California State University, Northridge
College of Business and Economics
Department of Systems and Operations Management
SOM 306 Operations Management, Fall 2014
Dr. Ardavan Asef-Vaziri
aa2035@csun.edu
Office: JH 4129, Tel: 818-677-3637
Office hours: T Th 1-2, and by appointment
Count what is countable.
Measure what is measurable.
What is not measurable, make it measurable.
Galileo Galilei, 1564 -1642.
Prerequisites. To enroll in SOM 306, the student must have passed SOM 120 (or
an equivalent statistics course at another institution) with a grade of “C” or
higher. Alternatively, the student must have passed both, Math 140 and Math 103
courses. Students, who have not passed the prerequisites, are under the risk of
receiving an F as their final grade. It is your responsibility to make sure that you
have passed all necessary prerequisites.
Operations Management. Operations, Marketing, and Finance are the three
primary functions of business organizations. Operations management focuses on
how managers can design and operate processes in business settings with discrete
flow units. Examples include the flow of cars in a GM assembly plant, flow of
customers in a Wells Fargo branch, flow of patients at the UCLA Medical Center,
flow of cash in Fidelity Investments, and flow of students during their program at
CSUN. In all these systems in, Inputs (natural resources, semi-finished goods,
products, customers, patients, students, and cash) in form of Flow Units flow
through a set of Processes (formed by a network of Activities and Buffers) using
Human Resources and Capital Resources (such as equipment, buildings, tools) to
become a desired Outputs. The reason for the being of operations management is
structuring (designing), managing, and improving processes to achieve the
desired output as defined in a four-dimensional space of quality, cost, time, and
variety.
Making a factory [or the service system] operate for the company just like the
human body operates for the individual. The autonomic nervous system responds
even when we are asleep. The human body functions in good health when it is
properly cared for, fed and watered correctly, exercised frequently, and treated
with respect.
Taiichi Ohno, Toyota Production System.
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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SOM 306 is an introductory course into operations management. The goal is to
acquaint the students in Business Administration and Economics with the scope
of this field. During this semester you will be introduced to classic and
contemporary terminology, concepts, ideas, models, techniques and tools in
design and operations of manufacturing and service enterprises. Operations
management techniques, such as short term and long term forecasting, process
flow analysis, waiting line analysis, capacity planning, throughput improvement,
flow time reduction, inventory management, linear programming, aggregate
planning, quality management, and lean operations are introduced. These
techniques are integrated on the basis of analysis, design, and management of
process flows in environments, such as production and assembly plants, supply
chains, healthcare systems, educational institutes, and financial enterprises. You
will gain a knowledge that will enable you to perform qualitative analysis of basic
operational situations and decisions. Also, you will have a chance to improve
your your
Specific Features of the Course. One of the most binding constraints of business
school students – from when they are admitted to college as raw material from high
school to when they graduate and leave college as the final product – is their low
quantitative and analytical skills. According to the CEO of American Express in his
2011 interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN, the low level of quantitative
capabilities of our graduates has kept us from excelling beyond the graduates of
rising countries such as China and India. Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) Skills Outlook (2013) compares the literacy, mathematics
and computer skills of U.S. residents with other OECD countries. In mathematics,
U.S. trailed 18 countries and beat only Italy and Spain.
Believing that managers cannot go far if their quantitative and analytical
capabilities are below a threshold, we have tried to improve these qualifications
through our Operations Management (OM) classroom. In a typical traditional OM
class, about 2/3 of the class time is spent on delivering the content. The rest is
mainly spent on problem solving and also on case studies, term projects, and
simulation games. We have tried to improve these capabilities through flipping
our Operations Management classroom. By delivering the lectures using screen
capture technology, the students can learn the material at a time and location of
their choice, when they are in control to pause, rewind, and fast forward the
professor. The class time is no longer spent on teaching basic concepts, but rather
on more value-added activities such as problem solving, answering questions,
creative-thinking, systems-thinking, as well as real world applications and
discussions, potential collaborative exercises such as case studies, and virtual
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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world applications such as web-based simulation games. A flipped classroom is
an online course because its online components must compete with the best of the
online courses. A flipped classroom is also a traditional course because not even a
single class session is cancelled while all the lectures are delivered online. This
core concept is reinforced by a network of resources and learning processes,
ensuring a smooth, lean, and synchronized course delivery system.
