Improvement. 4
0102-741 Managing Organizational Change 4

Electives:
Transfer Applied Economics 4
Transfer Economics of Regional Integration 4
Transfer Multinational Corporations 4

Co-Op 4

Required:
0699-775 Capstone Project 4

Total 48

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Plan for Accomplishing Required Program Learning Objectives

As a graduate student pursuing a M.S. in Professional Studies concentration in
PM and SCM my expectation is to obtain a meaningful learning experiences by acquiring
innovative knowledge and new skills related to my areas of concentration. The purpose of
this interdisciplinary program is to develop five specific learning objectives: integrative
professional oral and written communication, integrative learning, critical thinking, problem
solving and ethical reasoning. For my future career development, I also expect to increase my
networking while interacting with Rochester Institute of Technology (R.I.T.) students, faculty,
alumni and staff members.

These program learning objectives will be developed by combining theory with
practice. This combination is possible thanks to my actual position as a graduate assistant in
the office of career service and cooperative education. Through this graduate assistantship I
have the extraordinary opportunity of coming into contact with real work scenarios that will
enhance and aid me in developing these five learning objectives through real life practice.

According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU)
“Oral communication is a prepared, purposeful presentation designed to increase knowledge,
to foster understanding, or to promote change in the listeners' attitudes, values, beliefs, or
behaviors.” During my time in graduate school, I will be required to prepare essays,
presentations, and projects through the different courses (e.g. Context and Trends, Managing
Organizational Change, etc.). Such courses will allow me to develop my written and oral
English communication skills. At the end of my Master Degree I will be able to articulate
myself when making presentations or written communications using (e..g. references,
quotations, statistics, analogies, etc.) In addition, the interactions that I will experience while
preparing and doing presentations in my courses will empower me to manage speech delivery
techniques in order to feel more comfortable while speaking or writing in English.
Moreover, working as a graduate assistant in the office of career services and cooperative
education, I will also be able to develop integrative professional communication because my
job activities require me to interrelate with the different students, employers and partner
agencies allowing me to practice what I have learned in the classroom.

9

AACU defines critical thinking as a “habit of mind” consisting in broadly
exploring the different thoughts, opinions, beliefs before admitting them or developing your
own point of view. During my first quarter at R.I.T., I have already developed certain critical
thinking skills. While taking Context and Trends class I have been demanded and motivated
to improve my critical thinking capabilities. I believe that the different courses that my plan
of study presents will further enhance this ability. It is important to mention that this learning
objective will be developed with different resources available to all R.I.T. students, such as
journals, databases, books, newsletter, and magazines accessible through the Wallace
Library. It is important to evaluate information from different sources in order to be able to
develop a contrastive analysis and identify different perspectives (e.g. In Context and Trends
class we watched a video titled “China Inside Out” and this video presented
interdisciplinary perspectives of how China is helping through development cooperation
some developing countries like Angola, Cambodia, Brazil, etc. countries that could offer
them back certain resources that they will need in the close future) I watched the video but I
did not rely entirely on the information I received from that source, moreover I am highly
motivated in looking for other sources of information to prepare a contrastive analysis and
develop my own thinking about this situation. In summary, critical thinking skills will be
developed throughout my plan of study by researching and evaluating positions from
different sources.

Integrative Learning is define by the AACU as an “understanding and a
disposition that a student builds across the curriculum and co-curriculum, from making
simple connections among ideas and experiences to synthesizing and transferring learning to
new, complex situations within and beyond the campus.” The M.S. in professional studies
permit us to develop a plan of study connecting two or three different concentrations, this
special characteristic allow us to develop a integrative plan of study being able to
interconnect two or three different fields of study. In my case, PM and SCM courses let me
develop interdisciplinary connection while also coming with solutions for problems situations
in these two fields. Preparing a Capstone Project will enhance my integrative learning skills
by requiring me to identify a real problem situation, analyzed it and develop solutions
through the application of my interdisciplinary capabilities. In order to acquire this learning
objective I will become an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and
also I will enroll the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals in order to get in

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contact with my colleagues and consult with them different issues related with the
development of my Capstone Project. Using Social Media websites like LinkedIn has already
helped me to interchange ideas with different professionals of my field of study being a quick
and easy manner to access to information that you could use as starting point for further
research.

Problem solving learning objective consists in the ability of maximizing practical
thinking in order to develop innovative solutions to obtain the desired outcomes. One of the
most important purposes of M.S. in professional studies is to develop interdisciplinary
thinking capabilities which allow me to use the interconnection or relationship between
different fields to come with outstanding solutions to actual problems. Problem solving is
without a doubt a central part of this plan of study because it is the outcome we attain to
achieve by doing two or three concentrations. In order to develop this objective, is important
to use the different approaches or frameworks that we will learn throughout our plan of study
courses. In order to become an effective problem solver I need to be able to evaluate the
different contexts of the problem using an interdisciplinary approach and presenting
reasonable and realistic solutions for those problematic situations.

