Graduate students in Daniels Business School’s supply chain management program put theory into practice

About this series: This story is part of an ongoing Purdue Today series highlighting programs ranked in the Top 10 or Top 10th percentile among our peers nationally, demonstrating the university’s persistent pursuit of excellence, innovation and transformative learning.

Learning by doing. It’s at the core of Purdue University’s reimagined Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business. When the academic experience switches from passive to active, the resulting product is an agile, critical-thinking student capable of seeing and tackling the world’s biggest problems.

Take, for example, Stella Peng, who is in her final semester in Purdue’s Master of Science in Global Supply Chain Management program, which also includes production and operations management areas of study.

Peng is one of several students who worked on a project for Wyze, a Seattle company specializing in smart home products and wireless cameras. The student consultants were asked to analyze Wyze’s expansion into the Canadian market and its use of an existing third-party logistics provider for warehousing and fulfillment services.

“We focused on identifying key metrics for third-party providers, including fulfillment cost per order and unit weight, to establish a clear business case for transitioning to a new partner,” Peng says. “After analyzing the cost structures, we determined that Wyze could achieve significant cost savings of approximately 45% by switching to a new partner.”

Projects through the Daniels School of Business’s long-recognized top graduate programs are giving Purdue students like Peng the hands-on opportunities to learn and grow under real-world conditions, preparing them to lead in an evolving business climate. 

The latest survey released Tuesday (April 25) by U.S. News & World Report of the nation’s top graduate programs shows the Daniels School of Business continues its advance in areas of strategic importance to Purdue — production operations ranked third, project management was seventh and supply chain management was ninth. And business analytics, one of the fastest-growing programs at Purdue and nationally, now ranks 12th.

“The Wyze project allowed me to put classroom theories into practice and broadened my perspective on the U.S. business environment as an international student. Working with a company gave me valuable insight into the American consumer market and an understanding of cultural differences in business practices,” Peng says.

“In addition, working on the project has helped me become more confident in my ability to tackle complex business challenges and has allowed me to work with a team of professionals. This has significantly boosted my professional development and given me valuable experience that I can take with me as I move forward in my career.”

Amy David, clinical associate professor of management in the Daniels School of Business. Download image

Amy David, a clinical associate professor of management, oversaw the Wyze student project. She says the goal of the Daniels School’s graduate production and operations management program is to provide real-world situations.

“The number one thing that students have to deal with is ambiguity,” David says. “In case studies, students typically have all the information they need ahead of time. Here, they have to make decisions with the information they have, and they have to meet client needs in the process.”

In addition to class projects, students have consulting opportunities through the Dauch Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises and the Global Supply Chain Management Initiative. The projects provide the added benefits of building a network and giving students the opportunity to audition for potential employers.

Consulting projects, internships and study abroad opportunities help students expand the horizons of the classroom. 

“The experience has been instrumental in helping me plan my career path. It’s provided me with real-world exposure to the business environment in which I plan to work,” says Peng, who has a job waiting for her after she graduates in May as a strategic sourcing manager for Aristocrat Gaming in Las Vegas. 

Writer: Tim Newton, tnewton@purdue.edu