BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
International Business School
Operations Management
Bus 272a, Spring 2009
GENERAL INFORMATION
(Preliminary Syllabus – Subject to Change)
Schedule:
Monday and Wednesday, 3:40 pm – 5:00 pm. Room: Lee Hall
Instructors:
Brad Morrison will teach the course.
Brad Morrison
Lemberg 251
Phone: (781) 736-2246
Email: bmorriso@brandeis.edu
Description:
Operations management is the management of business processes - the recurring
activities of the firm. The course aims to (1) familiarize students with the
problems and issues confronting operations managers, and (2) provide
language, concepts, insights, and tools to deal with these issues in order to
gain competitive advantage through operations. The course will explore how
different business strategies require different business processes, and
conversely, how different operational capabilities support different
strategies to gain competitive advantage. Topics may include inventory
management, capacity management, cycle time management, supply chain
management, quality management, and process management and improvement, as
well as recent developments such as lean or world-class manufacturing,
just-in-time operations, time-based competition and business re-engineering..
Pre-requisites: There are no pre-requisites for the course.
Mathematics: The level of mathematics proficiency needed for this class is roughly equivalent
to that attained through the study of high school algebra. The course aims to
develop intuition and business acumen, but rigorous, quantitative analysis will
be needed at times. Students will need to use spreadsheets (e.g., Excel) for
some assignments.
Office hours:
My doors are always open to students, or make an appointment by email.
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Grading
Emphasis:
Class participation:
Case Write-ups, Assignments, and OM Simulation:
Mid-term Examination
Process Improvement Project and Vignette
15%
40%
30%
15%
Disability:
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis
University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this
class, please see me immediately. Please keep in mind that reasonable
accommodations are not provided retroactively.
Academic
Integrity:
You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on
academic integrity (see http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdje/ai/). Instances
of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for
possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include
failure in the course and suspension from the University.
Course Requirements
The course integrates three parallel streams of learning activity: case preparation and classroom
discussion, readings including the core textbook, and homework assignments. Much of what
should be learned in this class takes place outside the classroom, in homework assignments and
through group discussion. Students are required to hand in their written assignments in groups
and are encouraged to use these groups to discuss case preparation. Each group should have
three members and must plan to stay together for the entire semester.
Assignments
The course aims to engage you in the issues, to teach you ways to think about and analyze
operational problems, and to prepare you to be effective managers. The course assignments are
designed in support of these objectives. The readings and assignments will generally require an
average of about three hours of preparation per class meeting. If you find yourself averaging
more than three hours of preparation per session, please let us know. Some case preparations,
notably National Cranberry, may take considerably more than three hours. This will, however,
be made up by some other classes that ask for less preparation.
Class Discussion
A typical class session starts with the instructor asking one or more students to begin the
discussion by addressing specific questions. You should have no difficulty in handling such a
lead-off request if you have thoroughly prepared the case or reading. After a few minutes of
initial analysis and recommendations, the discussion will be opened to the rest of the class.
As a group, we will try to build a meaningful analysis of the situation and address the problems
and issues it presents. We will also talk about the implementation of recommendations we
develop. Criteria that might be used for judging effective class participation are:
1. Relevance,
2. Insightfulness (in analysis, observation, or questions),
3. Constructiveness in the context of the class discussion flow,
3
4. Depth of analysis,
5. Clarity and brevity.
In-class contribution will consist mainly of voluntary contributions, although I may call upon
students, usually to answer opening questions. (Although cold calling may increase anxiety,
“supportive” cold calling encourages you to be better prepared for class and as a result improves
the overall class discussion.) A thorough preparation of the assigned materials is all that is
necessary for such leadoff questions. If you feel uncomfortable with being called on in class
please let me know in advance.
Case Write-Ups
Case analysis and write-ups, done in groups, will be required for several designated cases. Each
case write-up should address key questions in the case, which will sometimes be provided by the
instructor. In preparing your presentation, please adhere to the following guidelines:
 Be concise and well-structured: Recommendations should be summarized on one page (you
may add exhibits).
 Be to the point: Know that you write to someone who knows the facts of the case; focus on
your explanation, and making a clear case for, your recommendations.
 Be punctual: Late submissions will be penalized.
More information regarding case write-ups will be provided when the first case is assigned.
Texts and Readings
Course Reading and Exercise Materials:
1. Managing Business Process Flows, 2nd Edition, by Anupindi, Chopra, Deshmukh, Van
Mieghem and Zemel. Prentice Hall, 2006.
