Supply Chain Management

The Supply Chain Management (SCM) major is designed to prepare students to become leaders in supply chain management, a total systems approach taken by companies, suppliers, and partners to deliver manufactured products to the end customer.

Information technology is used to coordinate all elements of the supply chain from sourcing parts to coordination of retailers to achieve a level of integration that results in a competitive advantage that is not available in traditional logistics systems.

One of the important advantages of being a Supply Chain Management major is the linkage that exists between the major and the Supply Chain Management Center of Excellence. This McCombs-wide research center brings together financial resources, executives from leading corporations, faculty, and students from multiple disciplines in the McCombs School of Business to develop and communicate new knowledge about supply chain management. This critical relationship between industry and the faculty and students in the SCM program at McCombs creates a forum for the curriculum to be constantly reviewed by industry to ensure its relevancy and content. It also promotes numerous opportunities for the students and sponsor companies to interact regularly and build relationships that can potentially lead to future employment.

Entry-level positions in Supply Chain Management include buyer, materials manager, risk management analyst, logistics planner, and staff consultant. Supply chain managers tend to be individuals with good communication and negotiation skills who are systems oriented (analytical people who see the "big" picture).

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Prospective University of Texas at Austin students should visit UT Admissions to learn about the application process and how to declare a major.

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Undergraduates currently enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin who wish to change to a Business major need to apply for an internal transfer. McCombs School of Business accepts students for the fall semester only.

Students are encouraged to attend an internal transfer information session and check their eligibility to apply through the McCombs Internal Transfer website.

Find out more about the internal transfer process, including the procedures, requirements to apply, historical summary of acceptance, and additional opportunities.

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View the School of Business undergraduate degree plans to learn more about the required courses for the Supply Chain Management major.

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Supply Chain Management does not offer specific concentrations or tracks; however, there is variety offered in the SCM electives a student must choose to take.

By choosing different options in the elective courses a student can focus on procurement, logistics, or operations management, but a focus in a particular area is not required.

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Supply Chain Management students tend to be analytical thinkers. They must be able to apply learned concepts and equations to situations. The theories and best-practices are not mandatory rules to abide by and follow, but rather, they serve as guidelines.

Students must be able to evaluate a situation and utilize what they've been taught in the classroom in order to resolve unique circumstances. A large part of SCM is product and service procurement, and a significant part of that is negotiation. SCM majors must be excellent communicators on a 360 basis: up, down, and laterally.

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Ability to understand and apply fundamental operational concepts, as well as the equations and statistics that support them
Ability to relate knowledge and theory to case studies and other related situations
Ability to manipulate and customize classroom knowledge in order to apply it to the unforeseen situations in future workplace environments
Analytical skills utilized in case studies are related to Supply Chain Management theories, but also managerial, marketing, and financial matters
Interpersonal communication skills
Ability to identify best practices in field and apply knowledge to realistic situations