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Operations Management
Purpose of Course showclose
Operations management is a science with which we are all, in some capacity, familiar. We all have scarce resources and have to allocate those resources properly. Think about the process of preparing a meal: you have to gather all the proper ingredients and prepare them for cooking. Certain ingredients go in at certain times. Occasionally, you fall behind or get too far ahead, jeopardizing the entire meal. And, of course, if you find that you do not have enough ingredients, even more problems arise. All of these elements of meal preparation—purchasing ingredients, prepping the ingredients by dicing them up, mixing ingredients together, boiling or baking the dish, serving, and cleaning—can be seen as parts of operations management.
In the realm of business, operations management is more complicated than preparing a family meal. There may be hundreds or thousands of participants rather than just you and your brother or wife or grandfather cooking in the kitchen. Each participant has a specific role in the operations process; if any step of the process is disrupted, the whole process can stall or fall apart. Smart operations managers will have contingency plans in the event that stoppages occur.
In this course, you will learn the fundamentals of operations management as they apply to both production and service-based operations. Successful completion of this course will empower you to implement the concepts you have learned in your place of business. Even if you do not plan to work in operations, every department of every company has processes that must be completed; someone savvy with operations management will be able to improve just about any process.
Course Information showclose
Welcome to BUS300. Below, please find some general information on the course and its requirements.
Course Designer:
Primary Resources: This course is comprised of a range of different free, online materials. However, the course makes primary use of the following materials:
- iTunes U: The Open University's “Business Operations Lectures”
- Bookboon.com: Albert Porter's “Operations Management”
Requirements for Completion: In order to complete this course, you will need to work through each unit and all its assigned materials. Pay special attention to Units 1 and 2, as these lay the groundwork for understanding the more advanced, exploratory material presented in later units. You will also need to complete:
- Sub-subunit 4.1.4 Assessment
- The Final Exam
In order to “pass” this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the Final Exam.
Your score on the exam will be tabulated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam, you may take it again.
Time Commitment: This course should take you a total of approximately 103 hours to complete. Each unit includes a “time advisory” that lists the amount of time you are expected to spend on each subunit. These should help you plan your time accordingly. It may be useful to take a look at these time advisories and to determine how much time you have over the next few weeks to complete each unit, and then to set goals for yourself. For example, Unit 1 should take you 8 hours. Perhaps you can sit down with your calendar and decide to complete the introductory reading (about 1 hour) and half of subunit 1.1 (about 1.5 hours) on Monday night; the remainder of subunit 1.1 and subunit 1.2 (about 2.5 hours) on Tuesday; subunit 1.3 and subunit 1.4 (a total of 3 hours) on Wednesday; etc.
Tips/Suggestions: As you work through the readings, web media, and lectures for this course, make sure to take notes on what you learn from each resource. These notes will be useful as you study for your Final Exam.
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A version of this course is also available in iTunes U.
Preview the course in your browser or view our entire suite of iTunes U courses. |
Learning Outcomes showclose
- Explain the role of operations and its relationship with the other functional areas of a business organization.
- Analyze operation processes from a variety of perspectives such as productivity, workflow, and quality.
- Apply the “Transformation Model” as a construct for understanding the relationship between the inputs, processes, and outputs of an organization.
- Explain techniques and methodologies for managing an organization’s productive resources.
- Apply basic design principles to determine appropriate facility location and layout.
- Explain quality management and apply quality management principles to continuous improvement in operations management.
- Discuss the goal of Supply Chain Management and its application in a variety of organizational settings.
- Identify the critical factors involved in inventory control systems.
- Identify the operational processes in the student’s own organization.
Course Requirements showclose
√ Have access to a computer.
√ Have continuous broadband Internet access.
√ Have the ability/permission to install plug-ins or software (e.g. Adobe Reader or Flash).
√ Have the ability to download and save files and documents to a computer.
√ Have the ability to open Microsoft files and documents (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.).
√ Have competency in the English language
√ Have read the Saylor Student Handbook.
√ Have completed the following courses listed in “The Core Program” of the Business Administration discipline: BUS103: Financial Accounting through BUS210: Corporate Communication.
Unit Outline show close
Expand All Resources Collapse All Resources
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Unit 1: Operations Management Overview
Operations management is a vast topic but can be bundled into a few distinct categories, each of which will be covered in later units. (It should be noted, however, that entire courses could be devoted to each of these topics individually.) Because most people do not work in a formal operations department, we will begin with an overview of operations management itself. The top manager of an operations department is usually called the Director of Operations. Most operations departments will report to a Chief Operating Officer (COO), who reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The COO is often considered the most important figure in a firm, next to the CEO.
Unit 1 Time Advisory show close
The history of operations management can be traced back to the industrial revolution, when production began to shift from small, local companies to large-scale production firms. One of the most significant contributions to operations management came in the early 20th century, when Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line manufacturing process. This process drastically improved productivity and made automobiles affordable to the masses. Understanding the motivations behind innovations of the past can help us identify factors that may motivate individuals in the future of operations management.
Unit 1 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management": Chapter 1: “Introduction”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 1: “Introduction” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the opening chapter of Porter’s Operations Management. The outline of this course follows the layout of Porter’s text. When you click on the link above, you will be taken to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each unit in this course will come from this text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management": Chapter 1: “Introduction”
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1.1 Introduction to Operations Management
- Reading: Carter McNamara’s “Operations Management” and Lisa Wagner’s “Understanding Basics of Operations Management”
Links: Carter McNamara’s “Operations Management” (HTML) and Lisa Wagner’s “Understanding Basics of Operations Management” (HTML)
Instructions: Look through the various topics in Carter McNamara’s “Operations Management” to familiarize yourself with various topics that will come up in the rest of the course. Please read Lisa Wagner’s article as a basic introduction to operations management.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Open University’s Understanding Operations Management: Unit 1: “ Understanding Operations Management” and Unit 2: “Operations, Operations Management, and Operations Managers”
Links: The Open University's Understanding Operations Management: Unit 1: "Understanding Operations Management"(PDF) and Unit 2: "Operations, Operations Management, and Operations Managers" (PDF)
Instructions: Read Units 1 and 2 of "Understanding Operations Management." Be sure to answer the discussion questions in Activities 1 through 3. After you have considered each question, you can view the author's response under the "Discussion" section.
Terms of Use: This resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. It is attributed to The Open University, and the original version can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Carter McNamara’s “Operations Management” and Lisa Wagner’s “Understanding Basics of Operations Management”
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1.2 Manufacturing versus Service Operations
- Web Media: iTunesU: The Open University’s “Fuller’s Brewery: Introduction”
Link: iTunesU: The Open University’s “Fuller’s Brewery: Introduction” (iTunes U)
Instructions: Scroll down to lecture number 13 and watch this short, 5-minute video, which approaches operations from a manufacturing perspective. Note how the manufacturer’s processes link together to meet its customers’ needs.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: University of Virginia Darden Business School’s “Mark A. Onetto, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Customer Service, Amazon.com, Inc.”
