Completion of these portfolio work projects, a contingency plan, and a shareholder letter will help you understand how to transition and manage a working relationship with an alternative vendor when a natural disaster strikes.
Scenarios
For this assignment, choose Option 1 or Option 2. Both options will be graded using the same rubric.
Option 1
JM Manufacturing’s primary vendor factory has closed due to a black swan event and the vendor is not expected to reopen and ship products for at least six months. You must contact the alternative vendor and strengthen your relationship with them while maintaining the relationship with the primary vendor. It is important to keep your shareholders satisfied and remain profitable, so knowing that the alternative vendor will not be guaranteed the same volume of orders as the primary vendor could increase your costs and impact JM Manufacturing’s profit margin. The alternative vendor would like a commitment for a certain volume of orders and you must consider how that will be addressed without affecting the relationship. The alternative vendor has also hinted that they will offer you an annual family vacation to Hawaii if you commit to making the relationship permanent. This is not an uncommon practice in some countries, but it is illegal and a violation of JM Manufacturing’s ethics policy. You must also have an exit plan for terminating the relationship with the alternative vendor once the primary vendor is able to ship products again.
You are a supply chain manager with JM Manufacturing and you need to build a short-term business relationship with the alternative vendor while maintaining the relationship with the primary vendor as they recover from a natural disaster. You must have the plan to switch back to the primary supplier when their factory is functional and to communicate the state of JM Manufacturing’s vendor relationships and profitability with shareholders.
Option 2
Use the company you used for the previous assignments—or choose another, providing it meets the following criteria:
The company fits the assignment requirements and you have access to the information needed to complete the assignment.
The company information is disclosed in the assignment for faculty reference.
You can distribute the company data without disclosing confidential information.
Your boss has tasked you with putting together a contingency plan and shareholder letter. As the supply chain manager, you need to create a plan to implement short-term relationship strategies with an alternative vendor while maintaining a relationship with a primary vendor. She is relying on you to prepare a plan to return to the primary supplier when their factory is functional again and to communicate the current state of all vendor relationships and profitability with shareholders.
Contact faculty with questions.
Requirements
Include the following in your contingency plan:
Articulate a plan to accelerate the relationship building with an alternative vendor.
Articulate relationship-building strategies with a primary vendor. What is best for maintaining this relationship over the months that you will not be working together due to this natural disaster?
Analyze how to maintain ethical principles and practices with supply chain partners.
Analyze strategies to obtain the best pricing from an alternative vendor. Analyze at least one tactic in great detail.
Analyze the pros and cons of using multiple vendors concurrently for the selected company scenario.
Recommend how to transition back to the primary vendor. Will you still use only one vendor, or will you use two to ensure that your business flow is not interrupted again?
Address the following in your shareholder letter:
What is the current state of the primary vendor?
Why was the alternative vendor selected? Be sure to deliver a message that focuses on the quality of the alternative vendor.
How will profits remain strong for JM Manufacturing or your selected company?
What is the transition plan to go back to the primary vendor or to continue using a two-vendor model?
Deliverable Format
Contingency Plan Requirements
Regardless of the option you choose, your plan should be 7–8 pages (in addition to the title and reference pages).
Use a plan template of your choice.
Shareholder Letter Requirements
The shareholder letter is to be one page.
Related Company Standards
The contingency plan and shareholder letter are professional documents and should therefore follow the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines (available in MBA Program Resources), including single-spaced paragraphs.
Use at least five scholarly resources, where applicable, one of which must come from the Wall Street Journal.
Use APA formatting for citations and references.
Evaluation
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding grading criteria:
Competency 1: Assess the market to inform effective and efficient global supply chain sourcing practices.
Analyze strategies to obtain the best pricing from an alternative vendor.
Competency 2: Analyze effective sourcing practices that support organizational needs.
Articulate a plan to accelerate the relationship building with an alternative vendor.
Competency 3: Apply inventory management strategies that achieve quality and efficiency throughout the product life cycle.
Recommend how to transition back to the primary vendor.
Competency 4: Develop strategies to establish and maintain effective supplier relationships.
Articulate relationship-building strategies with a primary vendor.
Analyze the pros and cons of using multiple vendors at the same time for the selected company scenario.
Competency 5: Apply ethical and legal principles to supply chain sourcing practices.
Analyze how to maintain ethical principles and practices with supply chain partners.
Competency 6: Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Write coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a business professional.
The instructor will assume the role of the workplace recipient of your deliverable to provide feedback, using the rubric to evaluate your submission. Refer to the rubric to ensure that you meet all grading criteria.