MGT515: Operations Management
Credit Hours:
3
Contact Hours:
This is a 3-credit course, offered over a 14 week schedule. The exact number of
hours per week that you can expect to spend on each course will vary based upon
the weekly coursework, as well as your study style and preferences. You should plan
to spend 10-12 hours per week in each course reading material, interacting on the
discussion boards, writing papers, completing projects, and doing research.
Faculty Information
Name:
Phone:
CSU-GC Email:
Virtual Office Hours:
Course Description and Outcomes
This course develops an understanding of the various functions and responsibilities of the operations
department in response to today’s current competitive environment and market demands. The course examines
quality management, the design and production of goods and services, effective supply chains and virtual
chains, product life cycles, and the design and management of processes to develop and improve production
and resource planning.
This course will cover the challenges of managing operations in a very complex global business environment.
Analysis of tools that make manufacturing, planning, and logistics decisions will occur, and different supply chain
strategies will be evaluated. This course will cover operations management from the introduction and definition
of what supply chain management is through forecasting, system design, quality, supply chain management, and
inventory management.
Course Learning Outcomes
1. Evaluate the challenges of managing operations in an increasingly complex global business environment.
2. Analyze the tools available to make manufacturing, planning, and logistics decisions in business
3. Evaluate the different supply chain strategies available to organizations and how to choose between
them
Participation & Attendance
Prompt and consistent attendance in your online courses is essential for your success at CSU-Global Campus.
Failure to verify your attendance within the first 7 days of this course may result in your withdrawal. If for some
reason you would like to drop a course, please contact your advisor.
Online classes have deadlines, assignments, and participation requirements just like on-campus classes. Budget
your time carefully and keep an open line of communication with your instructor. If you are having technical
problems, problems with your assignments, or other problems that are impeding your progress, let your
instructor know as soon as possible.
Course Materials
Required:
1) Stevenson, W. (2012). Operations management (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
ISBN-13: 978-0073525259
Course Schedule
Due Dates
The Academic Week begins on Saturday and ends the following Friday.




Discussion Activities: Application of knowledge is an important step in the learning experience and
every course has key discussions wherein students can apply and analyze content as well as move
toward synthesis. This course has Discussion Forums that provide learners an extended opportunity to
interact with one another in an instructor-facilitated dialogue that focuses on key course themes.
Students will apply and synthesize knowledge learned to case studies simulating real-world decisionmaking.
Mastery Exercises: These exercises will assess learner knowledge in each topic area.
Critical Thinking Application Assignments: each assignment will require students to apply their
knowledge learned in the module to real-world scenarios.
Final Exam: The exam will assess learner knowledge.
Week #
1
2
Readings

Chapters 1 & 2 in Operations Management

Discussion Board (25)

Review Chapters 1 & 2 in Operations Management

Chapter 3 in Operations Management

Review Chapter 3 in Operations Management






Discussion Board (25)
Critical Thinking (60)
Discussion Board (25)
Critical Thinking (60)
Mastery Exercise (0)
Discussion Board (25)

Chapters 4 & 5 in Operations Management

Supplements to Chapters 4 & 5 in Operations Management




Discussion Board (25)
Critical Thinking (60)
Mastery Exercise (0)
Discussion Board (25)

Chapters 6, 7, & 8 in Operations Management


Discussion Board (25)
Mastery Exercise (0)

Chapter 8 and Chapter 8 Supplement in Operations
Management

Discussion Board (25)

Chapters 9 & 10 in Operations Management

Discussion Board (25)
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Assignments


10
11
12

Chapter 18 in Operations Management

Critical Thinking (60)
Mastery Exercise (0)
Discussion Board (25)

Chapter 15 in Operations Management

Chapter 17 in Operations Management



Discussion Board (25)
Mastery Exercise (0)
Discussion Board (25)

