Supply Chain Management (SCM)

The full-time Master in Supply Chain Management is unique in Europe. It combines a thorough education in relevant theories and state-of-the-art methods and techniques with a transdisciplinary and integrated view to gain a deeper understanding of supply chain related decision problems from a performance perspective.

Supply chain networks are the skeletons that underpin the business world. These networks are increasingly global in nature, with products consisting of parts manufactured in different regions of the world, assembled in other locations, and then shipped across continents to retailers and consumers. Such complex networks consist of manufacturers and their suppliers, shippers and carriers using various modes of transportation, distribution centers where the products are stored and sent to retailers which ultimately supply the customers. Supply chains involve many decision-makers interacting with one another, sometimes competing, and at other times cooperating out of necessity.

The Master in Supply Chain Management focuses on the analysis, design, management, and operation of supply chains in manufacturing and professional service industries. Using a broad definition of supply chain management (SCM), supply chain problems are being tackled in profit and non-profit environments. The former includes retailers, wholesalers, logistics service providers, manufacturers, and suppliers, while the latter includes the public sector and non-governmental organizations, for example in disaster relief logistics.

11 Specialization areas - individualize your studies

You can choose two out of eleven specialization areas following your interests:

• Advanced Methods and Tools in Supply Chain Analytics

• Business Analytics in Supply Chains

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Supply Chain Management

• Location Analytics in Supply Chains

• Marketing Research and Analytics

• Recent Topics in Supply Chain Management

• Supply Chain Finance and Risks

• Supply Chain Management Course Abroad I

• Supply Chain Management Course Abroad II

• Sustainable and Humanitarian Supply Chains

• Transport and Logistics

60% International Students - a thorough international experience

The Master's program in Supply Chain Management focuses not only on global issues connected to supply chains but also attracts many international students. The student body is made up of a broad variety of nationalities. The students who enrolled in the fall of 2023 come from 30 different nationalities. Hence, the program offers a truly international experience through an international education, an internationally renowned faculty as well as an international culture among the students throughout the two years.

85% in a job 4 months after graduation - excellent career perspective

Since every business is involved in one or more supply chains, employment opportunities in this field are numerous and promising, with global demand exceeding the current supply of graduates. Our graduates are well prepared to design and manage the future‘s most effective supply chains.

The curriculum – grounded in proven theory and methodology, best practices and emerging innovative techniques – enables students to chart the supply chain processes all the way from managing information technology to enabling logistics and designing supply chain strategies.

Additional information about individual courses can be found by searching in WU's course directory available here.

1st Year

The first year introduces students to the basics of operations, transport, and logistics, focussing on the relevant concepts of business information systems and geo-informatics as well as mathematics and statistics. Fundamental principles, methods, techniques and information tools – necessary for the analysis, management, and operation of supply chains – are presented.

2nd Year

In the second year, students select two in-depth electives according to their individual interests. Furthermore, in advanced seminars and the Master's thesis students learn to apply the concepts and methods learned to real world environments.

Students learn a mix of theoretical, methodological and empirical research to get a good understanding of the fundamental questions and problems in the field, both from a transdisciplinary perspective as well as from the view of different types of focal companies (manufacturers and suppliers, shippers and carriers, and retailers). At the completion of the Master's program attendees will become thoroughly familiar with

• the design and analysis of logistics processes, the related information and financial flows in supply chains and transportation networks in general, and
• the design of supply chain strategies, the management and optimization of global supply chains and their coordination in particular.

This will include the abilities to

• solve supply chain related complex decision problems in a globalizing world by applying appropriate methods, techniques and software tools,
• measure, evaluate and control the quality of supply chain processes with suitable performance management systems,
• analyze and manage supply chains for different types of focal companies.