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MSc in Economics and Business Administration - Supply Chain Management
About the programme
By taking a “supply chain” rather than “firm” perspective, the SCM programme enables future managers to consider the consequences of decision making, from raw material extraction, production, wholesale, retailing to final consumption. Companies like Apple, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, Novo Nordisk, Lego, and Maersk have built their business models on this notion.
Leading companies have increasingly focused on their core activities and outsourced non-core activities to contract manufacturers or other types of suppliers. They have become experts, internally by tearing down the functional silos that separated finance, procurement, production, marketing, logistics and sales, and externally by orchestrating end-to-end value creation. This is what supply chain management is about.
Designing supply chains and building networks
Typical strategic decisions that are covered in this programme link to long-term decisions regarding the structure and configuration of the supply chain with day-to-day operations. This includes decision regarding resource allocation and process design as well as functional decision making in procurement (e.g. outsourcing vs. in-house production), logistics (e.g. capacities of warehouses), production (e.g. locations of plants) or IT (e.g. choice of information systems) and how to coordinate these decisions.Students will also learn how to find the right “fit” between an organization’s competitive strategy, its domestic and international operations (e.g. tradeoff between quality, speed, flexibility, dependability, innovation, and cost efficiency), and the supply chain strategy (e.g. efficiency, responsiveness, sustainability, and resilience) and how this leads to an implementation in business practice.
Furthermore, students will learn about the importance of building collaborative relationships internally in the organization and externally by coordinating decisions with other players in the supply chain. This ensures that value creation is coordinated across the end-to-end network the organization is embedded in. Ultimately, students are enabled to drive and maintain the brand, value and ultimately the overall profitability and success of an organization.
Techniques for decision making
You will acquire up-to-date techniques and skills that go into the successful planning and control of global value creation. The SCM programme has a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches for problem solving. This will provide detailed knowledge about the processes behind the flow of goods, materials, information or finances, from the moment a customer order triggers the chain of suppliers and until the product reaches the end users. Your knowledge of concepts, theories and models enables you to analyze data and evaluate the effect of changes in a given supply chain. Combining the knowledge and skills you build up allows you to effectively integrate finance, procurement, production, marketing, logistics and sales within and between organizations. The ability to match demand and supply and to have the right product at the right time in the right place is central to the programme, and essential for the profitability of an organization.
You will attain problem solving skills to manage a wide range of supply chain issues such as data driven operations in business analytics, decisions and models for supply chain configuration, social skills, international operations, and performance management in supply chains and networks. Throughout the program, you will have opportunities to work with real-world issues with companies. To boost career opportunities, the SCM programme hosts a specialized Career Day targeted for SCM students.
Customise your programme
During the programme, you have various opportunities to create your own academic profile.
Electives
On the 3rd semester, you can choose to study courses of your specific interest. CBS offers a large number of electives within a wide range of topics. You can also choose to take electives at other Danish universities. The electives you choose have to be relevant for your programme.
See the current selection of CBS electives on Single courses and electives - Master
Minor
On the 3rd semester, you can also choose to study a so-called minor. A minor is a package of electives within a specific academic area. Typically, it consists of 3 courses. By taking a minor, you strengthen your competences within a specific area of interest, and you can use it to qualify for specific jobs or industries.
See the current selection of CBS electives on Minors - Master
Exchange
Many students choose to go on exchange on their 3rd semester; usually at one of CBS’ more than 300 partner universities. When you go on exchange through CBS, you do not have to pay for the teaching at the foreign university (with a few exceptions), and you can bring your SU (student grant).
Find a list of all CBS partner universities here
CEMS - Master in International Management programme
On Supply Chain Management, you can apply for the CEMS - Master in International Management programme. CEMS MIM is a double degree programme, which gives you the opportunity to add a second degree in international management to your CBS degree. This means that you will get both the MSc degree and the CEMS in International Management degree.
CEMS is a 1-year programme, which you study in combination with your CBS degree in your 3rd and 4th semester. Part of it takes place at one of the other CEMS universities abroad.
Learn more about CEMS / Master in International Management
Master's thesis
Your 2nd year is completed with a master's thesis. You choose the topic you want to write about, which allows you to focus on a specific topic of your interest. Typically, you write your master's thesis with a fellow student.
What to consider
The programme does not have a strong math profile. If you prefer a strong focus on math, you may find it difficult constantly making conceptual analyses, oral presentations and written reports. A collaborative and international mindset plus social skills are an advantage.
To international students there are generally two challenges; the first is the oral exams that many international students are not used to. The other is the Scandinavian way of studying which encourages students to be independent, and take initiative beyond teachers' explicit directions.
Studying in English
If you do not have bachelor’s degree taught in English, we recommend that you read more about what to consider before applying for an English taught programme.
Study environment
The programme is relatively small, which means it is easy to get to know each other and there is a close dialogue with teachers. Roughly a third of the students are international.
SCM organises events and study trips, and ensures that students get a touch of real life.
Student life at CBS
Studying at CBS is much more than just preparing for and going to classes.
At CBS, there are more than 23,000 students with different backgrounds and nationalities. Teamwork is an essential part of studying at CBS both in classes and in extracurricular activities.
