Study guide
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STUDY GUIDE
OPERATIONS STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY
“Can anyone remember what our core business is?”
Prof. dr. Jan de Vries
Drs. Mariette Zweers
October 2022 (version 1.1)
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1. Course goals
The course Operations Strategy and Technology aims to provide an understanding of the role of
Operations Management and how it contributes to business competitiveness in both manufacturing
and service organizations. By the end of the course, students should:
•
•
•
•
have an understanding on an advanced level of the operations management function;
have a thorough knowledge of theoretical concepts and frameworks for describing and diagnosing
operations processes, the planning and control of these processes and its organisational
embedding;
have a thorough understanding about how the shaping of the operations management function
is influenced by the internal as well as the external context of the operating process;
be able to demonstrate their ability and knowledge of the operations management function by
performing a literature study or an in-depth case study.
Starting from the notion that many disciplines relate to the operations function of companies, this
course provides an in-depth analysis of the operations management function including the
associated (theoretical) approaches. The course supplies the models and frameworks necessary to
describe and understand practical operations management problems in both service and
manufacturing situations on an advanced level. In doing so, the course covers three main areas:
the role and nature of operations, the planning and control of the (service) operations processes
and the organisational setting of the operations function. These areas will be analysed from different
perspectives including topics like:
•
•
•
•
the strategic role of operations (manufacturing strategy)
the impact operations have on performance-objectives
the reconciliation between market requirements and operations resources
the interaction and interrelationship between process characteristics, the planning and control
structure and the organisational embedding of the operations function;
Starting point of the course is the notion that service and operations management closely relates to
the process of strategy formulation. For this reason, during the course we will focus on the subject
of operations strategy and on the fundamental questions companies face when defining and
operationalizing their operations strategy.
The subject of operations strategy is addressed by means of three dominant structuring issues e.g.
the horizontal structure, the vertical structure and the organizational embedding of the
service/manufacturing process. The horizontal structure primarily deals with the design and shaping
of the service delivery and/or production processes and relates to the way inputs are transformed
into products and/or services. The vertical structure addresses the planning and control of the
service and operations processes and includes, amongst others, the way customer orders are
translated into production orders and the way co-ordination is achieved between production and
sales. Clearly, within a service context also different strategies can be applied when managing
capacity and demand. Additionally, within service companies the shaping of front office and back
office work heavily influences the planning of service operations. For this reason, the course not
only concentrates on control frameworks that are applied in a manufacturing context but also deals
with more service-oriented planning concepts. Finally, also the organizational embedding of the
operations function is captured in the course. Important topics in this context are the allocation of
responsibilities and authorities, the definition and shaping of the labour organisation and the way
coordination is achieved in operational networks.
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During the course, the above-mentioned structuring issues will be elaborated on from different
perspectives and different theoretical settings. Special attention however, will be paid to the
modelling of manufacturing and service processes, describing and analysing control frameworks and
the analyses of operations strategy decision areas.
By the end of the course, students should not only have a thorough understanding of the service
and operations function of a company but are also able to perform theoretical research in a practical
context. Or stated in other words, the course also aims at providing students with methodological
and scientific skills that can be used to solve complex and multidimensional operations management
problems. For this reason, students have to perform a research project (see section 4).
2. Organisation of the course
The course Operations Strategy and Technology involves the following components:
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lectures
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a research project
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tutorials
•
Q&A session
•
a final exam
Lectures
During the lectures the main topics related to operations strategy are being explained. Subjects that
will be dealt with are: definitions and terminology, operations strategy, the role and nature of
process technology, planning and control, the organisational setting of the operations function, and
manufacturing strategy. Clearly, all these topics are worked out for both manufacturing and service
environments. The main goal of the lectures will be to explain and deepen the student’s
understanding of the basic rationale underlying the operations management perspective on
organisations. In week 50 a guest lecture will be provided by prof. dr. George Huitema.
The topics discussed in the lectures are presented in the schedule below. Whenever considered
necessary for the progress of the research projects, some topics may be discussed earlier however.
Research project
The course also aims at linking theory to practice and therefore encompasses a literature study or
a case study on a service and operations management relevant issue. At the beginning of the course
the aim and overall structure of the research project will be discussed in more detail during one of
the first lectures. The research project is a group project of four students.
Tutorials
The purpose of the tutorials is 1) to practice with the course material, and 2) to support you in
writing your research paper/performing your research project.
1) To practise with the course material, some cases are available which can be found on Brightspace.
Answers to the cases will be provided during the tutorials. Students are recommended to prepare
the cases themselves prior to the tutorial.
2) During the tutorials, questions can be asked about the research project, the paper, and the
outline/requirements of the paper. It is noticed here however that no lecture will be given and that
this part of the session will have the character of answering and discussing topics raised by students.
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Q&A session
During the Q&A session in the last week of the course, questions can be asked regarding the
finalization of the research paper.
