Revising a Supply Chain Curriculum with an Emphasis on the Triple Bottom Line

Abstract

This paper discusses a benchmarking study that we conducted over the summer of 2008 as part of the ongoing re-design of our Supply Chain & Operations Management (SC&OM) curriculum. The motivation for this study was our desire to emphasize sustainability (or the triple bottom line of economics, environmental, and social equity performance) more strongly in all of our Supply Chain & Operations Management courses. We performed an analysis of our Supply Chain & Operations Management program compared to nineteen other undergraduate programs in Supply Chain and/or Operations Management in the United States. We found only one other program that requires a course in sustainability and no other programs that require elements of sustainability within their required courses. In addition, we found that we needed to cover purchasing and transportation topics in greater depth. Both of these topics are fertile areas for discussion of sustainability topics. Finally, through our benchmarking study and the research we conducted, we determined that we needed to add more experiential sustainability exercises in our Supply Chain & Operations Management courses.

Keywords: Sustainability, Supply Chain Management, Curriculum, Triple Bottom Line

JEL Classification: I23, M11