The course consists of

• a kick-off session,

• four sessions about research tools and methodologies,

• a written seminar paper to be submitted

• and two presentations to be held in class,
  namely a proposal / research plan and a final presentation.

In the kick-off session, topics for seminar papers are assigned which are either more practice-or more theory-oriented. Practice-oriented topics include applied research solving an actual problem in collaboration with an outside project partner (like a theory-based consultancy project), whereas in more theory-oriented topics, the research process aims to deriver recommendations from theory for practice.

Upon the completion of the course students should be able to:

• Identify and discuss a relevant and non-trivial theory or practice based problem in the field of transport / logistics / supply chain management.
• Develop and discuss an appropriate research design, methodology and method for solving this problem
• Analyse real-life primary or secondary data with a theoretical framework developed and discussed
• Critically evaluate results (especially in terms of validity and reliability)
• Develop an action plan for a theory-based consultancy project and reflect on implementation issues.
  Alternatively, generate recommendations for practice when the seminar paper is more theory-oriented.
• Manage the project work and external relationships with outside project partners in a professional way.

Attendance requirement is met if a student is present for at least 80% of the lectures.

• Lectures about research methods and methodology
  
• Seminar work: setting up a research plan, writing a seminar paper and present it in the final presentation session.

The final grade of the course will depend on i) the quality of the research plan, ii) the quality of the seminar paper, iii) presentations, iv) assignments during the course. 

Grading scale:

• - Excellent (1): 90% - 100.0%
  - Good (2): 80% - <90%
  - Satisfactory (3): 70% - <80%
  - Sufficient (4): 60.0% - <70%
  - Fail (5): <60.0%

Total max. 100 points (max. 30 points individual assignments / 15 per session, max. 40 points seminar paper, max. 10 points presentation of proposal /  research plan, max. 10 points final presentation, max. 10 points participation in discussion)

Prerequisite SCM students:

• "Operations Research (OR)" (formal requirement of curriculum)
• Successful completion of “Logistics Management” and “Global Supply Chain Design"

Incoming students (exchange programs):

• studying a specifically supply chain related program
• min. 10 ECTS credits in logistics management and/or global supply chain management
• min. 5 ECTS credits in operations research