Oregon State Launches New Supply Chain MBA Program

Oregon State University College of Business has launched a brand new MBA in Supply Chain and Logistics Management for prospective students. The program will start in September 2019, with start dates also available in January, April and June.

Full-time students can expect to complete the program in nine to 12 months, or 21 to 30 months if studying part-time.

Zhaohui Wu, Professor of Supply Chain and Logistics Management, spoke with TopMBA.com about what students can expect from the program.

What factors led to the development of this program at the school?

There’s a high demand from Oregon employers for students who can manage internal operations and global supply chains in the manufacturing, service, and government sectors. Demand is particularly acute on the quantitative side of supply chain and logistics management, which is the research strength at our school.

What type of students do you hope to see apply in the first year?

Our MBA program is ideal for working professionals. We’re looking for students who are well-rounded, with the quantitative and technical skills necessary to excel in the supply chain and logistics courses, as well as business and communication skills to successfully complete the general MBA coursework.

What are some of the extra-curricular opportunities available to students on this program?

Students have the opportunity to visit companies, attend career fairs and seminar talks, participate in supply chain labs working on consulting projects with companies, as well as networking opportunities with other MBA students.

In addition, students have additional opportunities through our affiliation with APICS, the association for supply chain management including participation in case competitions, and mentor and scholarship programs.

How will the program be taught and what can students expect from the program?

The program is a hybrid program that offers the flexibility of online content and the networking and interaction of face-to-face meetings.

Full classes meet at the beginning and end of each term and complete the remainder of the course content online. The online courses are dynamic and interactive, with students working interactively on assignments and projects with regular feedback from faculty.

How can students take advantage of wider opportunities within the school and institution?

Students have access to all of our graduate business coursework and programs, the Career and Student Success Centers, and study abroad and internship programs. They’ll also have access to a network of more than 30,000 OSU College of Business alumni across the world.

What most excites you about this program launch?

Supply chain is all about delivering the goods and services to the end-user economically, reliably, and quickly. Many companies live and die by their supply chains and those that do it particularly well – like HP, Starbucks and Nike – are household names. Our program gives students access to a curriculum designed by prominent faculty and industry leaders that will prepare them for a successful career in this rapidly evolving field.

The Supply Chain & Logistics Management program focuses on the domain expertise of our faculty and has been designed in close cooperation with our Advisory Council. The curriculum emphasizes network analysis, sustainability, and global and service sector operations, with a heavy emphasis on the quantitative and analytical skills demanded by employers.

Our students emerge from this program well-rounded with additional training in all core business disciplines as well as targeted classes in leadership, negotiations, ethics & corporate social responsibility, and strategy.

What are career opportunities for graduates?

Oregon’s economy spans the entire supply chain from abundant natural renewable and non-renewable resources through manufacturing and, ultimately, consumption.

If you think about Amazon, Apple, Walmart, their strength lies in supply chain execution; people say supply chain is the next frontier, and we’re seeing more chief operating officers become CEOs (Tim Cook at Apple is an example).

Anything with a process has an operations dimension to it; our students get jobs in areas of procurement officer, transportation, distribution and customer relationship management, production manager, supply chain analyst among others.

For more information about the program, visit the Oregon State website.