The Fresh Connection: Cross-Functional Integration in Supply Chain Management

The Fresh Connection (TFC) is a supply chain management game in which four participants take up a role in a new management team for a (virtual) company that is making a loss. This chapter discusses how this game can be used for experiential learning of various aspects of supply chain management. It focuses on the role of the game in education and in research. Most notably the game permits exposure to a wide range of integrated decision-making contexts discussed in the extant literature, and augments this learning through group processes. This permits the formal consideration of group dynamics, and the complex interaction of individual psychological and sociological factors.