The specific features of the course and their relative importance are depicted below.
Quantitative
and Analytical
Interdisciplinary
Team Work
Systems
Thinking
Information
Visualization
Information
Technology
Quantitative and Analytical. We use Operations Management as a tool to
improve the quantitative and analytical capabilities of our students. You will
learn to develop a structured, data-driven, analytical, and quantitative approach
to discuss the core Operations Management concepts.
Systems Thinking. We try to improve systems thinking capabilities of our
students by teaching them the basic concepts of operations management not as
isolated islands, but as a total system designed towards improving process flow.
You will learn to implement the process view as the unifying paradigm to study
the core concepts in the operations management.
Visualization of Data and Information. Besides quantitative representation
(translating long writings into mathematical relationships), you will have a chance
to practice tabular representation (translating long writings into tables) and
schematic representation (translating several pages of writing and tables into a
graph, flow chart, or picture). Also, you will exercise how to deal with large,
unorganized, or erroneous big data sets.
Information Technology. We try to enhance the knowledge of the students in
spreadsheet modeling. We have learned that understanding the knowledge behind
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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these models and developing small pilot spreadsheets leads to a better
understanding of the course material. Through case studies, as well as web-based
games, the stage is set to motivate the students to develop spreadsheet-based
models.
Teamwork. We encourage collaborative learning and creative thinking. The first
day of the class is not spent on the syllabus, but rather on the importance of
teamwork and collaborative learning. I highly encourage you to have weekly team
meetings to go over the already solved assignments, and gain new insights in the
web-based games and case studies.
Interdisciplinary. We address interfaces of Operations Management with
Accounting, Finance, Economics, and Management concepts through case studies.
Learning Goals. There will be two games and several learning goal specific
problems in the exams to enable the college to assess your knowledge in the
following areas: (a) To provide definitions or short explanations of concepts and
issues related to the area of operations management. (b) To be familiar with a
basic set of standard operation problems. (c) To interpret quantitative analysis of
various operational problems and present the results to management.
Text Book. There is no mandatory text book for this course.
Reference Books.
Managing Business Process Flows, 3rd Ed. 2012. Anupindi, Chopra, Deshmukh,
Van Mieghem, and Zemel. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-13-6036371. Matador prices are as follows
New
$130.25
Used
$97.75
New Rental
$84.66
Used Rental
$62.52
Digital
$62.25
Building Lean Supply Chains with the Theory of Constraints. 2012. Srinivasan.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 978-0-07-177121-4. This book also has a Kindle edition
available on the Amazon web site.
Supply Chain management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation. 5th edition, 2010.
Chopra and Meindl. PEARSON Prentice Hall. Print ISBN: 978-0-13-274395-2
eText ISBN:
Introduction to Management Science. 5th edition, 2014. Hillier and Hillier. Mc
Graw-Hill ISBN: 0078024064. eBook is available through CourseSmart
(www.coursesmart.com). The eBook ISBN is 978-0-07-749893-1.
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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The books do not replace the teaching material covered during the semester.
Nothing will replace (i) Listening to the recordings and reading the lectures,
and printing the PowerPoint lectures before coming to class. (ii) Completing
the assignments before coming to class. (iii) Coming to class and being on time,
not leaving the class early, remaining focused in class, and writing the required
notes.
Composition of marks:
Class Participation….................10%
Games and Report ....................12.5%
Games Report (2 pages) ….......2.5%
Quizzes .......................................22.5%
Mid-term Exam ..........................22.5%
Final .............................................30%
Class Participation.
You MUST post a clear photo of your face on Moodle by the end of the first
week. If you have specific concerns regarding posting your photo that is fine,
just come to me to discuss it. Only the students who profoundly help Dr. Asef in
creating a learning environment will get full marks for class participation. What
do we partially mean by creating a learning environment? During the last two
semesters, I have had innumerous complaints from the students regarding
continuous whispering of other students at their side. When you talk during my
lectures (a) you cannot follow the material, (b) Dr. Asef loses his concentration,
and more importantly, (c) you do not allow your classmates to follow and
understand the material discussed. In order to get 100% of the class participation
mark, please do not disturb the learning environment by creating background
noise. Sending text messages and surfing unrelated sites are other examples of
disturbing the learning environment. All students are expected to turn off their
cell phones during class sessions and not have the cell phone at their approach
but in a backpack or in a not easily approachable pocket. The only exceptions are
(i) unexpected emergencies or (ii) using the cell phone for teaching material. In
both cases the student must inform Dr. Asef in advance. Students are expected to
use their laptops and tablets strictly for presentation slides or computations. Any
other utilization is considered as interruption in the learning environment.