Link: YouTube: University of Virginia Darden Business School’s “Mark A. Onetto, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Customer Service, Amazon.com, Inc.” (YouTube)
Also available in:
iTunes U
Instructions: Watch Onetto’s lecture (58:53 minutes), which covers operations management in one of the world’s most dynamic service organizations.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: iTunesU: The Open University’s “Fuller’s Brewery: Introduction”
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1.3 The Systems View of Operations Management
- Reading: The Open University’s Understanding Operations Management: Unit 3: “The Transformation Model” and Unit 4: “The Boundary of the Operations System”
Links: The Open University’s Understanding Operations Management: Unit 3: “The Transformation Model” (PDF) and Unit 4: “The Boundary of the Operations System” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Units 3 and 4 of “Understanding Operations Management.” Be sure to answer the discussion questions in Activities 4 through 7. After you have considered each question, you can view author’s response under the “Discussion” section.
Terms of Use: This resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. It is attributed to The Open University, and the original version can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Open University’s Understanding Operations Management: Unit 3: “The Transformation Model” and Unit 4: “The Boundary of the Operations System”
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1.4 The Process View of Organizations
- Reading: BPMInstitute.org: Daniel J. Madison’s “Becoming a Process-Focused Organization”
Link: BPMInstitute.org: Daniel J. Madison’s “Becoming a Process-Focused Organization” (HTML)
Instructions: Read Madison’s article about linking business functions using a process focus.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Activity: The Saylor Foundation's "Introduction to Operations Management Activity and Grading Rubric"
Link: The Saylor Foundation's "Introduction to Operations Management Activity and Grading Rubric" (PDF)
Instructions: For this activity, you will apply the concepts of operations management to real world situations. You will use this unit to begin developing an operation management plan by writing a 2-3 page paper on a business concept of your choosing. You may wish to develop a business such as a retail sales operation, an online service like tutoring, or maybe a personal service such as lawn care or pet grooming as your business. Use the information from Unit 1 to help you identify what aspects are to be covered and explain, in detail, why you made certain choices. In writing your paper, you should research and consider at least 4 scholarly sources (i.e. textbooks, scholarly articles from a peer reviewed journal, etc.) As you write the paper, make sure to address the following topics:
- Will the company be business-to-consumer or business-to-business?
- Will the business manufacture a product, deliver a service, broker information, offer goods for sale, or distribute goods for others?
- Will the business offer one product or service, or a range of products and services?
- Will the company have a bricks-and-mortar presence, or sell strictly over the Web?
- Will the firm be a large company, a medium-sized enterprise, or a small business?
- How will you provide /transport the service or product to the consumer?
- Will there be a need for inventory storage?
Please score your paper or have a friend score your paper using the following "rubric," or "scoring guide." The levels will equate to the following letter grades:
4 = A; 3 = B; 2 = C; 1 = D; and 0 = F.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: BPMInstitute.org: Daniel J. Madison’s “Becoming a Process-Focused Organization”
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Unit 2: Operations Strategy
The most significant aspect of operations management is the process itself. How does Apple take a pile of chips, glass, and plastic, and turn it into an iPhone? Their manufacturer in China is responsible for this process, but Apple is involved every step of the way in order to ensure quality, reliability, and consistency. Process flow structures are the different methods of production deemed appropriate for various manufacturing contexts. Does it make sense for Apple to wait for 1 million orders, then make and ship them? Or should they instead produce iPhones based on current demand and try to balance inventory? These are decisions that the COO must make as each process flow has various costs associated with it.
Unit 2 Time Advisory show close
Additionally, not every operations department is producing a good we can consume. Wall Street traders receive orders from clients and must execute trades on open markets. The order itself may pass through dozens of people before confirmation of the trade is sent back to the client. If you consider that “actual trade” to be the product, you can design an operations process around the goal of executing the trade. The result is a process remarkably similar to production. In this unit, you will learn how operations managers use long-term, strategic planning to manage internal and external influences on the organization’s resource base.
Unit 2 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 2: “Operations Strategy”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 2: “Operations Strategy” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapter 2 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each subsequent unit in this course will come from this text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 2: “Operations Strategy”
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2.1 What Is Strategy?
- Lecture: YouTube: Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Dr. John Morecroft’s “Reflections on System Dynamics and Strategy”
Link: YouTube: Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Dr. John Morecroft’s “Reflections on System Dynamics and Strategy” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch Dr. Morecroft’s 1-hour lecture on using a systems approach to strategic modeling.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Dr. John Morecroft’s “Reflections on System Dynamics and Strategy”
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2.2 Levels of Strategy
- Reading: Wikibooks: “Business Strategy/Approaches to Strategic Management”
Link: Wikibooks: “Business Strategy/Approaches to Strategic Management” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this article, making sure to pay particular attention to the “The strategy hierarchy” section.
Reading this article and taking notes should take approximately 15 minutes.
Terms of Use: This resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. It is attributed to Wikibooks, and the original version can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: iTunesU: Yale University’s “Green to Gold: An Interview with Dan Esty”; YouTube: Dr. Eric W. Ford’s “Corporate-Level Strategy:” Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six
Link: iTunesU: Yale University’s “Green to Gold: An Interview with Dan Esty” (iTunes U) series; YouTube: Dr. Eric Ford’s “Corporate-Level Strategy:” Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six
Note: All Eric Ford videos are in YouTube.
Instructions: Listen to Yale University’s 22-minute audio lecture outlining the use of Corporate Social Responsibility as a framework for corporate strategy. Watch Dr. Ford’s 1-hour, 3-minute series on using a diversification strategy to create value. This series contains six parts. You must click on a new link to launch each part as listed above.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikibooks: “Business Strategy/Approaches to Strategic Management”
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2.3 The Role of Operations in Strategy Development
- Reading: California State University, Northridge: Rex C. Mitchell’s “Strategy Formulation”
Link: California State University, Northridge: Rex C. Mitchell’s “Strategy Formulation” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Mitchell’s article on formulating strategy in which he describes three phases of strategy development. To download the article, click on the above link to view a list of resources. Under the heading “Strategic Management,” select the link for “Formulating Strategy.”
Terms of Use: This resource has been reposted with the kind permission of Dr. Rex C. Mithcell, and the original version can be found here. Please note that this material is under copyright and cannot be reproduced in any capacity without the explicit permission from the copyright holder.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: Kellogg School of Business: Sunil Chopra’s “A New Channel Strategy for Dell”
Link: YouTube: Kellogg School of Business: Sunil Chopra’s “A New Channel Strategy for Dell” (YouTube)
Also available in:
iTunes U (Lecture 5)
Instructions: Watch this 22-minute lecture about the need to evaluate the organization’s strategy environment to stay on top of changes over time.Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: California State University, Northridge: Rex C. Mitchell’s “Strategy Formulation”
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2.4 Operations Competitive Priorities
- Reading: Production and Operations Management: Kenneth Boyer and Marianne Lewis’ “Competitive Priorities: investigating the Need for Trade-offs in Operations Strategy”
Link: Production and Operations Management: Kenneth Boyer and Marianne Lewis’ “Competitive Priorities: investigating the Need for Trade-offs in Operations Strategy” (PDF)
Instructions: Click on the link to download the PDF. Read this article, which discusses how manufacturers seek trade-offs to become more effective at what they do, to save costs, or both.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Activity: The Saylor Foundation's "Operations Strategy Unit 2 Activity and Grading Rubric"
Link: The Saylor Foundation's "Operations Strategy Unit 2 Activity and Grading Rubric" (PDF)
Instructions: For this activity, you will write a 2-3 page paper on the development of an operation management plan that focuses on your business concept that you developed for the Unit 1 Activity. A minimum of four scholarly resources should be used in order to support your plan, citing your sources in APA format. Make sure to include a References section that also lists the sources used in APA format. As you write your paper, you should address the following questions and topics:1. Purchasing procedures: Identify the necessary input (raw materials necessary to generate the output, or product). Who will or can you buy the raw materials from? If you are providing a service, what supplies will you need to begin and where will they be purchased from?
