For your LSM 602 Course Research Paper, you are to write a research paper on Supply Chain/Logistics Innovations during the COVID-19 Crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chains around the world were faced with unprecedented challenges: seismic shifts in customer demand, possible reconfiguration of manufacturing and distribution strategies to shift to medical supply production, production and shipping challenges due to quarantines/employee health/social distancing, supply shortages, vaccine distribution strategies, etc. You name it, a supply chain faced it! Even the field of humanitarian logistics was tested to the limit.
In this paper, research supply chain/logistics innovations that were developed during this period – either just for the pandemic response or lasting changes to production and distribution. You are encouraged to focus in on one aspect of a supply chain, or one industry, particularly as it relates to physical distribution innovations. See the list above for ideas.
Research paper requirements:
The research paper should be written in APA student paper format. See Link to APA Sample Student Paper for an example of a student paper written in this format.
Your APA-formatted paper should include:
Title page
Minimum of 6 double-spaced pages for the primary content of the paper [with in-text citations where appropriate], excluding title page and references.
Body of paper divided into major sections and sub-sections as appropriate, with appropriate APA-formatted headers.
In-text citations included within body of paper for direct quotations and material cited from sources. See sample paper for examples.
References section at the end.
Consult the Purdue Owl APA Formatting and Style Guide for APA formatting instructions related to the required paper content mentioned above, as well as examples of each.
Link to Purdue Owl site: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
The paper should contain a minimum of 6 scholarly references published since 2019. Since the pandemic is recent and the window of publication is short, both peer-reviewed, scholarly academic sources and reputable journalistic sources will be acceptable. Sources that meet this criteria:
Written by researchers in the field of study or professional journalists
Peer-reviewed publications preferred
Trade publications are acceptable [ex., Supply Chain Quarterly, Logistics Management, Inbound Logistics, etc.]
Not an editorial or blog within a trade publication
Not an article published on a vendor website [ex., software or equipment manufacturer]
See the link on Evaluating Sources within the MS-GLSCM libguide for selecting appropriate references for your research.
The MS-GLSCM and LSM libguides also provide a list of scholarly SCM and logistics journals to which we subscribe. Your search source may be quicker if you go through the recent editions of these particular publications.
Link: http://libguides.athens.edu/c.php?g=384344&p=4233816
You may also use reputable journalistic sources [Wall Street Journal, The Economist, etc.] to inform your topic.
Click on the Library navigation button within the Blackboard course shell for access to library resources and helpful research tips.
Contact our Embedded Librarian for this course for one-on-one assistance. [Click on the Embedded Librarian navigation button in this course for contact information].
It is recommended that you work with the Writing Center if you need assistance with structuring your paper in APA format. See the Writing Center navigation button on the left side of your Blackboard scsreen.
General Information:
The Course Research paper serves as your final exam for this course and is worth 270 points [27% of your course grade].
This assignment will be graded with the Research Paper grading rubric, which can be found within the assignment itself [in Module 15]. Please read through it before submitting your work – it provides valuable guidance on the required components of the paper. Your paper will also be checked for plagiarism via SafeAssign. Review your SafeAssign score after submission, and if your score exceeds 20%, improve your paraphrasing of sourced material and submit again. The paper should be submitted as a Word or .pdf document.
