Op‐Ed Writing Assignment in Supply Chain Management Courses

Hee Yoon Kwon,Yufeng Lin,Adolf K.Y Ng,Jiayuan Zhang,Koray Özpolat

doi:10.1111/dsji.12225

Abstract

ABSTRACTNewspaper op‐eds, dedicated to commentary essays from outside of a newspaper, function as a platform for the public to exchange opinions. We designed an op‐ed writing assignment as part of a semester‐long course project in global supply chain management (SCM). Student teams conducted research on a SCM topic, presented their findings in the classroom, and wrote an op‐ed for submission to a local or regional newspaper. This teaching brief describes the implementation of this assignment at a northeast U.S. university. The goals of this assignment were: (1) to educate students on how to write an op‐ed and (2) to educate students on how to publish their opinion articles. Insights on the benefits and challenges that students experienced from completing the op‐ed assignment are discussed. A description of a case‐based version of the op‐ed writing assignment used in a Canadian university is also provided.

Highlights

The “deepest responsibility” of the newspaper, Oakes wrote, was “the same responsibility ... that the college has for its students – the responsibility of making them think.” a fundamental purpose of the editorial page was “to question, to debunk.” “Diversity of opinion is the lifeblood of democracy,” Oakes contended in a 1954 speech
We demonstrate a case of integrating op-ed writing to upper division supply chain management (SCM) courses at a northeast U.S university
We demonstrate an alternative implementation of the op-ed writing assignment with a different approach for the topics

Summary

Introduction

The “deepest responsibility” of the newspaper, Oakes wrote, was “the same responsibility ... that the college has for its students – the responsibility of making them think.” a fundamental purpose of the editorial page was “to question, to debunk.” “Diversity of opinion is the lifeblood of democracy,” Oakes contended in a 1954 speech. The “deepest responsibility” of the newspaper, Oakes wrote, was “the same responsibility ... Oakes (N.Y. Times editorials editor that created the op-ed page), Requoted from Socolow (2010) The outside commentary page of a newspaper, commonly referred to as op-eds for being on the “opposite of editorial page”, publish opinion essays on various topics, even if the opinion is not aligned with the newspaper’s own. Op-eds in newspapers, function as “a forum for the exchange and clash of ideas...covering a whole broad range of intellectual interests” The op-ed page offers greater opportunity for expressing one’s opinions and ideas to writers and thinkers who have no institutional connection with the media, even if their opinions are contrary to the editorial team’s views (The New York Times, September 21, 1970, p.42)

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Conclusion