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Bloomberg Businessweek Ranks Poole College Sixth in Supply Chain/Operations

The undergraduate operations and supply chain management program at North Carolina State University Poole College of Management was ranked sixth in Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2013 specialty ranking for this field. That places Poole College just below the University of Michigan and ahead of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for this academic specialty.

The specialty rankings are part of Bloomberg Businessweek’s annual ranking of undergraduate programs; 145 AACSB-accredited business schools participated this year.

As part of the survey, Bloomberg asked graduating seniors at the business schools to complete an online survey on a variety of topics. The survey included a request for students to ‘grade’ their school’s academic specialties – the subject areas in which they took a concentration of courses. 

Following is the 2013 top 10 list for undergraduate supply chain and operations programs

1. The University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

2. Washington University (Olin)

3. Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)

4. Worcester Polytechnic Institute

5. University of Michigan (Ross)

6. North Carolina State University (Poole)

7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)

8,. Boston University

9. Georgia Tech (Scheller)

10. University at Buffalo (State University of New York)

"This new ranking reflects the hard work and dedication to excellence by our faculty, as well as the efforts of our SCRC partners who mentor our student projects in the supply chain practicum. We are delighted by the recognition of our efforts by our students and by Bloomberg Businessweek, and we will continue to strive to pursue excellence in our program," said Dr. Robert Handfield, Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at Poole College.

“I congratulate our supply chain and operations faculty for their effective teaching and leadership that has brought this strong showing in the rankings,” said Dr. Ira Weiss, dean of the college. 

About the Operations and Supply Chain Management Concentration

Poole College undergraduate students in the supply chain management/operations concentration take four courses:

  • a foundational Business Process Management course (BUS 478), plus
  • two of the following three courses: Operations Planning and Control (BUS 472), Logistics Management (BUS 474), and Purchasing and Supply Chain Management (BUS 475).

Students may elect to also take the Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Practicum (BUS 479), which has the students applying all that they have learned to real world projects. For more than a decade, the diverse group of companies affiliated with the college’s Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) have provided undergraduate and graduate students exposure to a wide range of problems and opportunities that they will face when working in the field.

Practicum students work in teams in their semester-long practicum projects, in collaboration with a mentor from their project’s sponsoring company and their instructors. Poole College’s supply chain faculty members draw on their considerable industry experience as they help the students perfect their problem solving and presentation skills. Practicum project results are presented to company representatives, often at the company’s offices. Student teams also present poster summaries during the SCRC’s fall and spring meetings, and during the college’s annual Leadership and Innovation Showcase held each spring. 

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Photo above is from the supply chain students' trip to General Motors/Wayne State University School of Business Supply Chain Competition in fall 2012.

The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative's website offers white papers, a blog and other knowledge resources for its company partners and other supply chain practitioners.