Thank you for helping us to create an efficient learning environment. Please come
to class, be on time, do not leave the class early, and remain focused in class.
Being focused in class, reading the PowerPoint slides, and solving the
assignments play the most important role in your success in SOM 306. If you
intend to leave the class early, you need to leave a note at the beginning of class
and explain the reason. Otherwise, if a student leaves the class after she/he has
been marked present for that session, her/his overall class participation grade
and peer evaluation grade will be set to 0.
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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I expect all students to go into State 0 at least one minute before the class starts.
State 0 means absolute meditation mode. Born in Moscow in 1863, Constantin
Sergeyevich Stanislavsky had a more profound effect on the process of acting
than anyone else in the twentieth century. It was his assertion that if the theater
was going to be meaningful it needed to move beyond the external representation
that acting had primarily been. Over forty years he created an approach that fore
fronted the psychological and emotional aspects of acting. The Stanislavsky
System, or "the method," as it has become known, held that an actor’s main
responsibility was to be believed (rather than recognized or understand). Today
in the United States, Stanislavsky’s theories are the primary source of study for
many actors. Among the many great actors and teachers to use his work are
Marlon Brando and Gregory Peck. Many artists have continued experimentation
with Stanislavsky’s ideas. Among the best known of these proponents is the
Actors Studio, an organization that has been home to some of the most talented
and successful actors of our time. Stanislavsky saw that the difference between
the good actor and the great actor was the ability to be relaxed, and to be private
in public. We learn from Stanislavsky: As the students relax before the lecture
starts; they clean the slate, going to a zero state, being ready for the best
performance in the learning process.
Quizzes. Our flipped classroom needs to be (1) smooth (the work-load is
uniformly spread over the semester due to well-paced lecture captures), (2) lean
(the students do not have the opportunity to postpone watching the lectures due
to after-lecture-before-class quizzes ), and (3) synchronized (online resources
facilitate learning processes and live face-to-face in-class problem solving and
troubleshooting reinforce the online material). I have prepared screen captures of
the lectures using software such as Camtacia Studio. Each student can learn the
basic concepts at flexible times fitting his/her schedule. If students do not know
the basic concepts streamlined through screen captures, there will be no basis for
active problem solving, trouble shooting, creative-thinking thinking, and real
world applications in our face-to-face class times. So, my recorded lectures will
give you a chance to learn the basic concepts via screen captures at a time that
best fits your schedule, and when you are focused. Then, take a simple online
quiz (on Moodle) to assess whether you have listened and understood the
lectures. Next, you need to start solving the assigned problems. When you come
to class after going through these simple steps, you will be in an excellent position
to overcome you weaknesses throughout the class discussion. In a quantitative
and analytical course, it is the problem solving and profound face-to-face
discussions, rather than delivering the basic concepts, which requires presence of
the teacher. After class discussions, you will take another online quiz on Moodle,
but this time more advanced. Comparing the performance of the students on
simple quizzes after listening to lectures with that of the more advanced quizzes
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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after class discussion provides basis for assessment. Group discussions on the
lecture material, as well as on the solved assignments, are very beneficial.
Nevertheless, quizzes are individual tasks and any type of collaboration on the
quizzes is prohibited. Usually, you have 20-50 minutes to take the quizzes.
Time window for the most of the quizzes is from 11:30 am on Fridays to 11:30
pm on Sunday of the same week. But few quizzes could have a time window
of Tuesday 4 pm to Wednesday 11:30 pm.
Students, who share their quiz content with other students who have not taken
the quiz yet, or provide them with supporting material, may get a grade of zero
for one quiz or for all quizzes. Students who follow specific patterns in taking
quizzes may be subject to audit.
Games. During the semester two web-based games will be played in teams. Each
team is composed of four students. Teams of less than or greater than 4 are not
allowed. Students should register their teams within the first two weeks of the
course using the instructions provided on the access code (details are below).
