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Course Description
COURSE NUMBER and NAME
LDR 303 Foundations in Operations Management
UNITS
3
8 Weeks
LENGTH OF CLASS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course leads students through the analysis and
improvement of business processes in services and
manufacturing. Students learn how to increase
productivity and the delivery of high quality services.
Students explore concepts and techniques related to
planning, control, design of manufacturing and service
operations.
REQUIRED TEXT
Collier, D. A., & Evans, J. R. (2020). Operations and
Supply Chain Management (2nd ed.). Cengage
Learning US.
Print Print ISBN: 978-0357131695
eText ISBN: 978-0357132074
INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD
Online / On-Campus
LDR 303 Syllabus
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) Linked to Program Outcomes
Learning outcomes are statements that describe significant and essential scholarship that students
achieve and can reliably demonstrate by the end of the course. Learning outcomes identify what
the learner will know and be able to do by the end of a course – the essential and enduring
knowledge, abilities (skills), and attitudes (values, dispositions) that constitute the integrated
learning needed for successful completion of this course. The learning outcomes for this course
summarize what students can expect to learn, and how this course is tied directly to the
educational outcomes of the degree.
Program Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
1. Define the roles and responsibilities of operations
managers and the challenges they face.
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
2. Apply the concepts of productivity and production.
2, 3, 6, 8
3. Explain the relationship between capacity planning,
demand planning, staff planning, and project planning.
2, 6, 8
4. Describe the inputs, outputs, and nature of material
requirements planning (MRP), manufacturing resource
planning (MRP II), and enterprise resource planning
(ERP).
2, 3, 4, 6
5. Identify the elements of a good forecast and outline the
steps in the forecasting process, comparing and
contrasting qualitative and quantitative approaches.
2, 3, 6, 9
6. Identify the recent trends in supply chain management.
1, 2
7. Analyze business problems and situations using
operations management concepts, frameworks, tools,
cases, projects, and concepts.
2, 3, 4, 6, 8
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Copyright Notice of Course Materials
Lectures and course materials, including PowerPoint presentations, tests, outlines, and similar
materials, are protected by copyright. Westcliff University and individual faculty members are the
exclusive owners of copyrights in those materials created. You may take notes and make copies of
course materials for your own use. You may not and may not allow others to reproduce or
distribute lecture notes and course materials publicly whether a fee is charged or not without
express written consent of Westcliff University.
Sharing copyrighted course materials on a commercial website may violate Westcliff's Code of
Conduct, where all members of the University community are expected to “…uphold the highest
standards of academic integrity” and could lead to an allegation of an academic offense.
Westcliff University Library & Digital Resources Center
As a student of Westcliff University, you gain access to a virtual library. The Westcliff University
Library & Digital Resources Center provides access to an online database collection of more than
80 million scholarly journals, articles, periodicals, books, encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines,
and audio and video clips. Westcliff University students are encouraged to utilize the resources in
the Library & Digital Resources Center in their research for University courses.
Your course may include links to articles and videos that require you to access them through the
Westcliff Library & Digital Resources Center collection. To access the Westcliff Library &
Digital Resources Center collection, log in to your GAP account and click on the Library &
Digital Resources Center logo on the right-hand side. For library-related questions, you may
email the Library & Digital Resources Center Coordinator at library@westcliff.edu.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Summary of Graded Work and Assessments
Course assignments afford students the opportunity to demonstrate the degree to which they have
mastered CLOs. The table below lists the assignments in this course, their value, and the specific
CLOs aligned with each one.
Totals
Weight
CLOs
Assignments
Week 1-8 Participation/VCS Submission
150
15%
--
Week 1: Operations Management Discussion
40
4%
1
Week 2: Supply Chain vs Logistics Discussion
40
4%
6
Week 3: PA 1 - Successful Operations Manager
100
10%
Week 4: Forecasting Discussion
40
4%
Week 5: Product Life Cycle Discussion
40
4%
Week 5: CLA 1 - Interview Operations Manager
170
17%
Week 6: Inventory Manager Discussion
40
4%
3, 4, 5, 6
Week 7: CLA 2 - Supply Chain Management
200
20%
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Week 8: Staffing Plan Discussion
40
4%
1, 3, 5, 6
WEEK 8: HP Life Inventory Management Course
40
4%
Week 8: Team Project Presentation
100
10%
1000 Points
100%
Total Points/Percentage
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1, 3
2, 3, 5
2, 4, 5
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
2, 3, 5, 7
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
LDR 303 Syllabus
Detailed Course Outline
The detailed course outline below provides important weekly learning requirements, learning
activities, resources and grading criteria. Students are responsible for all of the assignments due
each week to demonstrate their mastery of the identified CLOs. Please refer to the Detailed
Description of Each Grading Criteria in the syllabus for additional specific information about
each assignment.