Ethical Reasoning is related with my own ethical values and the capacity of
identifying what is correct or incorrect. Professional integrity is one of the characteristics that
must be followed by R.I.T. students; we are encouraged to maintain our values and beliefs in
a top position. I consider ethics as want of my more values skills. While living in South
Korea I learned that “values” make the difference, this is my credo and this would help me to
manage ethical dilemmas in my future career.

My plan of study also intends to accomplish a cooperative education (co-op)
experience and a capstone project. This two will help me to acquire the five learning
objectives discussed in this section. Accomplishing a co-op will offer me the opportunity to
gain experience in PM or SCM fields of study in order to become more familiar with the
different real problems that I may encounter while working in the future. This work
experience will also help me to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills.
Moreover the capstone project which consists in recognizing, examining and solving
problems facing my fields of studies would definitely enhance my integrative learning

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experience and develop problem solving skills at the same time of increasing my integrative
learning communication.

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Capstone Project Proposal

While taking Context and Trends class, I have the opportunity to learn about the
movie starring Lester Brown, titledPlan B 3.0: Mobilizing to save Civilization. Brown’sthesis
is thatclimate change is caused byrising levels of carbon dioxide, lack of civilization
awareness and poverty.It is important to study theproblemof climate change as Brown
presented it in this movie to understand that poverty is a contributing factor to climate
change.It is also true that poverty contributes to horrible living and working conditions, and
unjust child labor such as practiced in my country, the Dominican Republic (DR).

I would like to concentrate my efforts in preparing a capstone project for
eradication of child labor in the DR, in order to alleviate povertyand global climate warming.
The main causes of child labor are poverty and lack of child labor injures awareness. This
could be illustrated in the insufficient household income perceived by families to satisfy basic
life needs due to poor education and unequal job opportunities. My idea is to get involved
with the different organizationscurrently working to eradicatechild labor (e.g., World Bank,
United Nations, Korean International Cooperative Agency, etc.) in order to learn how and in
which ways they are addressing the problem. Applying my research and critical thinking
skills I will understand the underlying reasons of child labor in order to develop a sustainable
solution and be able to develop myproblem solving skills.

The approach to be used is focused in the preparation of aninnovative
development project proposal where I have the opportunity to select a specific region of the
DR with this problem and evaluate the possibility of interrelating the private sector,
governmental authorities and a potential donor in some innovative way. As a project manager
I would be able to design, plan and coordinate the different activitiesneeded to implement the
project. My knowledge of SCM would enable me to effectively manage the different
resources and logistics strategies needed for project activities implementation.

Definitely the outcomes are concentrated in the empowerment of women giving

them access to job opportunities, implement a child labor awareness program and secure

access to education for those children working in the DR.

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References

Burgess, K., Singh, P. J., & Koroglu, R. (2006). Supply Chain Management: a Structured

Literature Review and Implications for Future Research. International Journal of

Operations & Production Management, 26(7), 703-729.

doi:10.1108/01443570610672202

Henrie, M. (2006). Project Management Supply-Chain Challenges [Essay]. Retrieved

October 11, 2011, from American Society of Advancement of Project Manager

website: http://www.asapm.org/asapmag/articles/PMSupplyChain.pdf

Henrie, M. (2007). Project Management: The Supply Chain View. Retrieved October 9, 2011,

from http://www.asapm.org/asapmag/articles/PM_WorldView.pdf

Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Project Management: the Managerial Process (11th

ed.). New York, NY, 10020: McGraw Hill . (Original work published 2003)

Manuj, I., & Mentzer, J. T. (2008). Global Supply Chain Risk Management Strategies.

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 38(3), 192-

223. doi:10.1108/09600030810866986

Marber, P. (2009). Understanding Globalization from Trunk to Tail. Hoboken, New Jersey:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Nanto, D. K., Cooper, W. H., & Donnelly, J. M. (2011, March 25). Japan’s 2011 Earthquake

and Tsunami: Economic Effects and Implications for the United States (Rep. No.

R41702). Retrieved from http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/161324.pdf

Ritchie, B., & Brindley, C. (2007, April 4). An Emergent Framework for Supply Chain Risk

Management and Performance Measurement. Journal of the Operational Research

Society, 58, 1398-1411. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602412

Tang, C. S. (2006, March 2). Perspectives in Supply Chain Risk Management. International

Journal of Production Economics, 103, 451–488. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2005.12.006

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Tang, O., & Musa, N. (2010, July 3). Identifying Risk Issues and Research Advancements in

Supply Chain risk Management. International Journal of Production Economics,

133, 25-34. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2010.06.013

Thun, J.-H., & Hoenig, D. (2009, October 27). An Empirical Analysis of Supply Chain Risk

Management in the German Automotive Industry. International Journal of Production

Economics, 131, 242-249. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2009.10.010

United Parcel Service of America.(2005). Supply Chain Strategy: The Importance of Aligning

your Strategies (White Paper WP.SCS.CS.638). Retrieved from http://www.ups-

scs.com/solutions/white_papers/wp_supply_chain.pdf

Zigiaris, S. (2000, January). INNOREGIO: Dissemination of Innovation and Knowledge

Management Techniques. Retrieved from B P R Hellas S Awebsite:

http://www.urenio.org/tools/en/creativity.pdf

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