School of Management, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
MN50410 Operations strategy |
| Credits: 3 |
| Level: Masters |
| Modular: no specific semester |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: CW 100% |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: This course is designed to explore the linkages between the operations function (or more broadly its operational activities) and a company's corporate strategy. Increasingly companies in world markets are competing through their operations, and to be able to do this their operations strategies must both support other functional strategies within the company and provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Building on the MOP course, the main objectives of the OS course are:
1. To introduce the concepts of operations strategy to show how operations can contribute to the competitiveness of the business (or, more generally, help the organization fulfill its strategic objectives in not-for-profit enterprises). 2. To show the linkages between functional strategies and explore the connection between operations and corporate strategy. 3. To examine the individual elements of an operations strategy. 4. Through the use of case examples to provide the opportunity to develop appropriate analytical skills. 5. To provide an overall framework for developing and implementing operations strategies. Learning Outcomes: On completion of this module, participants will be able to: * Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge and understanding of key OS process (e.g. formulation processes) and content (e.g. capacity strategy). * Understand how to relate these ideas to implementation and leadership concepts. * Develop the notion of OS in their own organizations. * Analyze problems and issues associated with OS. Skills: Academic/Intellectual Skills (T, F, A) * systematic understanding of the more advanced notion of operations strategy - and its links to core course content such as operations management, marketing management, etc. This will provide both a functional toolbox and another 'lens' on organizational behaviour. * increased awareness of, and critical understanding of, theoretical constructs and practical models developed in response to current operations strategy challenges (e.g. globalization, climate change) * enhanced ability to move back and fore between theoretical and practical perspectives. Professional Practical Skills (T, F, A) * ability to analyze live operational issues in service and manufacturing, and for-profit and not-for profit, environments; * recognition of the personal ingredients necessary to operate more effectively as a reflective practitioner: including team-based and (operational) leadership roles. Transferable/Personal/Interpersonal Skills (T, F, A) * ability to manage and work in international teams with an increased awareness of issues such as culture, gender, etc.; * facility to communicate including presenting and marketing themselves and their ideas; specifically for the OS module this includes preparation and production of effective analytical reports that articulate meaningful improvement options. Content: The Managing Operational Processes (MOP) module is focused on the real-time challenge of reconciling operational resources with customer (and other stakeholder) requirements. The content of the proposed 2.5 day Operations Strategy (OS) module can be distinguished from the core MBA course using three principal dimensions: Timescale MOP is largely concerned with short to medium timescales (noting that what constitutes short or medium varies for different industries). A typical decision in a food factory would be, "What demand fluctuations do we have to deal with over the next few months?" Operations strategy is concerned with the longer term. A typical decision: "When should we plan to add further capacity so that we can meet rising forecast demand?" Level of analysis MOP is concerned with managing resources within and between micro operations (departments, work units, etc.) A typical decision might be, "Where should we position each product category within our department store?" The boundaries of the decision are the walls of one storre (in this case), while the 'building blocks' of the decisions are the units or departments. Operations strategy is concerned with decisions affecting a wider set of the organisation's resources. Typical decisions would be, "How many stores should we have, where should we locate them and how should we supply them?" Here the 'building blocks' of the decision are whole stores and the transportation network that supplies them. Level of aggregation MOP is concerned with the details of how products and services are produced. Individual sets of resources are treated separately, as the component parts of the operation. A typical decision for a firm of accountants might be, "How do we provide tax advice to the small business sector in Antwerp?" To answer the question individual human skills, specific technology capabilities and separate physical locations must be considered. Operations strategy, on the other hand, brings together and consolidates such details into broader issues. Typical question: "What is our overall business advice capability compared with our other European activities?" Here we are concerned with a general capability to provide a broad category of service within a wider geographic area. |