2. What accounting and/or purchasing system(s) will you need to accomplish buying either a product line or a service-based business?
3. Quality control procedures: Identify what quality control measures you will use in order to make sure the product or service meets consumer standards.
For example, if your business concept was to open a bed and breakfast, to answer question 1, you will want to estimate how many rooms you will need; how many guests [on average] you intend to host; and where you will obtain your groceries, paper items, soap, and other guest necessities? Will you shop at a grocery store, use a shopping club like Costco or Sam’s Club, or obtain your inputs through some other means?
Question 2 would include a review of accounting software or systems such as: Sage Peachtree Accounting, Quickbook or Netsuite Financials (or another you may feel comfortable with). Identify why you chose this system or software for your particular business in order to justify its applicability.
Question 3 would need a similar discussion as you identify your quality assurance/control measures that you intend to use to help minimize defects or errors as you produce a product or provide a service. Your review of quality control measures will include a discussion such as: Will there be a quality control manager named for your business? Why, or why not? Will your business use Six Sigma processes in its operation? Why, or why not? Is there a need to utilize ISO 9000 quality standards? Why, or why not?
Be specific in your essay. It may be helpful to “brainstorm your needs” on a separate sheet of paper and once done, create an outline for this section (numbers 1, 2, and 3), using topical headings. Then, note how you will address each requirement of these sections with specific content.
Please score your paper or have a friend score your paper using the "rubric," or "scoring guide" on the following page. The levels will equate to the following letter grades:
4 = A; 3 = B; 2 = C; 1 = D; and 0 = F.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Production and Operations Management: Kenneth Boyer and Marianne Lewis’ “Competitive Priorities: investigating the Need for Trade-offs in Operations Strategy”
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Unit 3: Product Design and Process Selection
If you have purchased a mobile phone recently, you have witnessed a product category with perhaps the most diverse range of product designs in the marketplace. The variety can be mind-boggling. Looking back a year or two, you can probably recall a design that looked very promising, but simply faded away from the shelves after a few months. Have you ever wondered what happened to those short-lived products?
Unit 3 Time Advisory show close
Businesses want to design the products that consumers demand. A good marketing department can tell the organization what consumers want, and even convince consumers that they want it. A company with the most wonderful product concept cannot be successful unless it also can devise a process to profitably manufacturer the product. In this unit, we will consider the steps involved in designing a product with the manufacturing process in mind. We will look at several models that businesses can use to select the best design process or analyze an existing process.
Unit 3 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management": Chapter 3: “Product Design and Process Selection”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management": Chapter 3: “Product Design and Process Selection” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapter 3 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each of the subsequent units in this course will come from this text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management": Chapter 3: “Product Design and Process Selection”
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3.1 Generating Ideas
- Lecture: YouTube: Coventry University: Richard Seymour’s “Future Perfect - Designing for Tomorrow”
Link: YouTube: Coventry University: Richard Seymour’s “Future Perfect - Designing for Tomorrow” (YouTube)
Also available in:
iTunes U (Lecture 12)
Instructions: Watch this 1-hour, 2-minute video lecture on out-of-the-box design by highly regarded designer, Richard Seymour.Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: Coventry University: Richard Seymour’s “Future Perfect - Designing for Tomorrow”
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3.2 Product Screening
- Reading: Business Owner’s Toolkit: Small Business Guide’s “New Product Concept Screening;” John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Eldenburg Walcott’s Cost Management: Measuring Monitoring and Motivating Performance: Chapter 3: “Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis;”The Manage Mentor’s “Manufacturing Capacity”
Links: Business Owner’s Toolkit: Small Business Guide’s “New Product Concept Screening” (HTML); John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Eldenburg Walcott’s Cost Management: Measuring Monitoring and Motivating Performance: Chapter 3: “Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis” (PDF); The Manage Mentor’s “Manufacturing Capacity” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the Business Owner’s Toolkit article on screening new product ideas from the perspective of the small business operations manager. Then read Walcott’s work on cost analysis by clicking on the link above and downloading “Chapter 3” under Sample Chapters. Lastly, read the Manage Mentor’s explanation of assessing the organization’s capacity to manufacture the product.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Business Owner’s Toolkit: Small Business Guide’s “New Product Concept Screening;” John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Eldenburg Walcott’s Cost Management: Measuring Monitoring and Motivating Performance: Chapter 3: “Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis;”The Manage Mentor’s “Manufacturing Capacity”
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3.3 Preliminary and Final Design
- Reading: Uma Devi’s “Role of Decision Support System For Decision-Making Process in Global Business Environment”
Link: Uma Devi’s “Role of Decision Support System For Decision-Making Process in Global Business Environment” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this article from Uma Devi to learn about criteria important for decision makers evaluating product design.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: iTunes U: The Open University’s “Phillips: Creative Product Design”
Link: iTunes U: The Open University’s “Phillips: Creative Product Design” (iTunes U)
Also available in:
Adobe Flash w/ TranscriptInstructions: Scroll down to number 51, and click on “View in iTunes” to watch this 11-minute video describing the design process for a new web cam.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Uma Devi’s “Role of Decision Support System For Decision-Making Process in Global Business Environment”
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3.4 Methods for Improving Product Design
- Lecture: iTunes Podcast: Six Sigma IQ’s “Introducing Design for Innovation in Manufacturing” and “Design for Six Sigma Tools You Need to Know Right Now”
Link: iTunes Podcast: Six Sigma IQ’s “Introducing Design for Innovation in Manufacturing” (iTunes U) and “Design for Six Sigma Tools You Need to Know Right Now” (iTunes U)
Also available in:
Adobe Flash (Introducing Design)
Adobe Flash (Design for Six Sigma Tools)
Instructions: Listen to these two podcast lectures from Six Sigma IQ. The first (Number 75 on the page) is a 24-minute discussion on integrating Six Sigma methodology in the design process. Follow up with number 100, the 18-minute podcast on using continuous improvement tools to strengthen product design.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: iTunesU: The Open University’s “Consumer Product Testing”
Link: iTunesU: The Open University’s “Consumer Product Testing” (iTunes U)
Instructions: Watch this short 4-minute video (number 3 on the page) explaining how designers use product testing to improve designs.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: iTunes Podcast: Six Sigma IQ’s “Introducing Design for Innovation in Manufacturing” and “Design for Six Sigma Tools You Need to Know Right Now”
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3.5 Process Selection
- Reading: Encyclopedia for Business 2nd ed.’s “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)”
Link: Encyclopedia for Business 2nd ed.’s “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this article, which explains how ERP can be used to link processes from all functional areas with a single Information Technology solution.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: Indian Institute of Technology: Dr. Arun Kanda’s “Lecture 28 – Product & Process Design”
Link: YouTube: Indian Institute of Technology: Dr. Arun Kanda’s “Lecture 28 – Product & Process Design” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch Dr. Kanda’s 1-hour lecture on product design, process planning, and manufacturing.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 3 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 3 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you continue working on your operations management plan. In this writing activtity, you will address how the current state of the economy will affect your business, and you will apply the Transformation Model, learned about in this unit.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Encyclopedia for Business 2nd ed.’s “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)”
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Unit 4: Quality Management
Quality management is a primary concern in operations departments. Though all employees and managers should be concerned with maintaining quality, most firms host a team dedicated to ensuring the quality of production. Quality management can come in any number of different forms. Quality control usually involves the random sampling of products coming off the line (with the goal of ensuring that all products are up to standards). This may be for compliance reasons (such as in meat production) or for quality service (such as checking the seams in the leather of a Rolls Royce car). Other quality managers are concerned with the quality of the production process itself: are all employees being productive? Is there a bottleneck in the production process? These focuses on efficiency are especially important for products with low margins. In this unit, you will learn about a few of the pioneers in total quality management as well as the processes used to control quality in manufacturing and service organizations.