Each game takes one week. During these games, you will examine the capabilities
of the quantitative and analytical tools that you have learned in the course. The
first game is focused on the Forecasting Models, Process Flow Analysis, and
Waiting Line Models. In the second game, in addition to these techniques, you
will need to exercise your knowledge on Inventory Models and Revenue
Management models. Game 2 starts from scratch, not from the point you have
finished Game 1. Game grades will be determined by the financial position of
your company at the end of each game. The team in the best cash asset position
gets 100 and the last team gets 60. If a team’s financial position is exactly the same
as the “do-nothing” team, their grade is set to 0. We have experienced that after
playing the first game, the students realize that knowing the course material plays
a profound role in their standing, and therefore, they allocate more time to learn
the course material related to the second game.
Each team will write a two-page single space report at the end of Game 2 covering
both Game 1 and Game 2. In the report, you, as a team, are required to explain
how you have played the two games, what operations management techniques
have used, what were the good and bad decisions you have made, what did you
learn playing the games, and what is your opinion on implementation of these
types of games. If you decide to drop a member from your team, you need to
email him/her and state your reasons in advance, e.g. when Game 1 starts or after
the end of Game 1 or Game 2. Please read the following documents to become
familiar with the nature of the games.
Overview of the Games
Game 1
Game 2
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To Purchase the access code. The access codes are sold online at
http://mgr.responsive.net/Manager/ShowClient . Our institution name is "Cal
State Univ. Northridge". The product is titled "Littlefield Code for SOM 306". The
online price will be $18, payable by MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American
Express cards.
To Register for the games. All team members should register at
http://sim.responsive.net/lt/csun/start.html. To register, you need BOTH the
individual code purchased and the course code which is 'california' (without ' ').
The most common problem is entering the code you have bought at the bookstore
when you are supposed to be using registration code. On the page you get after
entering your registration code, make up a team name and a password and enter
both. This is for the first student (the second, third and forth student must follow
the team name and password initiated by the first person). On the page after that,
you enter your names and individual access codes. Please have your first name
first, then a space, then your last name, EXACTLY the same as your first and last
name on Portal/DPR. Thanks. If your name in the game differs from your name
on your DPR you miss 5%.
To Play. Once the simulator has started, students can access the game from
http://sim.responsive.net/lt/csun/entry.html
Exams.
There will be a midterm exam, and an “almost” cumulative final exam. Exams are
closed book/closed notes, and are a combination of problems and short questions.
Please carefully check the dates and times of the midterms and the final exams.
No make-up exam is allowed except for medical reasons, and very unexpected
situations. Such circumstances must be supported by written evidence. During
the exam you may be asked to change your seat. This by no means indicates that
you have conducted any act of academic dishonesty. Nevertheless, you must
comply immediately. Please note that you cannot have your cell phone at your
approach during the exam. Please note, if an ”on” and approachable cell phone
will be found, the student may not finish the exam. Thanks for your
cooperation.
Grading
(A)
(A-)
(B+)
(B)
(B-)
(C+)
93-100
88-93
86-88
82-86
80-82
77-80
(C)
(C-)
(D+)
(D)
(D-)
(F)
73-77
70-73
67-70
63-67
60-63
0-60
Academic integrity.
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Academic integrity is a core value at CSUN. As such, students are expected to
perform their own work (except when collaboration is expressly permitted by the
professor). When practiced, academic integrity ensures that all students are fairly
graded. Academic dishonesty, however, undermines the educational process and
must not be tolerated. Simply stated, academic dishonesty is the intentional use or
attempted use of unauthorized material, information, or study aids on academic
exercises. Academic dishonesty demonstrates a lack of respect for oneself, fellow
students, and the professor. It can ruin the university’s reputation and the value
of the degree it offers. We all share the obligation to maintain an environment
which practices academic honesty. All students need to sign and date the last
page of this syllabus and submit it to Dr. Asef in the first week of classes.
SOM Tutoring Room JH 4120 Schedule.
SOM tutoring services are available at the following days and hours in JH4120:
Monday through Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Friday: 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Shervin Shahriari and Sevak Ohanesbabrudi are the tutors who have more
knowledge of my course structure and material. Their office hours are . Their
email addresses are shervin.shahriari.56@my.csun.edu
sevak.ohanesbabrudi.358@my.csun.edu. For topics such as Process Flow and
Waiting Line, Sevak and Shervin are the best choices. For other topics all tutors
are good.