Chapters 11,12 & 13 in Operations Management

Chapter 14 in Operations Management





Discussion Board (25)
Critical Thinking (60)
Mastery Exercise (0)
Discussion Board (25)
Portfolio Assignment (350)
13
14
Assignment Details
This course includes the following assignments/projects:
Week 2
Critical Thinking: Operations Management and Overall Business Goals (60 points)
Choose an organization that operates on a global business level, and create a five to seven slide PowerPoint
presentation that analyzes the operations function of the organization and how important the operations
function of the business is to the overall success of the organization. The presentation should have a slide to
introduce the organization, three to five slides to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the operations functions of
the business, and a slide for conclusions. Be sure to use outside references, and cite them on the final page of
your presentation. Submit your presentation to the Assignment Dropbox, and also post it in the “Operations and
Overall Business Goals” discussion area. Please review and comment on at least three other slide presentations.
Portfolio Milestone:
Review the course portfolio assignment and choose a company that you wish to use for the project. Once you
have chosen a company, submit a background of the company, including a discussion about why you would like
to use that company, to your instructor. This is not worth points, but is required for the portfolio project.
Week 3
Critical Thinking: Forecasting (60 points)
Read through the case study in chapter 3 of your textbook titled Highline Financial Services, Inc. It covers the
role of forecasting in operations management. Examine the demand that this company has experienced for the
three categories of service it offers over the preceding two years. Assuming nothing changes in terms of
advertising or promotion, and competition doesn't change, predict demand for the services the company offers
for the next four quarters. Note that there are not enough data to develop seasonal relatives.
Nonetheless, you should be able to make reasonably good, approximate, intuitive estimates of demand. What
general observations can you make regarding demand? Should Freddie have any concerns? Explain your
answers in a two- to three-page paper. You are encouraged to use outside references as well. Submit your
completed paper to this Assignment Dropbox.
Portfolio Milestone:
Begin the outline of your paper, what topics you may include, and how you will structure the comparative
paper. You can begin writing the first sections of the paper, based on the first two modules of the course.
Week 5
Critical Thinking: Capacity Planning (60 points)
Read through the case study in chapter 5 of your text book titled “Outsourcing of Hospital Services.” It covers
capacity planning in operations management. Create a five- to seven-slide PowerPoint presentation that
answers the questions posed in the case study. Be sure to use outside references and cite them on the final page
of your presentation. Submit your presentation to this Assignment Dropbox, and also post it in the “Capacity
Planning” discussion area. Please review and comment on at least three other slide presentations.
Week 9
Critical Thinking: Quality (60 points)
Choose a large organization that sells a product or multiple products. In a two- to three-page paper provide an
overview of the company and analyze that company and its products in terms of product and service quality,
costs of quality, total quality management, and quality tools. Conduct research on the organization to find out
information on the quality measure that the organization uses. Be sure that you use outside sources other than
just the text. Submit your final paper to the Assignment Dropbox.
Week 13
Critical Thinking: Case Study (60 points)
All organizations, regardless of industry, can implement lean operations. In the organization where you currently
work or an organization where you worked previously, describe an operation that you would consider NOT lean.
In other words, describe a process that you would say has a lot of waste in it. Then, if you were to lean out that
process, what would it look like after you were done? What wastes would you eliminate, and how? How would
this benefit the overall operations of the organization? Answer these questions in a two- to three- page paper,
and submit your final paper to this Assignment Dropbox.
Portfolio Assignment (350 points)
Complete your portfolio assignment, focusing on making sure that you have all of the necessary components as
set forth in the rubric. Spend time making sure that the formatting is CSU-Global APA, and thoroughly proofread
and grammar-check your final product. When you have completed the portfolio, submit it to your instructor
through the Assignment Dropbox.
Description: A Business Plan (350 Points)
Define a business idea, preferably one that you create, that might work as a start-up firm in the United States.
Your proposed firm should provide a particular product or service mainly to customers located outside the
United States.
Then, using your knowledge from each of the previous modules, explain how your firm could succeed in foreign
markets by applying any of the described global strategies. Select a country or countries (or a region) to focus
on and explain why that market would be best for your firm. (Remember to discuss institutions.) Provide a
detailed assessment of the product or service and of the country or region that will be your selected market.
Finally, describe the specific steps that your firm would take to enter that foreign market. Consider resources,
logistics, and competition in this part of your discussion. This is the heart of your paper and should clearly
explain the business strategy you plan to use.
Your paper should and include at last seven research articles from peer reviewed journals, in addition to books
and other credible sources. You should use professional and academic references only. You may use electronic
references, but they must be reputable and verifiable sources. Do not use unverifiable sources such as articles
with no responsible author or institution.
Your paper should be 12-15 pages in length, well-written, and properly referenced.
The structure of your paper should be as follows:
 Introduction and Background on the business idea (1-2 pages)
 Description of the product or service that will be provided and why it would be in demand in the given
market you’ve chosen (2-3 pages)
 Explanation of the target market—why did you select it, what is the legal, political, and economic
environment in that market (2-3 pages)
 Strategic Analysis – walk the reader through your business strategy. What model will you use, why did
you choose it, and what will make it successful in this market with this product or service (5-8 pages)
Course Policies
Course Grading
Grading Scale
20% Discussion Participation
45% Critical Thinking Activities
35% Final Portfolio Paper
A
95.0 – 100
A-
90.0 – 94.9
B+
86.7 – 89.9
B
83.3 – 86.6
B-
80.0 – 83.2
C+
75.0 – 79.9
C
70.0 – 74.9
D
60.0 – 69.9
F
59.9 or below
FN*
Failure for Nonparticipation
I**
Incomplete