Unit 4 Time Advisory show close
Unit 4 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 4: “Total Quality Management” and Chapter 5: “Statistical Quality Control”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 4: “Total Quality Management” and Chapter 5: “Statistical Quality Control” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapters 4 and 5 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each subsequent unit in this course will come from this text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: iTunesU: Claremont Graduate University’s School of Management: Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito’s “Productivity: What We Know about It What We Must – and Can – Do about It”
Link: iTunesU: Claremont Graduate University’s The School of Management: Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito’s “Productivity: What We Know about It What We Must – and Can – Do about It” (iTunes U)
Instructions: Scroll down to Lecture 21, and select “View in iTunes” to launch the video lecture. Watch this 1-hour, 9-minute lecture by Peter Drucker himself about the part productivity plays in quality.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: YouTube: WebVideoVision’s “Bruce Rosenstein Interviews Peter Drucker”
Link: YouTube: WebVideoVision’s “Bruce Rosenstein Interviews Peter Drucker”
Instructions: Please watch this brief video (4:30 minutes) in its entirety. In this interview, Drucker discusses quality and other factors necessary to enhancing management through information.
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- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 4: “Total Quality Management” and Chapter 5: “Statistical Quality Control”
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4.1 Total Quality Management
- Lecture: YouTube: The Vinod School of Management: Professor Kalyan Chakravarti’s “Lec-13 Total Quality Management”
Link: YouTube: The Vinod School of Management: Professor Kalyan Chakravarti’s “Lec-13 Total Quality Management” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this 57-minute video lecture, which describes TQM and contrasts it with other quality initiatives.
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- Lecture: YouTube: The Vinod School of Management: Professor Kalyan Chakravarti’s “Lec-13 Total Quality Management”
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4.1.1 W. Edwards Deming
- Web Media: YouTube: “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge Part I” and “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge Part II”
Links: YouTube: “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge Part I” (YouTube) and “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge Part II” (YouTube)
Instructions: Please view both parts of the video titled “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge.” Each video is approximately 3 minutes.
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- Reading: NOVA Southern University: Alexandros G. Psychogios and Costantinos-Vasilios Priporas’ “Understanding Total Quality Management in Context: Qualitative Research on Managers’ Awareness of TQM Aspects in the Greek Service Industry”
Link: NOVA Southern University: Alexandros G. Psychogios and Costantinos-Vasilios Priporas’ “Understanding Total Quality Management in Context: Qualitative Research on Managers’ Awareness of TQM Aspects in the Greek Service Industry” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down the webpage to the article’s title, and then click on the hyperlink “PDF Full Text” to download the PDF file. Read the entire text (27 pages). While the article mentions Greece, it focuses on significant Total Quality Management concepts.
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- Web Media: YouTube: “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge Part I” and “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge Part II”
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4.1.2 Joseph M. Juran
- Reading: Skymark’s “Joseph M. Juran”
Link: Skymark’s “Joseph M. Juran” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this short biography of Joseph Juran. Note the outline of Dr. Juran’s quality trilogy.
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- Reading: Skymark’s “Joseph M. Juran”
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4.1.3 Philip B. Crosby
- Reading: Winter Park Public Library: Philip Crosby’s “Quality Is Free: If You Understand It” and “Quality Management: The Real Thing”
Links: Winter Park Public Library: Philip Crosby’s “Quality Is Free: If You Understand It” (PDF) and “Quality Management: The Real Thing” (PDF)
Instructions: To download these articles, open the above link to go to Winter Park Public Library’s collection of Crosby writings. There, click on the links by the article's title to download the PDF file. The first article is in the section titled, “Philip Crosby's Essays and Writings;” the second article is under “The Four Absolutes of Quality Management.”
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- Reading: Winter Park Public Library: Philip Crosby’s “Quality Is Free: If You Understand It” and “Quality Management: The Real Thing”
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4.1.4 The Cost of Quality
- Reading: iSixSigma: Arne Buthmann’s “Cost of Quality: Not Only Failure Costs”
Link: iSixSigma: Arne Buthmann’s “Cost of Quality: Not Only Failure Costs” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this article outlining the factors that contribute to the cost of quality.
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- Assessment: Wisc – Online’s “The Cost of Quality: A Self-Check Exercise”
Link: Wisc – Online’s “The Cost of Quality: A Self-Check Exercise” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Complete this assessment of your understanding of Cost of Quality concepts. The activity is self-grading.
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- Reading: iSixSigma: Arne Buthmann’s “Cost of Quality: Not Only Failure Costs”
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4.1.5 Quality Systems
- Reading: International Organization for Standardization’s “Quality Management Principles”
Link: International Organization for Standardization’s “Quality Management Principles” (HTML)
Instructions: Read ISO’s article outlining the eight quality management principles for ISO 9000. After you read the Introduction, click on the links at the bottom to proceed to the next section. Please make sure to click on the links for and read the sections on principles 1-8.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: International Organization for Standardization’s “Quality Management Principles”
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4.2 Statistical Process Control
- Reading: Readings: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: R. Dan Reid and Nada R. Sanders’ Operations Management: An Integrated Approach: Chapter 6: “Statistical Quality Control;”; DACS Gold Practices International’s “Statistical Process Control;”; WPD Consulting: Stephen Halliday’s “Understanding Variation”
Links: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: R. Dan Reid and Nada R. Sanders’ Operations Management: An Integrated Approach: Chapter 6: “Statistical Quality Control” (PDF); DACS Gold Practices International’s “Statistical Process Control” (HTML); WPD Consulting: Stephen Halliday’s “Understanding Variation” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapter Six of Reid and Sanders’ text. To download the Chapter, open the above link to the Wiley & Sons webpage, and click on “Chapter Six.” Review the DACS webpage for an overview of SPC. Be sure to note the section covering the characteristics of implementing SPC. To read the last article, click on the link above to go to the WPD Consulting website. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and select “Understanding Variation” in the textbox titled “Articles.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Web Media: YouTube: PQ Systems’ “A Very Brief Introduction to Control Charts”
Link: YouTube: PQ Systems’ “A Very Brief Introduction to Control Charts” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this 4-minute video for a quick introduction to measuring variation with control charts.
