Operations Management

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• how Operations contributes to wider aspects of firms’ capabilities and Competencies;
• the importance of operational paradigms and how they are integrated together in managing operations including TQM BPR and Lean and Agile operations;
• the various tools of operations management;
• the role of operations management both at a strategic level and for the effective production of goods and services;
• the behavioural aspects of managing operations;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• effectively communicate through the written word;
• problem solve;

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• develop insights into the competencies required to become an effective manager in TQM or operations.
• critically evaluate a variety of theories and concepts relating to supply chain management;

Session 1: Introduction; Strategic Operations Management.

Session 2: Services Operations - concepts, definitions and quality.

Session 3: Process Choice & Strategy in Manufacturing & Services.

Session 4: Managing Materials & Inventory; MRPI; MRPII; ERP and Just-in-Time.

Teaching and learning methods

The sessions will consist of lectures, case studies and discussions. The module is supported with assigned reading and practice example sheets. Formative feedback will be provided throughout the class discussions and interactive parts of the lectures.

The module will be international in content and scope. For example, the Mattel Case (A & B) focuses on outsourcing but in doing so this deals with internationalisation processes from America to China. This in turn allows us to explore potential opportunities and problems with outsourcing and gets to the core question including:

1. Why did Mattel outsource to China?

2. How should Mattel have prepared for such international outsourcing?

3. What went wrong?

4. What would you suggest could be done to improve the situation now?

Similarly, class discussions on operations strategy, services, process choice and inventory will deal with international dimensions of operations. For example, a firm may have something designed in Taiwan; then have the product manufactured in China; at the same time logistics are being undertaken by Amazon; marketing and finance functions may, or may not, be undertaken locally. This common scenario leads us to think about the complexities of doing business in the 21st Century where globalisation is a common – and often a necessary – feature of day to day business.

Resources & Reading list

Journal Articles

Matthias, O., & Brown, S. (2016). Implementing operations strategy through Lean processes within health care: The example of NHS in the UK. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 36(11), pp. 1435-1457.

Pisano, G. and Willy, C. Shih (2009). Restoring American Competitiveness. Harvard Business Review, pp. 114-25.

Baines, T., Bigdeli, A., F. Bustinza, O., Shi, V. G., Baldwin, J., & Ridgeway, K. (2017). Servitization: revisiting the state-of-the-art and research priorities. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 37(2), pp. 256-278.

Davenport, Thomas H (2013). Analytics 3.0. Harvard Business Review, 91(12), pp. 64-72.

Adner, Ron (2016). Many Companies Still Don't Know How to Compete in the Digital Age. Harvard Business Review, pp. p2-6.

Brown, S. and Blackmon, K. (2005). Aligning Manufacturing Strategy and Business- Level Competitive Strategy in New Competitive Environments: The Case for Strategic Resonance. Journal of Management Studies, 42(4), pp. 793-815.

Berman, B. (2002). ’Should Your Firm Adopt A Mass Customization Strategy?. Business Horizons, pp. 51-60.

Textbooks

Slack et al (2016). Operations Management. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall.

Brown, Bessant and Jia (2018). Strategic Operations Management. Routledge.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External