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Spring semester - BA - Mktg - Year 2 Calendar view

Business operations (20-21)


Class
Ramon Garcia
Enrolment for this class is currently closed.

Business Operations for BA International Business Students.

Operations management is at the heart of the creation of wealth for business, it is responsible for the production of services and products in an ethical and environmentally responsible way while catching up with an evolving market.
The Business Operations module is designed to help you to develop the understanding and knowledge of modern international business operations.

Along the sessions, all different aspects of modern business operations will be reviewed with you, including state-of-the-art methods for capacity planning, supply chain management and lean manufacturing. You will learn the importance of organised operation and planning for the success of any business and the most common and successful strategies followed by companies and entrepreneurs. For this sake, an important part of the module will be devoted to case studies, promoting teamwork and analytical discussion among the students.

Module summary content and aims

 

This module will run throughout the semester (14 weeks) and it aims to: 

  • Open your mind to the world of business operations. 
  • Unveil the power of effectively driving business in its core
  • Making ideas (products) come true and bring them on-time to the customer. 
  • Explain why operations are a key topic, being at the heart of the creation of wealth for business and – at the end- the society. 


Upon completion of this module, the participants will develop the capability to analyse problems and support managerial decisions. Along this module, as in any real business, team work will be an essential tool for your success.

 

The module will cover following key areas of knowledge:

  • Introduction to operations management as competitive advantage
  • Process strategy and analysis
  • Capacity planning
  • Total Quality
  • Lean Manufacturing
  • Forecasting 

 

The structure of the course and organisation of the lectures is scheduled following a logical path that will bring you from the general concepts and needs of basic business operations to the most practical issues.

 

Discussions in the class will be guided to promote analytical thinking and team work spirit.

 

 

Learning outcomes to be assessed

 

At the end of the module the students will be able to:

  • LO-1. Understand and examine operation models and strategies
  • LO-2. Apply effectively basic tools of capacity planning 
  • LO-3. Select successful strategies for creating and maintaining an efficient supply chain
  • LO-4. Use simple methods for forecasting

 

Indicative contact hours

Teaching Contact Hours 

56 hours

Independent Study Hours

144 hours

Total Learning Hours 

200 hours

 

 

Summative assessment grid

Type of Assessment

Word Count or equivalent

Threshold

(if Professional Body-PSRB applies)

Weighting

Pass Mark

Submission due-date & time

Method of Submission & Date of Feedback 

In-class exercise (1)

10 multiple choice questions

N/A

10%

40

Week 4 (date and time TBC)

Via MIUC LMS & 5 working days after in-class exercises

In-class exercise (2)

10 multiple choice questions

N/A

10%

40

Week 7 (date and time TBC)

Via MIUC LMS & 5 working days after in-class exercises

In-class exercise (3)

10 multiple choice questions

N/A

10%

40

Week 10 (date and time TBC)

Via MIUC LMS & 5 working days after in-class exercises

In-class exercise (4)

10 multiple choice questions

N/A

10%

40

Week 13 (date and time TBC)

Via MIUC LMS & 5 working days after in-class exercises

Business Case Study

1800 words

(+/-10%)

N/A

60%

40

Week 14 (date and time TBC)

Via MIUC LMS & 10 working days after the assessment

 

 

Learning materials

The reading list for this module is available on MIUC LMS in the module area. 

Core textbook(s):

 

Krajewski L.J. Ritzman L.P. Malhotra M.K. (2013),Operations Management, Pearson Education Ltd 

 

Other recommended reading:

Anupindi A. et al. (2012), Managing business process flows, Prentice Hall, Pearson Education 

 

Other resources:

  • Power B. (2012), Three examples of new process strategy,  Harvard Business Review, 6.Dec.2012
  • Tobert P.S. and Richard H. (2009), Organizations: structures, processes and outcomes,  Pearson / Prentice Hall, NJ
  • Samson D. and Terziovski M. (1999), The relationship between total quality management practices and operational performance, Journal of operations management, June 1999 Vol. 17 (4) 393-409
  • Pyzdek T. and Keller P. (2014), The six sigma handbook,  McGraw Hill NY
  • Hammesfahr et al. (1993), Strategic planning for production capacity,  Journal of Operations & Production Management (1993) Vol 13. loss: 5 pp.41-53
  • Goldratt, E.M. (2005), The goal: a process of ongoing improvement,  North river press
  • Gilmore J.H. & Pine B.J. (1997), The four faces of mass customization, , Harvard Business review, Jan-Feb 1997
  • New S. (2015), McDonald´s and the challenges of a modern Supply Chain , Harvard Business Review 04th Feb. 2015
  • Yinan Q. And Vachon S. (2015), Supply chain strategy at TCL multimedia, Ivey Publishing  (W15507 version 2015-11-10)
  • Ord K. (2012), Principles of business forecasting,  Cengage Learning, OH

 

 

Module Study Guide /files/93758/2021_YR2_(IBM)_Business_Operations.pdf

 

Here is the class outline:

Presentation

Welcome to the Business Ops module. You can find in this section some general information about the module and the assignments.

