The course focuses on how the concept of supply chain management and logistics is based on the idea that every product that reaches an end user represents the combined effort of multiple organisations which make up the supply chain and that until recently, most organisations paid attention to only what was happening within their own business. Few organisations understood, much less managed, the entire chain of activities that ultimately delivered products to the final customer. This resulted in ineffective supply chains.

Supply chain activities cover everything from product development, sourcing, production and logistics, to the information systems needed to coordinate these activities.

Learners will discover that the organisations that make up the supply chain are "linked" through physical and information flows. Physical flows involve the transformation, movement and storage of goods and materials and are the most visible piece of the supply chain. Of equal importance are information flows as they allow the various supply chain partners to coordinate their long-term plans and control the day-to-day flow of goods and materials up and down the supply chain.