Analysis of Sustainable Operations and Supply Chains

Bachelor degree in industrial management or similar, and basic knowledge of supply chain management and sustainability.

In the course, students will gain knowledge to analyze, evaluate, and develop sustainable operations and supply chains from emissions reduction to material flows and circularity.

By the end of this course, students should be able to understand how to analyze operations and supply chains from a sustainability perspective, how to evaluate their sustainability performance, and develop strategies in response to regulatory and reputational drivers and risks, and balancing environmental, economic, and policy demands. More specifically:

1. Identify key environmental impacts in the operations and supply chains of companies, taking a system and lifecycle perspective.
2. Identify how sustainability policies, regulation and strategies impact operations and supply chains through specific regulatory and voluntary schemes.
3. Analyze and evaluate the environmental performance of operations and supply chains by applying established methods.
4. Identify and evaluate sustainability risks in operations and supply chains
5. Develop strategies to support the implementation of sustainable and circular operations and supply chains.

Additionally, the course develops:

• problem-solving and decision-making (application of knowledge to problems),
• analytical and critical thinking (assessment and interpretation of knowledge),
• ethics, responsibility and sustainability (recognizing, evaluating, and developing sustainable action),
• interpersonal and communication skills (group work, written and oral expression, English), and
• digital skills (software-mediated analysis, reporting, presentation media).

Coursebooks: 1) Kreye. M.E. (2023). Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management. Routledge; 2) Orji, I.J. & Ojadi. F. (2022). The Circular Supply Chain: Basic Principles and Techniques. CRC Press (or newer editions); Additionally: Lecture slides and videos, and other materials available in the course page. Software for lifecycle analysis (e.g., OpenLCA)

Responsible organization: School of Technology and Innovations, University of Vaasa

The course is part of the Master's programmes in Industrial Engineering and Management (as mandatory or elective, or part of minor studies). Other enrolments might not be accepted.

Requisites for Open University students: 1) Maximum of 5 students can be accepted, 2) Meeting the course prerequisites is mandatory, and 3) Same teaching and assessment methods are applied to all course students.