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- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 4 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Foundation’s “Unit 4 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you continue working on your operations management plan. For this part of your operations management plan, you will explain techniques and methodologies for managing your organization's productive resources.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Readings: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: R. Dan Reid and Nada R. Sanders’ Operations Management: An Integrated Approach: Chapter 6: “Statistical Quality Control;”; DACS Gold Practices International’s “Statistical Process Control;”; WPD Consulting: Stephen Halliday’s “Understanding Variation”
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Unit 5: Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Many of the problems associated with supply chain management are closely related to the typical problems of operations management. Instead of the question: “How should we make this?”, it becomes: “How should we get this from point A to B?” It may be best to ship the product straight from the factory to the customer, but it may be prohibitively expensive to do so. Many firms find it easier and cheaper to ship products to distribution warehouses first and distribute to customers on a more local level.
Unit 5 Time Advisory show close
Supply chain management refers to the entire process of obtaining the raw goods from a supplier, converting those goods into products, shipping products, and placing them in front of customers. Operations management typically focuses on the production side of supply chain management, but a good manager is concerned with the entire process. In this unit, we will look at the management of firm resources on the supply side as well as the distribution of finished goods to the consumer.
Unit 5 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 6: “Supply Chain Management” and Eastern Washington University: Dr. Patricia Nemetz-Mills’ “Global Supply Chain Management”
Links: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 6: “Supply Chain Management” (PDF) and Eastern Washington University: Dr. Patricia Nemetz-Mills’ “Global Supply Chain Management” (HTML)
Instructions: Read Chapter 6 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each unit in this course will come from this text. Also, read Professor Nemetz-Mills’ lecture notes outlining the basic concepts of SCM.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Lecture: YouTube: Stanford University: Hau L. Lee’s “The Triple-A Supply Chain”
Link: YouTube: Stanford University: Hau L. Lee’s “The Triple-A Supply Chain” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch Professor Lee’s video lecture (about 19 minutes) on what he describes as a “Triple-A Supply Chain.”
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- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 6: “Supply Chain Management” and Eastern Washington University: Dr. Patricia Nemetz-Mills’ “Global Supply Chain Management”
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5.1 Fluctuations in the Supply Chain
- Reading: Sloan Management Review: Hau Lee, V Padmanabham, and Seungjin Whang’s “The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains”
Link: Sloan Management Review: Hau Lee, V Padmanabham, and Seungjin Whang’s “The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains” (PDF)
Also available in:
HTML
Instructions: Click on the first link to open the PDF file. Read Lee, Padmanabham, and Whang’s article about the underlying causes of the bullwhip effect.
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- Reading: Sloan Management Review: Hau Lee, V Padmanabham, and Seungjin Whang’s “The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains”
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5.2 Supply Chain Procurement
- Reading: Booz & Company’s Strategy + Business: Timothy M. Laseter, C.V. Ramachandran, and Keith H. Voigt’s “Setting Supplier Cost Targets: Getting beyond the Basics”
Link: Booz & Company’s Strategy + Business: Timothy M. Laseter, C.V. Ramachandran, and Keith H. Voigt’s “Setting Supplier Cost Targets: Getting beyond the Basics” (HTML)
Instructions: Read Laseter, Ramachandran, and Voigt’s article on target costing. This article describes the importance of managing procurement costs through collaboration with suppliers rather than focusing on price alone. Make sure to click on the “Next” link at the bottom of the text to continue on to each page of the article (6 pages total).
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- Lecture: YouTube: ESSEC Business School: Dr. Vinod Singhal’s “Operations Management Seminar: Demand-supply Mismatch and Shareholder Value, Dr. Vinod Singhal”
Link: YouTube: ESSEC Business School: Dr. Vinod Singhal’s “Operations Management Seminar: Demand-supply Mismatch and Shareholder Value, Dr. Vinod Singhal” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this 1 hour, 8 minute video lecture to learn how managers can use SCM to create shareholder value by controlling excess inventory.
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- Reading: Booz & Company’s Strategy + Business: Timothy M. Laseter, C.V. Ramachandran, and Keith H. Voigt’s “Setting Supplier Cost Targets: Getting beyond the Basics”
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5.3 Supply Chain Distribution
- Reading: Business.com: John R. Hall’s “Supply Chain Distribution”
Link: Business.com: John R. Hall’s “Supply Chain Distribution” (HTML)
Instructions: Read Hall’s article on how supply chain managers are dealing with new entrants into the market. The use of statistics and related quantitative data is no longer as effective, as Hall suggests, as using an “umbrella” approach working with distributors to help ensure that everyone is getting involved and participating in the supply chain as needed. To download the article, click on the link above.
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- Reading: Industrial Engineer: Kirk Zylstra’s “Distribution Made Lean”
Link: Industrial Engineer: Kirk Zylstra’s “Distribution Made Lean” (PDF)
Instructions: To download the article, click on the above link and select “Distribution Made Lean.” Read Zylstra’s article on lean distribution, which discusses planning models.
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- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 5 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 6 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you continue working on your operations management plan. As part of your continuing development of your operations management plan, discuss the goal of supply chain management and its application within your business.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Business.com: John R. Hall’s “Supply Chain Distribution”
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Unit 6: Just-In-Time and Lean Systems
Would you order a delivery pizza for dinner from a restaurant advertising delivery in 6 hours? How about a restaurant that can bring you a cold, stale pizza in only 5-minutes? To meet the consumer’s needs, the pizza shop must be able to give customers the number of pizzas they want when they want it. Preparing pizzas in advance is too wasteful because most con,sumers are not likely to buy a stale pizza. Meanwhile, if you take too long to deliver the pizza, you will lose customers to a more responsive competitor. The concept of just-in-time focuses on making what you need to meet customer demand only when you need it. For a pizza delivery shop, that probably means a fresh pizza at the customer’s door in around 30 minutes. This philosophy can apply to a range of operations, from simply washing a car to manufacturing a complex aircraft.
Unit 6 Time Advisory show close
Similarly, the concept of lean manufacturing refers to eliminating waste in the manufacturing process. The Toyota Product System is the model for modern manufacturers that want to control waste. In this unit, we will look at seven types of waste and processes for controlling them. In addition, we will explore the origins of the “Just-in-Time” (JIT) philosophy and the use of pull systems to control inventory.
Unit 6 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 7: “JIT and Lean Systems”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 7: “JIT and Lean Systems” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapter 7 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each subsequent unit in this course will come from this text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Lean History”
Link: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Lean History” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this introductory 9-minute lecture on the history of the Lean System.
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- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 7: “JIT and Lean Systems”
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6.1 Lean Manufacturing
- Reading: eBook: Northwestern University: Kellogg School of Management “Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production”Link: eBook: Northwestern University: Kellogg School of Business’ “Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production” (PDF)
Instructions: To download this article, click on the above link and select the article by title from the list.
