GRA 8302 Operations Management (2021/2022)

GRA 8302 Operations Management (2021/2022)

Course code: 
GRA 8302
Department: 
Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
Credits: 
2
Course coordinator: 
Anders Dysvik
Dai Yue
Course name in Norwegian: 
Operations Management (2021/2022)
Product category: 
Executive
Portfolio: 
EMBA Business Administration - Core Courses
Semester: 
2021 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

Operations management is concerned with the production and delivery of goods and services. It encompasses the design of the products and processes, the planning and execution of production, and acquisition and deployment of resources. Efficient operations can provide a firm with major competitive advantages, since the ability to respond to consumer and market requirements quickly, at low coast, and with high quality, is vital for sustained profitability and growth. A process view of operations will be used to analyze different key operational dimensions such as capacity management, cycle time management, supply chain and logistics management, and quality management.

This course’s first goal is to introduce the strategic and operational challenges that operations managers are confronted with, and provide you with frameworks to critically understand and deal with those challenges. For example, we will discuss process choice strategies, fundamental principles of quality management and lean systems, business process improvement, capacity strategy and supply chain management. The second goal of this course is to introduce you process analysis and improvement tools. We will utilize basic analysis techniques to study process capacity and bottlenecks, evaluate the impact of process variability, and explore the fundamental principles of inventory management.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge
  • to introduce the strategic and operational challenges that operations managers are confront with;
  • to provide frameworks for critically understanding and dealing with these challenges;
  • to introduce process analysis and improvement tools.
  • to develop the capability to analyze problems and support managerial decisions.
Learning outcomes - Skills

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

  • Develop knowledge of concepts, principles, and methods in the operations management from a supply chain perspective.  (CLO1)
  • Develop capabilities for understanding, assessing, and resolving technical and administrative issues for operations management. (CLO2)
  • Develop managerial leadership in operations management. (CLO3)
  • Develop capabilities for case study and analysis of contemporary operations management. (CLO4)
Course content
  • Overview the course, Operations management defined; linking operations to corporate strategy
  • Business process re-engineering: a business management strategy focusing on the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization.
  • Identification and management of bottlenecks
  • Classification of Products: functional and innovative products
  • Inventory management: the planning and controlling of inventories in order to meet the competitive priorities of the organization.
  • The "Outsourcing Game"
Teaching and learning activities

1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours.

The course is conducted through a total of 16 hours of lectures and 44 hours of self-study.

Attendance to all sessions in the course is compulsory. If you have to miss part(s) of the course you must ask in advance for leave of absence. More than 25% absence in a course will require retaking the entire course. It's the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ It's learning or other course materials.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component will be graded using points on a scale 0 -100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam components will get a lower grade or may fail the course. Candidates may be called in for an oral hearing as a verification/control of written assignments.

Specific information regarding the points system and the mapping scale beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

The course is a part of a full Executive MBA programme and examination in all courses must be passed in order to obtain a certificate.

Recommended reading:
In the case folder.

  1. Southwest Airlines (TB0333) 2017
  2. Process fundamentals, Harvard Case 9-696-023

In all BI Executive courses and programmes, there is a mutual requirement  
for the student and the course responsible regarding the involvement of the student's experience in the planning and implementation of courses, modules and programmes. This means that the student has the right and duty to get involved with their own knowledge and practice relevance, through the active sharing of their relevant experience and knowledge.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Qualifications

Granted admission to the EMBA programme. Please consult our student regulations.

Exam categoryWeightInvigilationDurationGroupingComment exam
Exam category:
Activity
Form of assessment:
Class participation
Exam code:
GRA 83021
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal examiner with external supervisor
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
50No -Individual Class participation, counts 50% of the final grade.
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
GRA 83021
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal examiner with external supervisor
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
50No4 Week(s)Group (2 - 8)Group assignment, counts 50% of the final grade.
Exams:
Exam category:Activity
Form of assessment:Class participation
Weight:50
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Individual
Duration: -
Comment:Class participation, counts 50% of the final grade.
Exam code:GRA 83021
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:50
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group (2-8)
Duration:4 Week(s)
Comment:Group assignment, counts 50% of the final grade.
Exam code:GRA 83021
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Continuous assessment
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Teaching
16 Hour(s)
Prepare for teaching
12 Hour(s)
Student's own work with learning resources
32 Hour(s)
Self study, feedback activities/counselling and exam
Sum workload: 
60

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 2 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 54 hours.