Week 1
Class Preparation Materials:
● Reading: Operations and Supply Chain Management 2e
○ Chapter 1: Operations Management and Value Chains (25 pages)
○ Chapter 3: Operations Strategy (17 pages)
● Watch Video:
○ Operations Crash Course
■ This video provides an overview of an operations manager’s duties
Assignments Due:
● Post DQ Initial Response
● Post 2 DQ Peer Responses
Operations Management Discussion Question – CLO 1
After reading the assigned chapters in Operations and Supply Chain Management (2020) and
watching the Crash Course video, identify and explain a business that you are familiar with. It
could be the business your parents or you work for, own, operate, etc., or the business you
identified that you wanted to start from a prior course. Include in your explanation the duties that
an operations manager would perform.
For the second paragraph of your initial response, open a query in an LLM of your choice, and
identify the five (5) most critical duties of an operations manager for Amazon, and another five
(5) for Ford Motor Corporation. Copy and paste that information in paragraph form into your
initial DQ response. Remember to correctly cite and reference those queries in APA 7th edition
format.
In your final complete paragraph (4-5 complete sentences minimum), in your own words,
compare and contrast the duties in paragraph one with those in paragraph two, remembering to
factor in how these impact production and overall importance to the organization you chose for
this discussion.
View the Discussion Question Grading Rubric.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
HP Life Inventory Management Course Assignment - CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 5, CLO 7
● HP Life Inventory Management Course:
○ Please enroll in this FREE online course during Week 1, and complete the
following modules throughout this 8-week course. You will upload your
certificates and earn the credit in Week 8.
■ Managing Contact Information
■ Hiring Staff
○ (Estimated time to complete: 1 hour)
○ Submit your certificates on GAP in Week 8
■ Paste each certificate into a Word document (one per page). Do not try to
upload these separately.
View the Activity Grading Rubric.
Week 1: Team Project, Team Selection (Required, Not Graded)
This course includes a team project that will be worked on weekly but will not be due until the
last week of the course. The project scope will differ depending on the course, so be sure to read
the full assignment prompt before your course begins. The full assignment prompt is located in
Week 8.
Teams will be formed in Week 1. Although nothing beyond identifying the teams is due or graded
in Week 1, teams are encouraged to begin reviewing the project scope, determining which role
each person will assume, and considering the project timeline for successful completion.
In Week 8, each team member will complete a confidential Project Team Evaluation form. Each
team member should evaluate other team members based on their contribution to the team project
for the entire length of the project. Be sure to review the details of the form completely before
submitting it. This form is confidential and only the instructor can see it.
The instructor reserves the right to penalize students who do not contribute, according to the peer
evaluation, on the overall project score—up to a potential maximum penalty of scoring 0 on the
project. Make sure you are an active contributor to your team. Please use the grading rubric to
view how your group project will be graded.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 2
Class Preparation Materials:
● Reading:
○ Chapter 2: Measuring Performance in Operations and Value Chains (19 pages)
○ Chapter 4: Technology and Operations Management (15 pages)
● Watch Video:
○ Operations Performance Objectives
■ This video provides an overview of performance objectives
Assignments Due:
● Post DQ Initial Response
● Post 2 DQ Peer Responses
Supply Chain vs Logistics Discussion - CLO 6
As a recent college graduate, you are hired by an organization as a consultant to help them
understand how to increase product sales and profitability. The company headquarters and
warehouses are located in Irvine, California as a reference point.
In your first meeting with the company, you quickly realize that the leaders and managers in the
company are confused about supply chain management versus logistics.
How would you explain supply chain management to the leadership and management team?
In your explanation to the leadership and management, discuss how supply chain management
differs from logistics.
The company has asked for you to provide consulting on three current trends emerging in supply
chain management in the next year. Using a minimum of two peer-reviewed or scholarly articles
through the WU Library, locate three key supply chain management and logistics trends within
the industry to advise your organization on (make sure you properly identify, cite, and reference
those resources). Ensure that you conduct research to support your findings, and share your
articles, videos, or other sources as part of your discussion posting.