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- Lecture: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Lean Simulation” and “Lean Simulation 2 of 2”
Links: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Lean Simulation 1 of 2” (YouTube) and “Lean Simulation 2 of 2” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this two-lecture series on Lean manufacturing using concepts from Taiicho Ohno’s Toyota Production System. The total length of these two videos is 17 minutes.
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- Reading: eBook: Northwestern University: Kellogg School of Management “Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production”
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6.2 Eliminating Waste
- Reading: Mind Tools’ “Just In Time (JIT): Reducing Inventory, Minimizing Waste, and Responding to Your Customers”
Link: Mind Tools’ “Just In Time (JIT): Reducing Inventory, Minimizing Waste, and Responding to Your Customers” (HTML)
Instructions: Review the Mind Tools webpage, which describes a JIT strategy for reducing inventory and minimizing waste.
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- Lecture: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Waste 1 of 2” and “Waste 2 of 2”
Links: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Waste 1 of 2” (YouTube) and “Waste 2 of 2” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this two-lecture series on waste, which borrows concepts from Taiicho Ohno’s Toyota Production System. The total length of these two videos is 15 minutes.
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- Reading: Mind Tools’ “Just In Time (JIT): Reducing Inventory, Minimizing Waste, and Responding to Your Customers”
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6.3 Continuous Improvement
- Reading: IBM Institute for Business Value’s “Driving Operational Innovation Using Lean Six Sigma”
Link: IBM Institute for Business Value’s “Driving Operational Innovation Using Lean Six Sigma” (PDF)
Instructions: To download the case study, open the above link, and then click on the link to “Download complete IBM Institute for Business Value study.” Read IBM’s case study on using Lean Six Sigma in continuous improvement (16 pages).
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- Web Media: YouTube: Gemba Academy’s “Kaizen Overview (Lean Manufacturing)”
Link: YouTube: Gemba Academy’s “Kaizen Overview (Lean Manufacturing)” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch Gemba Academy’s 10-minute video explaining the concept of Kaizen.
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- Reading: IBM Institute for Business Value’s “Driving Operational Innovation Using Lean Six Sigma”
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6.4 JIT Pull Systems
- Reading: Reading: Stowe Consulting Company: James Chapados and Agnieszka Perlinska’s “What Is a Kanban?”
Link: Stowe Consulting Company: James Chapados and Agnieszka Perlinska’s “What Is a Kanban?” (PDF)
Instructions: Click on the hyperlink above, and select the article title to download it. Read this entire article (15 pages) for a detailed look at the kanban, a component in a pull system.
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- Lecture: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Pull 1 of 2” and “Pull 2 of 2”
Links: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Pull 1 of 2” (YouTube) and “Pull 2 of 2” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this two-lecture series on JIT pull systems. The first video presents a simple explanation of JIT systems. Part 2 focuses on different types of kanbans in pull systems. The total length of this pair of videos is 22 minutes.
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- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 6 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 6 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you continue working on your operations management plan. As part of your continuing development of your operations management plan, discuss the goal of supply chain management and its application within your business.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Reading: Stowe Consulting Company: James Chapados and Agnieszka Perlinska’s “What Is a Kanban?”
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Unit 7: Capacity Planning and Facility Layout
In the last unit, we looked at manufacturing and service processes that help companies deliver what a customer wants when they want it. Before the firm can successfully institute these processes, it must understand the requirements that determine its production capacity. In the introduction to Unit 6, we considered how a pizza shop delivers its product. Is it likely that their 30-minute delivery would cover an order for 100 pizzas? Probably not, because they have planned their production capacity based on the demand of individual or family-sized consumers. When planning production capacity, the firm has to consider not only demand, but also the physical aspects of their facility. How close does the operation need to be to consumers? Is the facility within easy reach of the resources needed for production?
Unit 7 Time Advisory show close
In this unit, you will learn how to use forecasting models to understand capacity requirements. We will also evaluate factors that help managers identify the optimal location for a new facility. Finally, we will conclude with a review of basic facility layout designs that maximize production efficiency.
Unit 7 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 8: “Capacity Planning” and Chapter 9: “Facility Layout and Location”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 8: “Capacity Planning” and Chapter 9: “Facility Layout and Location” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapters 8 and 9 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each subsequent unit in this course will come from this text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 8: “Capacity Planning” and Chapter 9: “Facility Layout and Location”
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7.1 Capacity Planning
- Reading: SME.com: International Finance Corporation’s “SME Toolkit: Demand Forecasting”
Link: SME.com: International Finance Corporation’s “SME Toolkit: Demand Forecasting” (HTML)
Instructions: Read IFC’s overview of demand forecasting. Note the examples of both quantitative and qualitative forecasting methods.
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- Reading: SME.com: International Finance Corporation’s “SME Toolkit: Demand Forecasting”
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7.1.1 Identifying Capacity Requirement
- Lecture: YouTube: The Indian Institute of Technology: Professor Arun Kanda’s “Lecture-34: Forecasting” Lecture
Link: YouTube: The Indian Institute of Technology: Professor Arun Kanda’s “Lecture-34: Forecasting” (YouTube)
YouTube: Watch Professor Kanda’s 59-minute video lecture for a detailed look at the importance of forecasting in identifying capacity requirements. Professor Kanda also reviews a variety of forecasting models along with the process of forecast control.
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- Lecture: YouTube: The Indian Institute of Technology: Professor Arun Kanda’s “Lecture-34: Forecasting” Lecture
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7.1.2 Evaluating Capacity Plans
- Reading: ASC Institute: Charles C. Poirier’s “Forecasting, Demand Management, and Capacity Planning”
Link: ASC Institute: Charles C. Poirier’s “Forecasting, Demand Management, and Capacity Planning” (PDF)
Instructions: Click on the link above, and scroll down to the article title for the download link; note that the articles are listed alphabetically by title. Read Poirier’s white paper, which advocates his consultancy firm’s treatment of demand management issues. This paper discusses the use of capacity planning in the upstream side of the supply chain.
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- Reading: ASC Institute: Charles C. Poirier’s “Forecasting, Demand Management, and Capacity Planning”
- 7.2 Facility Location and Layout
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7.2.1 Facility Location
- Reading: Boundless: “Location Choice and Site Planning”
Link: Boundless: “Location Choice and Site Planning” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this article, which should help you understand the many factors that can determine where an organization will locate its facilities and why choosing a location to match an organization’s requirements is important.
Reading this article and taking notes should take approximately 30 minutes.
Terms of Use: This resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. It is attributed to Boundless, and the original version can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Boundless: “Location Choice and Site Planning”
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7.2.2 Facility Layout
- Reading: Boundless: “Facilities Layout”
Link: Boundless: “Facilities Layout” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this article, which will help you understand the criteria of creating an effective and efficient workflow and building a high standard of production. This article also discusses the three types of workflow layouts that managers can choose from and how office and factory facilities are approached differently.
Reading this article and taking notes should take approximately 30 minutes.