Business Operations
Module Study Guide
Assessments
Used images
Used images

Week 1- Introduction. Creating value through operations

In the first session the module organization, structure and assignments will be introduced. You will explore the time commitments you will need to make and the skills you will develop through the duration of the module. In the second part of the week, the student will get a first glance to the diverse concepts of business operations and their impact in the value proposition of the company.

Week 1 - Introduction. Creasting value through Business Operations
Classify the process
Operations Strategy

Week 2- Process Strategy

In the second week of the module different process strategies will be discussed with the studies. The importance of layout and production setup will be revealed. In order to involve the students in the matter a case study will be discussed in the class covering key aspects of process definition.

Key Concepts
Front office/ Back Office
Difference between process improvement and process re-engineering

Week 3- Process Analysis

This week is devoted to learn the proper tools for a detailed process analysis. The students will be also invited to do a team analysis of a process, focusing in the evaluation of the analytical performance, which will force them to get a deep knowledge of commonly used data analysis tools.

Key Concepts
SIPOC diagram
Turtle Diagram
Analysis of the process

Week 4- Quality and Performance

The importance of quality in the execution of the business will be highlighter along this week. The impact of quality on the product costs and in the customer experience will be explained to the students, that will be able also to experience it by means of a team practical exercise. Statistical process control and other complex techniques of lean manufacturing will also be presented.

Key Concepts
TQM and process performance
In-class exercise 1
In class-1_2

Week 5- Capacity Planning

Capacity planning is a big matter of concern for any operation manager. The evaluation of internal capacities implies understanding its own limitations, but also planning capital expenditures to overcome them in the right way and at the right time. The analysis of existing and required capacity implied therefore a good knowledge of the internal process, but also of the competitive landscape and the market. During this week the students will learn about capacity planning and decisions related to it, analyzing also real business cases and situations.

Key Concepts
Article on Capacity Planning impact
Different definitions of capacity

Week 6- Constraint Management

During this week the students will get familiar with the concept of bottleneck and line balancing. After it, they will be capable of a deep complete line analysis. They will have also the capability of not only identifying the weakest link of any production line, but also of proposing solutions and alternatives to solve the constraints.

Key Concepts
Example 5.2

Week 7- Lean Systems

During this week the students will get familiar with key concepts of lean manufacturing. They will be able to revisit process analysis from the perspective of the value, and follow it along the production line in order to prioritize improvement actions. The importance and impact of addressing product quality upstream will also be made obvious through examples and case studies.

Key Concepts
Examples of Lean companies and processes
In-class exercise 2
Business Case analysis
In class-2_2

Week 8- Inventory Management

Controversy of inventory management will be explained to the students during the sessions of this week. On one side, they will understand the impact of inventory management for a successful and timely manufacturing strategy. On the other, they will also understand the financial impact of inventories in any running business. As usual, a very practical approach is followed by studying in detail how a world class leading company manages its inventory.

Key Concepts
Key Concepts Business Operations-
Business Case study-

Week 9- Supply Chain Performance

Following the learnings of last week, in these sessions the students will deepen in the knowledge of inventory management by optimizing the company supply chain: inventory placement, outsourcing and other strategies will be analyzed together with the students. Again, a case study will be proposed to be worked out in the teams as best way of consolidating the key concepts of the week.

Key Concepts
Supply chain at McDonald´s
Business Case- Mass customisation - mi Adidas

Week 10- Supply Chain Integration

The management of portfolio of suppliers that combined local with overseas partners requires a careful understanding of the value chain, strong negotiating capabilities but also a deep knowledge of the relevant factors of the business operation. This week, the students will have the opportunity to study relevant cases of the integration of the supply chain in our globalized world, analyzing the motivations and implications of common purchasing and operative strategies.

Key Concepts
Supply chain at TCL multimedia
In-class exercise 3
In class-3_2

Week 11- Forecasting

This week will be devoted to understand the various forecasting methods available to forecasting systems. The student will then be able to describe a typical forecasting process used by business and make simple forecasts and estimations on the forecast error.

Key Concepts
Recommended reading
Exercise on error estimation

Week 12- Planning and scheduling

During this week the students will learn about the operation planning and scheduling process. They will be explained why the process of matching supply with demand begins with aggregation. They will have to learn how to identify different demand and supply options, and how operations plan and schedules relate to the business plan.

Key Concepts
Business case: managing product lines
In class exercise 3_2

Week 13- Resource Planning

Enterprise resource planning is the setting up of electronic information systems in such a way that information flows from most different parts and processes of the organization. It opens new frontiers to business optimization in very different ways. A simple example could be the influence of manufacturing by customer relationship management (CRM) systems. In order for these systems to work, daily operations needs to be systematically parametrized and automatized. This week, students will learn how to do this and the implications on efficiency and competitive advantage that these new process management techniques can bring to your business.

Key Concepts
In-class exercise 4

Week 14- Project Management

As a kind of corollary for the module, the last week will be devoted to explain modern project management tools, commonly used by international companies. The theoretical explanation on quality planning of projects and monitoring of execution will help the students to undertake any future assignment and represents a summary of all the key concepts that the module has offered to the students on business operations.

Project Management
Key Concepts