View the Discussion Question Grading Rubric.
Week 2: Team Project, Team Charter (Required. Reviewed by professor in Week 3. This
component contributes to part of the overall project grade.)
Now that the team has a good understanding of the scope of the project, the team must schedule a
time to meet during Week 2 to discuss and develop the Project Charter. The charter must be fully
complete in order to be acceptable for review and grading. In order to access and download both
the Charter Template and Charter Example, you must use your Westcliff University email address.
Team Charter Template
Team Charter Example
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 3
Class Preparation Materials:
● Reading:
○ Chapter 5: Goods and Service Design (23 pages)
○ Chapter 6: Supply Chain Design (23 pages)
○ Chapter 7: Process Selection, Design, and Improvement (20 pages)
Assignments Due:
● Submit Professional Assignment 1
PA 1 - Successful Operations Manager Assignment - CLO 1, CLO 3
Research the skills needed to be a successful operations manager in an organization. Create an
infographic on what you have discovered. Ensure that your infographic reflects the three major
functional areas of organizations in a way that makes sense for your infographic. Finally, ensure
that you connect the information you include to decision making as an operations manager.
An information graphic (infographic) is a visual representation of a data set or instructive
material. Infographics take a large amount of information in text (or numerical form) and then
condense it into a combination of images and text highlights. This modern data transformation
technique allows viewers to quickly grasp essential insights about a specific subject. Review this
ten-minute video (link below) to see what elements go into creating an effective infographic. It
will provide some background on how to complete your assignment for this week.
How to Create an Infographic - Part 1: What Makes a Good Infographic?
Get as creative as possible, and design a well-organized, easy to understand infographic. You can
visit Piktochart, Canva, Venngage, and Visme online for infographic examples, tips on how to
create them, and templates.
Submit your completed infographic in GAP. Use this Title Page Template to save your
Infographic as a Word document, and then upload into GAP. Search the help section of the tool
you chose to use to find out the options for downloading, sharing, and publishing your
infographic.
●
●
●
●
Piktochart Download Options
Canva Download Support
Venngage Download Support
Visme Download Support
View the Visual Organizer Rubric.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 3: Team Project, Project Timeline (Required. Reviewed by professor in Week 4. This
component contributes to part of the overall project grade.)
Successful projects are those that have been carefully planned. Meet with your team and produce
a project timeline using a Gantt chart format. You may use any tool your team is comfortable with
to develop this. MS Word, Monday.com, and many websites offer free Gantt chart templates. Your
timeline must include a list of deliverables, dates, and accountable persons for each part. While
this timeline is required, it will not be submitted until Week 6.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 4
Class Preparation Materials:
● Reading:
○ Chapter 8: Facility and Work Design (21 pages)
○ Chapter 9: Forecasting and Demand Planning (19 pages)
○ Chapter 10: Capacity Management (17 pages)
● Watch video:
○ Operations & Supply Chain Management: Forecasting & Demand Planning
Assignments Due:
● Post DQ Initial Response
● Post 2 DQ Peer Responses
Forecasting Discussion: CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 5
In your new role as a business consultant for EY Consulting Inc., you have been asked to provide
a new client, a startup company, with support in forecasting. In your first meeting with the
company leadership, you will need to conduct a presentation on forecasting for the company’s
leadership. How will you explain what forecasting is to the leadership and why it is important to
business operations?
To help you prepare for this presentation, watch the following video about Operations & Supply
Chain Management: Forecasting & Demand Planning. What topic did you find most helpful in
this video that you plan on integrating into your presentation?
Watch video: Operations & Supply Chain Management: Forecasting & Demand Planning
View the Discussion Question Grading Rubric.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 5
Class Preparation Materials:
● Reading:
○ Chapter 11: Process Analysis and Resource Utilization (27 pages)
○ Chapter 12: Managing Inventories in Supply Chains (26 pages)
Assignments Due:
● Post DQ Initial Response
● Post 2 DQ Peer Responses
● Submit CLA 1
Product Life Cycle Discussion - CLO 2, CLO 4, CLO 5
For this discussion question, record your response in a 2-3 minute video with your response to the
discussion prompt. You may use visuals such as Google Slides or a PowerPoint presentation to
assist you during your video recording. For help with video recording and uploading your video
to GAP, please review the Video Recording & Uploading Instructions.