Terms of Use: This resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. It is attributed to Boundless, and the original version can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 7 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 7 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you continue working on your operations management plan. In this section of your business plan, you will discuss facility design and layout.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Boundless: “Facilities Layout”
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Unit 8: Work Systems Design
It seems reasonable that a worker’s level of job satisfaction would influence his or her job performance. At some point in your life, you have probably performed a job task that you did not enjoy. Perhaps the work was too physically demanding or there was a problem with the location of the work area. Or perhaps the work was so monotonous that you were starved for mental stimulation. One of the ways that operations managers can impact job satisfaction is through work systems design. In this unit, we will explore how operations managers use strategies like skill variety, task significance, or work organization to enhance job performance. We will also consider models for analyzing work to eliminate unnecessary tasks and regulate the duration of each stage in a production line.
Unit 8 Time Advisory show close
Unit 8 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 10: “Work Systems Design”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 10: “Work Systems Design” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapter 10 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each unit in this course comes from this text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 10: “Work Systems Design”
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8.1 Job Design
- Reading: Accel Team Development’s “Job Design” and PDF Cari: John W. Slocum, Jr.’s “Job Redesign: Improving the Quality of Work Life”
Links: Accel Team Development’s “Job Design” (HTML) and PDF Cari: John W. Slocum, Jr.’s “Job Redesign: Improving the Quality of Work Life” (HTML or PDF)
Instructions: First, read Accel’s article for an overview of job design concepts. This work spans 7 webpages. Be sure to click on the “Next” link at the bottom of each page. Next, read Slocum’s article to learn how managers can use process changes as an opportunity to improve worker effectiveness and satisfaction. You may click on “Download this File” to access the PDF (20 pages), or you may read the text on the webpage directly.
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- Reading: Accel Team Development’s “Job Design” and PDF Cari: John W. Slocum, Jr.’s “Job Redesign: Improving the Quality of Work Life”
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8.2 Methods Analysis
- Reading: Centre for Management Studies: Himadri Barman’s “A Primer on Work Study and Related Concepts” and BC Jobs Online: Arden Albino’s “Work Design Methods: Think Balloons, Not Boxes”
Link: Centre for Management Studies: Himadri Barman’s “A Primer on Work Study and Related Concepts” (PDF) and BC Jobs Online: Arden Albino’s “Work Design Methods: Think Balloons, Not Boxes” (HTML)
Instructions: For Barman’s article, click on the link above and select the article title next to the heading “Downloads.” Then, read Albino’s article on work design methods from the HR department’s perspective.
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- Lecture: YouTube: National College of Ireland: Dr. Eugene F.M. O’Loughlin’s “Problem Solving Techniques #14: SREDIM Process Improvement”
Link: YouTube: National College of Ireland: Dr. Eugene F.M. O’Loughlin’s “Problem Solving Techniques #14: SREDIM Process Improvement” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this 8-minute video lecture outlining the use of SREDIM in Job Safety Analysis.
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- Reading: Centre for Management Studies: Himadri Barman’s “A Primer on Work Study and Related Concepts” and BC Jobs Online: Arden Albino’s “Work Design Methods: Think Balloons, Not Boxes”
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8.3 Motion Study
- Reading: NetMBA’s “Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management”
Link: NetMBA’s “Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management” (HTML)
Instructions: Read NetMBA’s article on the father of scientific management and the use of time and motion studies.
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- Reading: NetMBA’s “Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management”
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8.4 Work Measurement
- Reading: Managers-Net’s “Time Study” and “Predetermined Motion Time Systems (PMTS)”
Links: Managers-Net’s “Time Study” (HTML) and “Predetermined Motion Time Systems (PMTS)” (HTML)
Instructions: Read these articles for a description of two methods for establishing the time required to complete a task.
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- Web Media: YouTube: Classontheweb’s “Measurement of Work”
Link: YouTube: Classontheweb’s “Measurement of Work” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this 2-minute video explaining the variables used to measure work.
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- Reading: Managers-Net’s “Time Study” and “Predetermined Motion Time Systems (PMTS)”
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8.5 Project Management Issues
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 11: “Project Management”; Doug DeCarlo’s “A Different Drummer: Traditional Project Management vs. Extreme Project Management”; Gary Anthes "The Learning Curve"
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 11: “Project Management” (PDF); Doug DeCarlo’s “A Different Drummer: Traditional Project Management vs. Extreme Project Management” (HTML); Gary Anthes' "The Learning Curve" (HTML)
Instructions: Read Chapter 11 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” Save this PDF file, as the initial reading from each unit in this course will come from this text. Then, read DeCarlo’s article, which compares traditional and extreme project management, and Anthes' article, which discusses the learning curve..
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- Lecture: YouTube: The Indian Institute of Technology: Professor Arun Kanda’s “Project Management: An Overview” Lecture
Link: YouTube: The Indian Institute of Technology: Professor Arun Kanda’s “Project Management: An Overview” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch Professor Kanda’s 50-minute video lecture, which presents a very nice overview of projects including some examples along with common features shared by a diverse range of projects.
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- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 8 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 8 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you identify the operational processes in your own organization.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 11: “Project Management”; Doug DeCarlo’s “A Different Drummer: Traditional Project Management vs. Extreme Project Management”; Gary Anthes "The Learning Curve"
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Unit 9: Applications of Project Management
Like quality management, project management is closely tied to the general operations of a firm. The difference is that project management focuses on the future, whereas operations and quality focus on the present. Project management usually involves addressing a specific project within a specific time frame. Regardless of whether the project involves installing a computer system or building a skyscraper, the project manager must evaluate the costs versus benefits, plan manageable steps, and monitor progress to successfully complete the project. In addition to studying the activities in the project management process, we will examine how project managers perform network analysis to understand the activities and milestones in a project.
Unit 9 Time Advisory show close
Unit 9 Learning Outcomes show close
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9.1 Project Management Activities
- Lecture: iTunesU: Dr. Richard Jerz’s “Ch04: Lecture on Forecasting” and “Using Excel in Forecasting”
Link: iTunesU: Dr. Richard Jerz’s “Ch04: Lecture on Forecasting” (iTunes U) and “Using Excel in Forecasting” (iTunes U)
Instructions: Watch Dr. Jerz’s 2-lecture video series on forecasting. The “Forecasting” lecture discusses the steps in the forecasting process as well as several forecasting models. The second lecture will show you how Dr. Jerz has used Microsoft Excel to automate forecasting processes. The combined length of both videos is 37 minutes. When you open the above links, you will need to select the “View in iTunes” link next to each title to download the iTunesU content. Forecasting is a vital part of operations management in that the manufacturer has to know what order quantities to purchase to produce an adequate supply that meets consumer demand. Forecasting is used to determine what quantities consumers are likely to purchase and to provide suppliers who work with manufacturers with inputs, so the manufacturer can generate sufficient outputs.
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- Reading: JISC InfoNet: “Project Management”
Link: JISC InfoNet: “Project Management” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read this article.
Reading this article and taking notes should take you approximately 2 hours.
Terms of Use: This resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. It is attributed to Jisc Advance, and the original version can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: Ammar Mango’s “Project Management Tips 1: How NOT to Plan a Project” Lecture and YouTube: O’Reilly Webcast: Dux Raymond Sy’s “Leverage SharePoint for PM Success” Lecture
Link: YouTube: Ammar Mango’s “Project Management Tips 1: How NOT to Plan a Project” and (YouTube); YouTube: O’Reilly Webcast: Dux Raymond Sy’s “Leverage SharePoint for PM Success” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch Mango’s 5-miute video lecture explaining how to effectively plan a project. O’Reilly’s 57-minute lectures focuses on the use of a common IT solution to manage the progress of a project.