With more than 100 student organisations, you also have plenty of opportunities to engage and connect with students across programmes and classes.
Learn more about the vibrant student life at CBS, the student organisations, and the international environment on Student life
For internationals
If you are an international student, we have gathered a lot of information about what it is like to be an international student at CBS and how you can prepare for life in Denmark.
Read more on For internationals
Teaching and exams
Teaching
The SCM has a high degree of student involvement in part because it is a small and tight-knit group. You will have student presentations, exercises, class discussions, lectures and real life cases.
The SCM highly recommends that students group up with different people on projects to learn from each other’s strengths and knowledge – group work is good practice for the inter-organisational, intercultural and interpersonal skills you will need to manage your future supply chain networks.
Read more about Teaching and working methods on Student life
Exams
This programme has a mix of exam types, such as 24 hour take-home assignments, four hours written exam, projects with oral defence.
Read more about Exams and exams types on Student life
Time consumption
You should know that it is demanding to study in a graduate programme, and both the curriculum and workload is significantly higher than at bachelor level.
If you are studying on a full-time graduate programme, you should expect spending approximately 37 hours on average on your studies each week. The workload will vary during the year.
The time leading up to assignment submissions and exams can be hectic, and you can easily work more than 40 hours a week in this period. Preparing for oral exams can be especially time consuming, because you have to be able to explain and discuss the covered concepts and theories and learn things by heart.
Read more about Time consumption on Student Life
Student job
Most programmes are quite flexible in terms of combining studies with a student job. Most students work a maximum of 15 hours a week in order to have sufficient time for their studies.
Studying in Denmark - for internationals
If this is your first time studying in Denmark, you may find teaching and exam formats, the grading scale and the academic calendar very different from what you are used to.
Read about everything you need to know as an international student studying at CBS on For internationals > Academic information
Career
What gets you the job?
A good selling point is mastering the fundamentals of supply chain management. This means that you can fill a broad variety of positions. Your understanding of global supply chains means that you can enter any link in a supply chain and design, manage and optimize it. You have both ready-to-use knowledge, specialized knowledge and strategic understanding, which is a rare combination for a specialist graduate.
The essence of your study program is to take a “supply chain” in addition to “firm” perspective. Therefore you are enabled to consider the consequences of decision making all the way between raw material extraction, production, wholesale, retail, and final consumption. Supply chain managers are experts in tearing down the functional silos that separated finance, procurement, production, marketing, logistics and sales, and in orchestrating end-to-end value creation. This is what supply chain management is about.
Career opportunities
Supply chain management is currently undergoing a massive shift. It used to be a collection of jobs related to procurement and logistics. But these functions are consolidated by many companies within high-level leadership. Indeed, companies like Apple, General Motors, Intel and Lego have pushed supply chain positions up the executive ladder, e.g. by establishing Chief Supply Chain Officers roles or promoting a supply chain manager as CEO. In the light of emerging technological trends such as machine learning, additive manufacturing and process automation, supply chain management is about to play an increasingly important role in today’s changing business environment. The service economy, circular economy and digitalization make the role of supply chain managers even more strategic. The supply chain management programme will meet such developments by relating them to economic, ecological and social context. Don’t miss the chance and become part of the supply chain journey!
Many graduates work as analysts in corporations or consultancies, work with the strategic elements of supply chain management or process integration and optimization. Other rewarding jobs in SCM are related to logistics, sales, IT, humanitarian operations, among others. This could also entail developing new service solutions and business models, or working with corporate social responsibility (CSR) to improve the sustainability of supply chains.
Purchasing and procurement are also exciting jobs. Your responsibilities could include, for instance, strengthening relationships, obtaining the best combination of quality and price, searching for and managing strategic suppliers, or analyzing supplier markets. You could also become a key account manager to secure effective customer services, or work with logistics in scheduling, inventory control, or finding out effective ways of reaching the customer on time.
No matter which practical task you handle, you have the overall understanding of the processes and can point out when there is a better way of doing things.
Competence profile
In the academic profile you can find more information about the various competences you achieve on the programme:
Corporate part-time master programme (Erhvervskandidat)
Supply Chain Management is also offered as a part-time master programme (erhvervskandidat). The part-time programme is a 4 year programme with 8 semesters of each 15 ECTS per semester. This allows you to have more time to work besides your studies.
To qualifiy for the part time programme you must meet the same entry requirements as the full-time programme, AND have relevant employment, and work a minimum of 25 hours a week.
You can find more information about the part time programme here.
Course overview
| 1st semester | 2nd semester | 3rd semester | 4th semester |
| Supply Chain Operations and Strategy (7,5 ECTS) |
Global Operations and Supply Chain Management (7,5 ECTS) |
Electives / Exchange / CEMS (30 ECTS)
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| Supply Chain Configuration - Decisions and Models (7,5 ECTS) |
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| Performance Management in Operations (7,5 ECTS) |
Business Analytics - Data Driven Operations (7,5 ECTS) |
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| Global Financial Analysis (7,5 ECTS) |
Supply Chain Business Project (7,5 ECTS) |
You can read more about the programme, academic content and exams in the programme regulations for Supply Chain Management.