Management: Operations

Course Director: Iman Parsa

Part of the Specialization in Management

To complete the specialization, ensure you finalize both BE0152 and BE0153. Any completed course from a discontinued specialization will be counted as a course in addition to the degree and can never be counted as an elective course within the degree. This does not apply to exchange students.

For questions email: academic.advisor@hhs.se

Why Operations Management?
The course in Operations Management will develop your skills in analyzing, understanding and developing organizations. Having taken the course, students will have knowledge of how organizations’ operations work and can be improved. The course is centred on a number of themes which are critical to how organizations develop, produce and deliver products and services. Several analytical tools and frameworks will be provided in the course. These tools and frameworks will be put to practice in real-life projects inside a number of organizations.

The pedagogical philosophy behind the course is that of experience-based learning; hence simulations, cases and real organizations will be used throughout the course. The course will also allow you to develop your analytical skills as well as skills in project management and teamwork, all central to your future career. These skills will be important regardless of your future career interests.

What is Operations Management?
The course in operations management is concerned with how organizations develop, produce and deliver products and services. The focus is on those value-adding resources and processes of any organization that transform resources into products and services. Critical here is that we are concerned with organizations of all kinds, regardless of industry or whether they are public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit. There are four activities which are critical to how organizations achieve the transformation of resources into products and services:

• Direct – steering operations processes, through developing strategies. The organization’s strategy is central to shaping operations activities. Strategy is what gives direction to processes and the activities associated with them.
• Design – designing products/services and processes. A central activity of operations managers is design, both of products/services and the processes that produce these products/services.
• Deliver - the day-to-day delivery of products and services. On a day-to-day basis, operations managers are tasked with delivering products and services. Here a number of activities are critical such as capacity management, planning and control.
• Develop - the continual improvement of operations processes. Finally, operations managers are tasked with improving the organization’s products, services and processes. To this end, a number of skills and tools are necessary to develop.

What will you learn in the course?
The main objective of the course is to give participating students a solid understanding of how organizations do what they do and how this, their operations, can be improved.

Analyze the performance of an organization’s operations function and provide suggestions for how it can be improved.

Understand and evaluate how an organization’s operations function contributes to the overall strategy and success of the organization.

Apply a number of models and tools for improving product and service design.

Understand fundamental choices in designing value-adding processes and evaluate the impact of process design on organizational performance.

Apply a number of models and tools for improving the day-to-day delivery of products and services.

Understand the basic principles of the lean operations approach to process design and improvement.

Pedagogical idea – experience-based learning
The pedagogical philosophy behind course BE0152 is that of experience-based learning; hence, simulations, case competitions, and guest seminars held by expert practitioners will be used throughout the course in order to provide opportunities to use models and frameworks in the context of a complex real world.

Central to the course is a real-life operations project

The course will be centred on real-life operations projects which extend into the second course of the specialization BE153 Management: Consulting and change. A number of organizations will be partnering with the course, organizations of various sizes, from various industries, with various ownership, both private and public. These organizations will bring an operations-related problem they want analyzed.

Project teams of 5 students are to perform these analyzes. The teams will be able to choose among the different projects. The work with the operations project will start early in the course and will be reported in the form of diagnosis report at the end of the course BE0152 Management: Operations. Those students also taking course BE0153 Management: Consulting and change will continue working with shaping a solution and implementation plan.

The focus of the projects will be a problem related to one or more operations processes in the organizations. Students will use the tools and frameworks learnt in the course to analyze the problem. The pressure on delivery will be real, the organizations partnering with the course will expect results, but will in return grant access to their inner functioning and processes. The projects are chosen because they are of value to the participating organizations!

Supported by a structured project process

The course supports the students working with the live projects through a structured learning process. This process is designed to help students deliver value to their client organizations. The work with the projects is enhanced by extensive expert coaching and peer-to-peer feedback sessions, in addition to providing students with the actual models/tools and frameworks to do the operations analysis and plan the change management process.

Where skills training is incorporated

One of the key management skills you will develop during the specialization is that of leading and working collaboratively in teams. Throughout the entire specialization (courses BE0152 and BE0153) you will be working in a team. The unique “team skills module” integrated with the course aims to use this setting as a context for your skill development, thereby also improving the quality and efficiency of your teamwork. From research we know that teams that regularly reflect on their collaboration are more efficient and effective. The team skills module applies a unique tool taking you through a set of virtual development sessions (boost sessions) that will help you develop yourself and your teams and improve efficacy in your teamwork as well as your leadership skills.

Course Administrator: Bernalee.Karlsson.Anthony@hhs.se

To successfully pass the course, the student needs to demonstrate:

• Knowledge and understanding of the core models, tools and frameworks of Operations Management
• Ability to select and apply appropriate models, tools and frameworks in real life contexts
• Ability to confront and relate different models, tools and frameworks of the course to each other, to practice and to your own experience
• Ability to work effectively in project teams dedicated to solve real operations problems and deliver value to a client organization

SSE students: This course can only be taken by students admitted to the specialization in Management: Operations, Consulting and Change. To be admitted to the specialization, the student must fulfill the following criteria no later than after the examination period in December/January before the specialization starts.

• Have passed at least 45 ECTS credits out of the mandatory course requirements.
• Have passed the mandatory courses required for the specialization: BE0101 Management I and BE0701 Innovation

Exchange students should have knowledge equivalent to the SSE courses listed above.

IMPORTANT: We use the seventh edition of Slack, Brandon-Jones & Burgess!

Nigel Slack, Alistair Brandon-Jones, and Nicola Burgess. (2024). Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact. Seventh edition. Pearson Education. (ISBN: 978-1292729268)

Articles

• Chase, R. B., & Dasu, S. (2001). Want to perfect your company's service? Use behavioral science. Harvard Business Review, 79(6), 78-85.
• D'Aveni, R. A. (2018). The 3D Printing Playbook. Harvard Business Review, 96(4), 106-113.
• Frei, F. X. (2006). Breaking the trade-off between efficiency and service. Harvard Business Review, 84(11), 92.
• Minto, B. (1998a). Think your way to clear writing – part 1. Journal of Management Consulting, 10(1), 33-40 (access through ProQuest database)
• Minto, B. (1998b). Think your way to clear writing- part 2. Journal of Management Consulting, 10(2), 45-53 (access through ProQuest database)

The examination consists of four parts:

Team-based

• Case Assignment: 8%
• Live Project Report: 32%

Individual-based

• Individual Exam: 60%
• Bonus Points: 2%

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).