Operations & Supply Chain Management Major

Heightened geo-political tensions with key trading partners, the pandemic, sustainability pressures, and technological disruptions have been impacting our supply chains in their ability to provide us with products and services that we rely on daily. They are a stark reminder of the monumental importance that supply chains have not only for our everyday lives, but for the prosperity of businesses and wider society.

Our competitive landscape is becoming increasingly volatile, uncertain, and complex. Businesses have realized that effective supply chain management is the key to navigating it. Ahead of us are some of the greatest challenges in recent history. At the same time, we are presented with great opportunities in the supply chain field, as we will have to find ways to improve the resilience of our supply chains, make them more sustainable & geo-politically balanced, and transform them via digital technologies.

If you have ever wondered how to be the difference or how to create an impact, join Marquette's supply chain program & major, and seize the opportunity to explore answers to these challenges.

About the major

Rankings

REAL-WORLD VALUE.  According to Gartner, for the last three years the supply chain program’s industry-driven content has been ranked in the top three (3) in the nation.  Recent graduates have reported an average entry-level salary of $65,000.

INTERNSHIPS & FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT.  To graduate with supply chain major, you are required to complete at least one internship. Marquette’s Center for Supply Chain Management provides to all supply chain majors a very robust support and guidance in preparing students for securing internships, as well as full time employment, both at the local and national level. This is reflected in the fact that more than 50% of our seniors have two or more internships by the time they graduate, and we are continuously maintaining 100% placement rate when it comes to full time employment.

NETWORKING.  Success in your career depends on developing a broad professional network. Work with the college's Center for Supply Chain Management or get involved in the OSCM student organization to start and build this professional network before you graduate. Center for Supply Chain Management offers amazing opportunities to build your network through initiatives such as Supply Chain Club, Women in Supply Chain Management, and Coaches Corner.

Learning Outcomes

As one of many methods of assuring that the goals of our educational mission are successfully met, the college regularly and systematically engages in the assessment of a variety of competencies. As part of this assurance of learning, each program defines and collects data on learning goals; statements of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that we want our graduates to possess. We use them for continuous improvement and they are the criteria on which organizations such as AACSB evaluate our accreditation. The following is the current Learning Goal for the Operations and Supply Chain Major along with the goals for the Undergraduate Business Core.

Understand and analyze operations and supply chain management issues in a firm.

Below are the specific performance outcomes assessed to help determine if students meet the above outcome.

  • Understand, analyze and develop manufacturing planning and control frameworks/systems for various manufacturing and supply chain environments.
  • Understand the importance and role of quality in the overall success of an organization. Apply analytical tools to evaluate and improve the quality of products and processes.
  • Understand, analyze and apply operational, tactical and strategic concepts of purchasing and supply management.
  • Understand and apply logistics and distribution concepts to improve supply chain operations.
  • Understand the principles of how supply chain strategies are developed and executed.

Undergraduate Business Core Learning Goals

  1. Apply effective written and oral communication skills to business situations.
  2. Analyze the global business environment.
  3. Analyze the local business environment.
  4. Use critical thinking skills in business situations.
  5. Apply an ethical understanding and perspective to business situations.