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- Lecture: iTunesU: Dr. Richard Jerz’s “Ch04: Lecture on Forecasting” and “Using Excel in Forecasting”
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9.2 Network Analysis
- Reading: NetMBA’s “CPM – Critical Path Method” and “PERT”; Mind Tools’ “Critical Path Analysis and PERT Charts”
Link: NetMBA’s “CPM – Critical Path Method” (HTML) and “PERT” (HTML); Mind Tools’ “Critical Path Analysis and PERT Charts” (HTML)
Instructions: Read NetMBA’s explanation of the critical path method and the program evaluation and review technique. Then, read the text on the Mind Tools webpage, which describes the use of CPA and PERT in network analysis.
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- Lecture: Lectures: YouTube: POMSCM’s “Project Management 1,” “Project Management 3,”; and “Project Management 4”
Link: YouTube: POMSCM’s “Project Management 1” (YouTube), “Project Management 3” (YouTube), and “Project Management 4” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this series of video lectures on analyzing project networks. “Project Management 1” covers the critical path method, “Project Management 2” discusses project crashing, and “Project Management 4” covers the project evaluation and review technique (PERT). These three videos collectively total 23 minutes.
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- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 9 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 9 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you continue working on your operations management plan. This writing activity requires that you reflect on what you have learned so far and apply what you have learned to your operations management plan.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: NetMBA’s “CPM – Critical Path Method” and “PERT”; Mind Tools’ “Critical Path Analysis and PERT Charts”
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Unit 10: Inventory
In a manufacturing context, inventory includes raw materials, work that is in process, and finished goods. Running out of a necessary component in the middle of production can be very costly for a manufacturer. The goal of inventory management is to balance the cost of ordering and storing material with the cost of not having that material available when it is needed. Effective inventory management combines elements of accounting, sales, and operations management. Certain aspects of this unit will feel like a review of accounting, but we will be discussing accounting from the perspective of the operation manager. There are a number of strategies for managing inventory. Because direct costs can be calculated based on the length of time an inventory is in storage, accountants and operations managers try to prevent inventory from “sitting around.”
Unit 10 Time Advisory show close
An example of one of the most successful implementers of inventory management is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart uses vendor-managed inventory, meaning that its merchandise does not sit in a Wal-Mart warehouse. Instead, it stays with the manufacturer until Wal-Mart learns from its stores that more is needed. This keeps Wal-Mart from having to pay to store all of the products it sells. In this unit, we will consider how demand influences the operations manager’s choice of inventory management system. We will also examine models for determining how much inventory to order and when to order it.
Unit 10 Learning Outcomes show close
- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 12: “Inventory Management”
Link: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 12: “Inventory Management” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Chapter 12 of Porter’s Operations Management text. You will find this chapter in the text that you downloaded for the reading in Unit 1. If you need to download the text again, click on the link above to go to the Bookboon.com website. After entering your location and email address, you will be able to download the text in PDF format directly from the webpage. Make sure to select the country from which you are accessing this resource from the drop-down menu after “You are in.” You may want to save this PDF to your desktop for easy access to review later on as you study for your final exam.
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- Lecture: YouTube: The Indian Institute of Technology: Professor Arun Kanda’s “Basic Inventory Principles”
Link: YouTube: The Indian Institute of Technology: Professor Arun Kanda’s “Basic Inventory Principles” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this 58-minute video lecture describing basic inventory principles.
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- Reading: Book Boon: Albert Porter’s "Operations Management:" Chapter 12: “Inventory Management”
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10.1 Inventory Management
- Reading: Eastern Washington University: Dr. Patricia Nemetz-Mills’ “Inventory Management” and Clearly Inventory’s “Inventory Basics - All about Inventory Management”
Link: Eastern Washington University: Dr. Patricia Nemetz-Mills’ “Inventory Management” (HTML) and Clearly Inventory’s “Inventory Basics - All about Inventory Management” (PDF)
Instructions: Read Professor Nemetz-Mills’ lecture notes on Inventory Management. Be sure to complete the practice exercises, and check your answers against those provided. The Clearly Inventory reading is composed of seven sequential sections outlining a basic application of inventory management principles. Complete the reading in its entirety.
Terms of Use: This resource has been reposted with the kind permission of Clearly Inventory, and the original version can be found here. Please note that this material is under copyright and cannot be reproduced in any capacity without the explicit permission from the copyright holder.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Eastern Washington University: Dr. Patricia Nemetz-Mills’ “Inventory Management” and Clearly Inventory’s “Inventory Basics - All about Inventory Management”
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10.2 Types of Inventory and Inventory Decisions
- Reading: Management Study Guide’s “Inventory Classification: ABC Classification, Advantages & Disadvantages” and “Finished Goods Inventory”
Links: Management Study Guide’s “Inventory Classification: ABC Classification, Advantages & Disadvantages” (HTML) and “Finished Goods Inventory” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the linked articles on ABC inventory classification and finished goods.
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- Lecture: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Inventory 1 of 2” Lecture
Links: YouTube: Simplex Improvement’s “Inventory 1 of 2” (YouTube) and “Inventory 2 of 2” (YouTube) Lectures
Instructions: Watch this well-done 2-lecture series on inventory management and inventory decisions. The lectures total 17 minutes in length.
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- Reading: Management Study Guide’s “Inventory Classification: ABC Classification, Advantages & Disadvantages” and “Finished Goods Inventory”
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10.3 Inventory Control
- Reading: Brunel University: J. E. Beasley’s “OR-Notes: Inventory Control” and Inventory Operations Consulting, LLC: Dave Piasecki’s “Dependent Demand Safety Stock”
Links: Brunel University: J. E. Beasley’s “OR-Notes: Inventory Control” (HTML) and Inventory Operations Consulting, LLC: Dave Piasecki’s “Dependent Demand Safety Stock” (HTML)
Instructions: Read Beasley’s article for a detailed look at inventory control models. Then, read Piasecki’s article, which discusses the re-order point model for inventory control.
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- Lecture: YouTube: POMSCM’s “Inventory Control”
Link: YouTube: POMSCM’s “Inventory Control” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch this 10-minute video lecture for examples of economic order quantity, lot size production, and quantity discount models for controlling inventory.
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- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 10 Activity and Grading Rubric”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Unit 10 Activity and Grading Rubric” (PDF)
Instructions: Please download the instructions for the activity in which you continue working on your operations management plan. This final part of your operations management plan requires that you identify the critical factors involved in inventory control systems. After developing this final portion of your plan, compile all of the parts you have work on in the activities for Units 1-10 to develop one comprehensive business plan.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Brunel University: J. E. Beasley’s “OR-Notes: Inventory Control” and Inventory Operations Consulting, LLC: Dave Piasecki’s “Dependent Demand Safety Stock”
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Final Exam
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's BUS300 Final Exam
Link: The Saylor Foundation's BUS300 Final Exam
Instructions: You must be logged into your Saylor Foundation School account in order to access this exam. If you do not yet have an account, you will be able to create one, free of charge, after clicking the link.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's BUS300 Final Exam