Table 1 Overview of the main activities and topics and the timing of these activites
WK ACTIVITY
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Lecture 1
TOPICS
- Introduction
- introduction into service and operations
management
S&L chapter 1-2
- scope and approach of operations
management
Lecture 2
- Operations Strategy
47
- Processes and horizontal
structure
Lecture 3
- Operations Strategy: an overview
- Perspectives of Operations
Management
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Tutorial 1
(Wed/Thu 23&24 Nov. 22)
48
Lecture 4
- Planning and control
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- Characteristics of primary
processes
- Planning and control
Tutorial 2
(Wed/Thu 7&8 Dec 22)
50
02
Case discussion
organisation of the course
literature study
empirical study
Wrapping up the basics of operations
management
Basic form/modelling processes
Complexity of processes
planning levels
performance management
the influence of customer orders on the
primary process
- Analysing primary processes
- Complexity dimensions
- Guest lecture prof. dr. George Huitema
on link between Operations Strategy
and informations systems
- Enterprise Resource planning
- Operations Strategy in
practice/analysing companies
- Remarks final exam
- Overall view course
Lecture 5
- Information systems
Lecture 6
- Operations strategy in
practice
Tutorial 3
(Wed/Thu 21&22 Dec 22)
- analysing companies from
an operations
management perspective
- overview Operations
strategy
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Walk-in Q&A session
(Wed 11/01/23)
- WRAPPING UP
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MATERIAL(1)
SUBJECT
framework for analysing companies
integrating perspectives
preparing final exam
overview topics
S&L chapter 3-4
Case Paint B.V.
S&L chapter 1-2
S&L chapter 4-6
S&L chapter 5
Case Paint B.V. (contd)
S&L chapter 7-9
Case Paint B.V. (contd)
Case Content.
S&L chapter 1-10
FINAL EXAM 25th January 8:30-10:30 (please check date and time)
(1)
Please note that the chapters of Slack and Lewis addressed in this table, are an indication of where the material related to the
lectures can be found. In the lectures some additional topics are explored in more depth.
- Deadline enrolling for tutorial group: Friday 18th November 2022 (23.30 pm)
- Deadline enrolling groups research project: Sunday 20th November 2022 (23.30 pm)
- Deadline submitting research paper: Saturday 14th January 2023 (23.30 pm)
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It is emphasized here that students have to make their own plan in order to study the material and
to work on the research project. The course ends with a final exam which covers the compulsory
literature (see section 3 of this manual).
During the course, Brightspace will be used as the main source for providing students with relevant
information and course material. Therefore, students are recommended to frequently have a look
at the course-site on Brightspace. Cases and exercises will solely be distributed via Brightspace.
Furthermore, the final papers have to be submitted electronically via Brightspace as well.
3. Literature
For the course, the following (compulsory) literature needs to be studied:
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Slack, N., M. Lewis, Operations Strategy, Pearson Educational, sixth edition, 2019
Furthermore, the class material (sheets/handouts) and the cases are part of the compulsory
literature.
Additional literature which can serve as useful background information or as a starting point for the
literature study/research project can be found on Brightspace, under Bibliography.
4. Research project
As mentioned above, the course Operations Strategy and Technology not only aims at providing
students with theoretical knowledge but also seeks to link theory to applications and practice.
Therefore, students are stimulated to perform an empirical (case) study or a literature study on a
course relevant subject. Clearly, this study needs to meet all scientific requirements and should be
based on a clear, well-defined scientific grounding. Therefore, not only the content of the study but
also the research process (methodology) will be an explicit part of the assessment-procedure. The
length of the paper should be approximately 5000 words. During the lectures the aim of the research
project will be explained and discussed in more detail. For the research project there are two options:
- An empirical study focusing on the application of the model of Slack and Lewis;
- A literature study;
The research project is a group project (four students) and the enrolment in research groups should
take place before 20th November (see Brightspace). In case you would like to perform a literature
study, you should enrol yourself in a group entitled ‘literature study’. In case you and your group
members would like to perform a case study, please enrol yourself in a group entitled ‘empirical
study’.
An electronic version of the paper should be submitted by using Brightspace on or before 14th
January 2023.
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5. Assessment
For the calculation of the final grade, two parts will be taken into account:
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An open book final exam (digitally, on campus)
The research project
The final grade includes the result of the final-exam (60%), and the result of the research project
(40%)
(
) (
E grading = 0.60 M 1 + 0.40 M 2
E grading
)
End grading
M1 grading final exam
M2
grading research project
The final exam is an open book exam and covers all chapters of the book of Slack and Lewis
(Operations Strategy) as well as the lecture notes and the material provided during the lectures.
The results of the final examination and the research project can compensate one other. However,
the minimal grading for each part needs to be a 5. To pass the course, the End grading should be
at least 5,5. It is noticed here that in case the final result does not meet the above-mentioned
requirements, in Progress a five is registered.
Please note that there is zero tolerance for plagiarism (including self-plagiarism). Accordingly, the
paper is scanned for plagiarism and all plagiarism will be considered as fraud. If we suspect that you
committed plagiarism on the basis of this scan or for any other reason, we will notify the Board of
Examiners. Please also note that for the paper, all members of the group will be held responsible
for the plagiarism until proven otherwise.
6. Required efforts
The course encompasses 5 European Credits (EC) which means that an effort of 140 hours is
required from the student. During the course students are expected to spend about 50 hours in
preparing and following classes and studying course material. During the block of the course, each
student is expected to spend 40 hours on the research project (including the writing of the report).
The remaining part (about 50 hours) can be allocated during the semester to studying compulsory
literature and preparing the final exam.
7. Contact
With questions for which you cannot find the answer in the available documents or on Brightspace,
please send an email to drs. Mariette Zweers (ost.feb@rug.nl), or post your question in the
Discussion Board on Brightspace.
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