Operations Management (MASTER)

The course examines business processes within the context of production and supply chain management by combining both analytical techniques and giving relevant managerial insights. It introduces students to concepts and techniques that are essential for the design, planning, control and improvement of service and manufacturing operations. The course provides quantitative and qualitative tools to analyze operations, and allows students to see the role of operations management in the overall strategy of the firm. In each module of the course, the course covers basic tools for analyzing operations problems, methods for managing that aspect of operations in a real situation, as well as provide a strategic view, typically using cases, of that aspect of operations.

Course syllabus

The course addresses the process view of the organization and focuses on process flow analysis, managing variability and uncertainty in processes, managing inventory and capacity in processes, and establishing a responsive and efficient product supply chain on information sharing and coordinated action.
The course tackles the challenges related to matching supply and demand, following the traditional hierarchical structure of production planning in business, with the capacity planning of production facilities and manpower planning, managing inventories and scheduling of manufacturing operations, and learning about approaches to production related to the concept of lean management. The course content is strongly related to demand forecasting, basic of inventory management and logistics.