Honor Students tutoring
Honors students provide free tutoring to students enrolled in COBAE lower
division and upper division required classes. Appointments can be made
anywhere from 2 to 14 days in advance. To make an appointment, please go to the
business honors association website at http://www.csun.edu/bha, click on the
“book now” icon on the right side of the webpage and follow the instructions.
Schedule of Classes
Disclaimer: This syllabus is an invitation for students to engage in an exciting and
interactive study of Operations Management. The intention of the SOM 306
course is to provide you with information, offer practice with skill sets, and
enhance your capacity to use fundamental concepts of operations management.
To that end, modifications to subjects and dates of this syllabus, except for exam
dates, might be warranted as determined by the professor as he assess the
learning needs of this particular class of students. The week by week schedule
will be updated on Moodle. Due to modifications in this schedule the students
are responsible to check Moodle at the night after each class session.
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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Session Day Date Topic
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
16
Th
Introduction
Process and Strategy
Process and Strategy
Process and Strategy
Job Shop and Flow Shop
Performance Measures
Moving Average and Forecasting Measures
Moving Average and Forecasting Measures
Exponential Smoothing aned Regression
Process Flow Analysis
Process Flow Analysis
Process Flow Analysis
Process Flow Analysis
Waiting Line Analysis- Process
Mid Tem Exam
3/12 Solution to Mid Term Game 1 Starts
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
27
28
29
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
3/17
3/19
3/24
3/26
3/31
4/2
4/7
4/9
4/14
4/16
4/21
4/23
4/28
4/30
5/5
Waiting Line Analysis - Buffer
Waiting Line Analysis - Buffer
Waiting Line Analysis - Buffer
Waiting Line Analysis- Buffer
Cesar Chavez Holiday; Campus Closed
Inventory Models Basics
Spring Recess
Spring Recess
Process Flow Variability
Reorder Point
Reorder Point
News Vendor Problem Game 2 Starts
Theory of Constraints
Theory of Constraints
Linear Programming
5/7
Globalization
5/12/2015, Tuesday 10:15AM - 12:15PM
30
Th
Final Exam
1/20
1/22
1/27
1/29
2/3
2/5
2/10
2/12
2/17
2/19
2/24
2/26
3/3
3/5
3/10
In God we trust; all others must bring data.
W. Edwards Deming 1900-1993.
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
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Statement of Reading and Understanding Syllabus SOM 306 Asef-Vaziri
Last Name
First Name
I acknowledge that I have read and understood the syllabus of the course SOM
306, taught by Dr. Asef, very carefully. I, hereby, commit myself to follow it in its
entirety. I restate the followings:
1. I will not use my cell phone in the classroom, except in the case of emergency.
I will get Dr. Asef’s permission in advance.
2. I will not use my laptop or tablet during lectures except for viewing the SOM
306 lecture and assignment slides provided by Dr. Asef and their related
computations.
3. I commit myself not to create background noise or disturb the learning
environment during the lectures.
4. I understand coming to class just to be marked as present and leaving the class
before the lecture ends is a case of academic dishonesty. If I need to leave the
classroom before the lecture ends (except in case of emergency), I will inform
Dr. Asef at the beginning of the lecture in a written note.
5. I have been informed that Dr. Asef encourages teamwork, especially on
solving the assignments and preparation for quizzes. However, I have been
also informed if I share any concept from my quiz with a fellow student who
has not taken the quiz yet, or if I provide such student with a tool that I have
developed individually before the quiz, or a tool that I have realized its value
after taking the quiz, my grade and the other student(s) grade could be set to
zero for one or all quizzes. I also understand that I cannot have any
coordination with other students while taking my quizzes. In other words no
specific pattern should be observed between timing of my quiz and quiz time
of other students.
6. I have read and understood the CSUN Student Conduct Code, printed in the
schedule of classes and the CSUN policy on Academic Dishonesty (2010-2013
Catalog, Appendix E, Student Conduct). I verify that all of the work I submit
in the quizzes and exams will be my own. I understand the Student Core
Values are: Respect, Honesty, Integrity, Commitment, and Responsibility.
____________________________________________________
Signature
Operations Management, Asef-Vaziri, Spring 2014
__________________
Date
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