● What is the (traditional) product life cycle?
● How does it relate to process design and selection?
● How do firms make money when their goods or services follow the traditional product life
cycle?
View the Video Discussion Question Grading Rubric.
CLA 1 - Interview Operations Manager - CLO 1, CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 4, CLO 5
Interview someone who serves as an operations manager in any organization. Use the questions
below to interview the operations manager and learn more about his/her roles and responsibilities.
Use this information to write a 4-5 page APA style paper. Conduct additional research to assist
you in writing your paper, and cite three (3) peer-reviewed articles (not including your textbook).
● How does the operations manager you interviewed handle scheduling conflicts?
○ How do they work towards a resolution?
● What is their strategy for prioritizing tasks?
● What were the most challenging projects they have managed so far?
○ What were the steps they took to tackle the challenges?
● What is their strategy in dealing with internal conflicts among the team members?
● What is their leadership style?
○ How do they know?
● What project management software do they prefer?
○ Why?
● How do they monitor and review the delegated responsibilities?
View the Written Paper Grading Rubric
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 6
Class Preparation Materials:
● Reading:
○ Chapter 14: Resource Management (31 pages)
○ Chapter 15: Operations Scheduling & Sequencing (26 pages)
○ Chapter 18: Lean Operating Systems (18 pages)
Assignments Due:
● Post DQ Initial Response
● Post 2 DQ Peer Responses
Inventory Management Discussion – CLO 3, CLO 4, CLO 5, CLO 6
Please view the following video and comment on the costs and benefits of inventory management
(please forgive the music in the background, but it offers a good overview of this topic).
Watch Video: Inventory Management-Basics
How does inventory management affect capacity planning, ERP, and how can forecasting help in
inventory management?
View the Discussion Question Grading Rubric.
Week 6: Team Project, Draft submission (Required. Reviewed by professor in Week 7. This
component contributes to part of the overall project grade.)
Prepare a draft for submission by Sunday evening at 11:59 p.m. of Week 6. Your instructor will
provide feedback on the draft for content only during Week 7. You will then use that feedback to
improve and finalize the project for presentation and submission during the last class meeting.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 7
Class Preparation Materials:
● Reading:
○ Chapter 16: Quality Management (22 pages)
○ Chapter 17: Quality Control and SPC (18 pages)
○ Chapter 19: Project Management (19 pages)
● Watch Videos: What are ERP Systems? Everything you need to know.
○ BuddyFromIT. (2021, October 26). What is ERP? | System ERP | SAP for
beginners [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/rCQlTs_S6bA
Assignments Due:
● Submit CLA 2
CLA 2 - Supply Chain Management During COVID Assignment - CLO 1, CLO 2, CLO 3,
CLO 4,L CLO 5, CLO 6, CLO 7
Please view the following video and answer the reflections questions to ensure your
understanding of the important concepts shared about supply chain management during the
COVID global pandemic. Outline your plan addressing the reflection question, in a 4-5 APA page
paper (with a minimum of three [3] peer-reviewed sources)
Watch Video: Why Global Supply Chains May Never Be the Same
Reflection Questions:
● Q1: Did demand for products increase or decrease during the COVID Pandemic?
● Q2: A cargo ship traveling across the Pacific from Vietnam to America can take how
many days (on average, shortest time, longest time due to storms/delays)?
○ Q2a: What times of the years are you more likely to have an average journey, a a
shorter journey, and a longer journey, and why (details on the reasons are
important)
● Q3: Which part of the supply chain has been invisible to us?
○ Q3a: Why do you believe this and compare that to what you found in your
research.
● Q4: Up to how many containers can fit on a cargo and how many crew members can it
carry?
○ Q4a: Does the container count vary by ship? Are there weight limitations?
● Q5: The port of Los Angeles and Long Beach represent what percentage of America’s
exports and what percentage of our U.S.A. imports?
○ Q5a: Is that growing or shrinking? What do you think are the causes of the
change?
● Q6: Is having the port open 24 hrs enough to have the cargo moved? Why or Why not?
● Q7: What profession is experiencing a shortage in the supply chain?
● Q8: According to resources found in the WU Library, what are the top 3 reasons that truck
drivers leave or get backlogged in their work
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LDR 303 Syllabus
○ Q8a: Pull the same list from an LLM, format it in paragraph form, and copy and
paste into your assignment, remembering to properly cite and reference the
information. Remember to include your LLM Prompt as the paragraph header.
