MGO 439LEC—Sustainable Operations Management

Many companies are actively pursuing strategies to reduce their impact on the environment. Such strategies cannot focus only on the individual organization, but should encompass suppliers, supply networks, inbound logistics, distribution systems involving outbound logistics activities of warehousing and transportation, in addition to reverse logistics operations such as collection and recovery operations, third party service providers and consumers. In this course, we will focus on the environmental impact of business operations, by taking a cradle-to-cradle approach that includes raw material acquisition through manufacturing, use, end-of-life disposal (reuse/recycling/remanufacturing). The topics covered include tools and techniques needed to quantify environmental impact in supply chains such as life cycle assessment and carbon footprinting, environmental legislation, design for the environment, recycling and remanufacturing, energy efficiency, eco-certification, responsible sourcing, and managing supply of renewable resources. The formulation of business and supply chain strategies that lead to actionable, proactive agenda for sustainability that not only ensures profitability for the firm but also social and environmental responsibility will be the central theme of this course. Dual-listed with MGO 639.