Learning and Development Plan for Supply Chain Manager in Retail Industry

Running head: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Professional Development and Ethics
[Learning & Development Plan]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Table of Contents
1. Self-introduction..........................................................................................................................2
2. Mega trends and challenges.........................................................................................................3
3. Goals............................................................................................................................................9
4. Ethics and Professional Values..................................................................................................12
5. Competency Assessment...........................................................................................................13
5.1 Improvements..........................................................................................................................16
6. Strength and weakness analysis.................................................................................................17
Strengths........................................................................................................................................17
Weaknesses....................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................19
Appendices....................................................................................................................................23
1. Competency Assessment.......................................................................................................23
2. Two advertisements and two job descriptions.......................................................................25
Advertisement 1.....................................................................................................................25
Advertisement 2.....................................................................................................................27

2LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
1. Self-introduction
A structured and systematic professional development plan is necessary to build up a
progressive career in irrespective of the industries (Kennedy, 2016). In a likewise manner, I am
also needed to groom my career in such a way that the required competency skills remain
untouched for me. In this regard, APIC’s chart of professional competencies can be extremely
helpful in building up my career as an effective supply chain manager.
I am currently pursuing a bachelor in management. In the future, I am intended to have an
association membership with professional bodies such as APICS. Additionally, I could also go
for professional competency-based certification courses that include, but not limited to, Certified
Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) from APICS, the Association for Operations Management.
My goals by being at the current position is to attain the different set of skills specifically
being classified as ‘Occupation-Related Competencies’, ‘Foundational Competencies’ and
‘Profession-Related Competencies’. I have already mentioned the ‘occupation-based
competencies’ which I am intended to achieve. In regards to basic or foundational competencies,
I am determined to attain the skills that include ‘Effective Communication’, ‘Creativity’,
‘Problem-solving & decision making', ‘Teamwork' and ‘Conflict Management’. In context to
professional competencies, my list of goals include ‘Strategy making capabilities’, ‘Execution &
planning of implementation’, ‘Supply chain management’, ‘Lean management’, ‘Warehouse
management’, ‘Logistics management’, ‘Risk management’ and ‘Business ethics management’.
Being a student of bachelor in management, I am always into learning about the various
useful elements. The study modules are being designed in a way to cover both fundamentals of
business management as well as the practical case examples. I personally find this both

3LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
interactive and engaging as well. Fundamentals-based modules help me to understand the way to
deal with tricky situation based on the proven strategies such as the use of appropriate business
models. On the other hand, practical case studies assist me to figure out the strategy making of
different firms in different situations. Moreover, it allows me to understand how business
fundamentals can be used or applied in real situations. Such things will definitely be a good
future guide for me at a time when I will become a supply chain manager.
2. Mega trends and challenges
Macro-Element Explanation Reference
Political 1. The trade policies and
government
regulations keep on
changing. Such
political instability is a
challenging situation
for the manufacturers
in terms of keeping the
operational costs at the
competitive level and
also maintaining the
highest standard of
quality (Handley &
Limao, 2015).
1. Handley, K., & Limao, N.
(2015). Trade and investment
under policy uncertainty: theory
and firm evidence. American
Economic Journal: Economic
Policy, 7(4), 189-222.
2. Ziv, G., Watson, E., Young,
D., Howard, D. C., Larcom, S.
T., & Tanentzap, A. J. (2018).
The potential impact of Brexit on
the energy, water and food nexus
in the UK: A fuzzy cognitive
mapping approach. Applied
Energy, 210, 487-498.

4LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
2. Cataclysmic events are
the threats to business
environment. For
example, the United
Kingdom separation
from the European
Union is expected to
affect the business
environments both in
the UK and the Europe
(Ziv et al., 2018).
Economic 1. The world of
manufacturing is
heading to the fourth
industrial revolution
which will require both
the investments and
the knowledge
management. An
economic downturn in
one region can limit its
manufacturers’
capability to take the
1. Rollins, M., Nickell, D., &
Ennis, J. (2014). The impact of
economic downturns on
marketing. Journal of Business
Research, 67(1), 2727-2731.
2. Llopis, J. A. S., Millán, J. M.,
Baptista, R., Burke, A., Parker, S.
C., & Thurik, R. (2015). Good
times, bad times:
entrepreneurship and the business
cycle. International
Entrepreneurship and
Management Journal, 11(2),

5LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
advantage from
(Rollins, Nickell &
Ennis, 2014).
2. Economic instability
can also affect the
consumers’ buying
behavior (Llopis et al.,
2015).
243-251.
Social 1. An unstable consumer
behavior can cause
over-stocking if the
manufacturer is not
equipped with skills to
make the effective
demand-forecasts
(Zhang, 2015).
2. Manufacturers face the
challenge in offering
quality products at the
competitive prices
(Plewa et al., 2015).
1. Zhang, Y. (2015). The impact
of brand image on consumer
behavior: a literature
review. Open journal of business
and management, 3(1).
2. Plewa, C., Conduit, J.,
Quester, P. G., & Johnson, C.
(2015). The impact of corporate
volunteering on CSR image: A
consumer perspective. Journal of
Business Ethics, 127(3), 643-659.
Technology 1. Emerging technologies
like ‘Big Data’, IoT,
1. Brettel, M., Friederichsen, N.,
Keller, M., & Rosenberg, M.
(2014). How virtualization,