● Q9: Provide 3 ideas that will help keep truck drivers stay on the job long term to offset the
items identified in question 8,
View the Written Paper Grading Rubric.
WEEK 7: Team Project, Feedback on Progress
Feedback is a significant part of the success of a project. This week, you and your team will
receive feedback from the professor on team progress. This may be in the form of written
feedback or your professor may decide to develop a screen cast and verbally communicate his/her
feedback to you in this form. Be sure to schedule some time to meet as a team immediately after
you receive feedback from your professor to discuss how the feedback will be implemented
within the project.
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LDR 303 Syllabus
Week 8
Assignments Due:
● Post DQ Initial Response
● Post 2 DQ Peer Responses
● Present Team Project Presentation
Staffing Plan Discussion: CLO 1, CLO 3, CLO 5, CLO 6
Imagine that you are an operations team leader. One of your duties is to consider what a highly
productive team looks like including values and behaviors in a team environment, and then build
that team, always ensuring that the mission, vision, and goals of the company and department are
included and adhered to.
Your immediate supervisor has asked for you to create a staffing management plan for your team.
Using all of the assigned readings and videos to date as a guide and reference, please provide
responses to the following prompts:
● What does a staffing management plan address?
● What are key components you should include in your staffing management plan?
For the second paragraph of your initial response, open a query in an LLM of your choice, and
identify the five (5) most critical components of a staffing management plan. Copy and paste that
information in paragraph form into your initial DQ response. Remember to correctly cite and
reference those queries in APA 7th edition format.
In your final complete paragraph (4-5 complete sentences minimum), in your own words,
compare and contrast the key components in paragraph one with those in paragraph two,
remembering to factor in how these impact production and overall importance to the organization
you chose for this discussion.
View the Discussion Question Grading Rubric.
HP Life Inventory Management Course Assignment - CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 5, CLO 7
● HP Life Inventory Management Course:
○ Please enroll in this FREE online course during Week 1, and complete the
following modules throughout this 8-week course. You will upload your
certificates and earn the credit in Week 8.
■ Managing Contact Information
■ Hiring Staff
○ (Estimated time to complete: 1 hour)
○ Submit your certificates on GAP in Week 8
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LDR 303 Syllabus
■ Paste each certificate into a Word document (one per page). Do not try to
upload these separately. Using this template to complete the title page, and
then paste each certificate to a different new page.
View the Activity Grading Rubric.
WEEK 8: Team Project, Presentation - CLO 1, CLO 3, CLO 4, CLO 5, CLO 6, CLO 7
The culmination of your hard work is in Week 8. You and your team will record your team project
presentation. You may utilize PowerPoint, Prezi, or any other presentation tool to assist you with
communicating project components. To receive a grade for this part of the project, each student
must have an opportunity to present one or more components of the project. As a final reflection
at the end of the presentation, each team member must include a brief reflection of how this
project contributed to your increased understanding of the project focus and of your own
teamwork and communication skills-- be specific.
The Team Leader is responsible for submitting the Project Presentation on GAP.
Along with your final, polished presentation, the team must also submit the team charter, timeline,
and draft. Ensure that each individual team member completes the confidential Project Team
Evaluation form. Be sure to review the details of the form completely before submitting.
Team Project, Instructions:
Operations Management is defined as the management of systems and processes that create goods
and or provide services. The three basic functions of business organizations are finance,
operations, and marketing. Provide a detailed analysis of a manufacturing company in terms of
competitive advantage, strategy, and productivity. Your presentation must encompass the
following concepts:
● Identify the key aspects of operations management relating to business operations for the
company that your team has chosen to research.
● Analyze the manufacturing company’s competitive advantage in providing products.
● What products or services does the company offer?
● Are there any ethical concerns in the products and/or service design which affect
the company’s consumers or employees?
● Present a life cycle assessment (product life cycle, end-of-life, cradle-to-grave).
● What is one strategy to help the company maintain and/or increase the quality of products
and services while maintaining capacity and increases of capacity without sacrificing
quality or performance?
Your presentation should include a reference slide with a minimum of three [3] peer-reviewed
sources.
Team Evaluations Forms Link (Required. Reviewed by professor in Week 8. This component
contributes to part of the overall project grade.)
View the Team Project Rubric.
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