This is web page for the Module on Operations Management. In it we will explore the basic tools to understand operational systems found in any department in any company. We will define and analyse the operational variables and link them to the effects on the company's overall performance. Since you will have the opportunity to take other courses in the DIMP curriculum (compulsary and optional) we will mainly focus on the basics of operational systems. You are encouraged to explore the related links and bibliography.

Operations management is about the way organizations produce goods and services. Everything you wear, eat, sit on, use, read or knock about on the sports field comes to you courtesy of the operations managers who organized its production. Every book you borrow from the library, every treatment you receive at the hospital, every service you expect in the shops and every lecture you attend at university - all have been produced.

Slack et al, Operations Management, Pitman London 1995

General course description

Course Objectives:

To provide participants with the basic set of tools in Operations Management to

• Understand how operating systems work in manufacturing and services
• Know how to drive the system using the available levers
• Manage improvement efforts

Pedagogical techniques:

We will use lectures, case studies, exercises and simulations.

Literature:

Case materials and supporting articles

Assessment:

Notes:

• The quiz is scheduled at the begining of the next module.
• The take-home assignment will ask you to apply [some of] the topics learnt during the module to your daily job. Since the topics of the module cover both manufacturing and services, you should have no difficulty in finding many opportunities to apply them. The following section can help you in preparing for this report.

Assignment:

I expect you to revise all the topics covered in the course and think how each of them can be applicable to your job or company. Then identify a problem your company or department may have that is related to some of the concepts discussed during the course. Apply the quality improvement cycle to solve the problem or improve the situation. In doing so, you should use the concepts in the course. Make sure you do not skip any step in the process. Finally, prepare a short report (4-6 pages) in MS Word or Powerpoint that includes: ·

1. Description of the situation where you did apply the concepts.
2. Explanation of why you thought OM concepts were useful in this situation.
3. Application. In this section you explain how you applied the Quality Improvement Cycle to the problem. This should include the analysis of current situation, objective setting, finding the root causes, generating a list of countermeasures, ....
4. Describe the results obtained.
5. Conclusions.

It is better to select a topic and a situation where you can really apply the concepts, even if this is a particular case in the office or at home.

This part will be graded taking into account:

• the innovation of the topic selected (e.g., you will get better grades if you surprise me with your creativity in applying OM concepts to your job).
• the relevance of the situation selected,
• the suitability of the approach to improve the situation,
• the process of implementing the solution.