2. Chapter 6 Supplement: Linear Programming, from Stevenson, William J., Operations
Management, 8th Edition, 2005. (This chapter will be available for purchase online
directly from McGraw-Hill.)
3. The Goal by Goldratt and Cox. Publisher: North River Press, 2nd edition, 1992.
4. Littlefield Simulation, a web-based simulation exercise. Students will be required to
purchase a license from Responsive Learning Technologies to use the simulator for a
class exercise and assignment. Purchase information for access codes will be provided in
class.
5. A supplemental reading to support the Process Improvement Module. Details will be
provided in class.
The Goal is written as a novel, making for light reading, and some sections are quite entertaining.
Nevertheless, it is 337 pages long, so you are encouraged to start reading now. You will be asked
to write-up your main take-aways near the midpoint of the course, but we will draw on it during
the entire course.
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CRU Computer Rental (Kellogg Case): This case can be downloaded from
http://www.prenhall.com/anupindi. Go to the web site, click begin, go to student resources, find the
case and download it.
Several cases available from HBS Publishing will be required. Students may purchase these
cases from the HBSP site for this course. Further instructions for downloading will be available
when these cases are needed. Additional readings will be handed out on an occasional basis.
Suggested Readings
These readings are not required, but you may find them interesting. The books are non-technical
in nature.
1. The Machine that Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production by James P. Womack,
Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos, Harper Perennial, 1991.
2.
Clockspeed, by Charles H. Fine, Perseus Books, 1998.
3. Plant and Service Tours in Operations Management by Roger W. Schmenner, Fourth edition,
Macmillan Publishing Company, 1994.
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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Bus 272a S09
DRAFT SYLLABUS
DETAILS OF THE SYLLABUS WILL CHANGE.
THIS VERSION IS AN OUTLINE OF TOPICS WE WILL COVER.
Date
Due Class
Module and Description
1/14
W
1
Introduction
Operations Management: What and
why?
1/20
T
2
Strategy and process spectrum
1/21
1/26
1/28
W
M
W
3
4
5
2/2
M
6
Strategy and process spectrum
Strategy and process spectrum
Process Analysis & Applications
Process measures & Little’s law
Process flow analysis
2/4
W
7
2/9
2/11
M
W
2/23
M
2/23
2/25
M
W
3/2
3/4
M
W
12
13
3/9
M
14
3/11
W
15
3/12
Th
*
8
9
10
*
11
Flow time & capacity analysis
Process Analysis Applications
Inventory Management
Inventory basics & economies of
scale
Dealing with uncertainty
Safety stock and levers for
improvement
Problem Set I Due
Review of Process Analysis and
Inventory Management
Mid-term Examination
Optimal Service Levels
The Newsvendor Model
Optimal Service Levels, continued
The Newsvendor Model
Applications: Process Improvement
Process Evaluation and Re-design
Tools of Process Mapping
5:00 pm - Registration Deadline
Littlefield Operations Management
Exercise
Required Readings
Read: MBPF: Chapters 1 and 2
Case: Shouldice Hospital Limited
Case: Shouldice Hospital Limited
Case: Wriston Manufacturing
Read: MBPF: Chapter 3
Read: MBPF: Chapter 4
Case: CRU Computer Rental
Read: MBPF: Chapter 5
Read: The Goal (up to p 161)
Case: Cal’s Calzones
Case: National Cranberry Cooperative
Read: MBPF: Chapter 6
Read: MBPF: Chapter 7
Prepare: Assigned Questions
Read: MBPF: Chapter 7
Read: MBPF: Chapter 7
Case: CVS
Reading: Supplement, TBD
Failure to register by the deadline will
result in a grade of zero for the
assignment.
6
3/16
M
3/16
M
3/18
W
17
3/23
3/23
M
M
18
3/25
3/25
3/26
W
W
Th
3/30
4/1
4/2
M
W
Th
19
20
4/6
M
21
4/6
M
22
4/8
4/8
4/20
4/20
W
W
M
M
23
*
*
4/27
M
*
4/29
W







16
*
24
25
26
Decision Analysis in Operations
Formulating Linear Programs
Littlefield Operations Management
Exercise, Part 1 Begins
Solving Linear Programs
Applications of Linear Programs
Littlefield Operations Management
Exercise, Part 1 Ends
Littlefield Part 1 Write-up Due
Guest Speaker: TBD
Littlefield Operations Management
Exercise, Part 2 Begins
Guest Speaker: Kevin Steinberg
Applications of Linear Programs
Littlefield Operations Management
Exercise, Part 2 Ends
Operations in Action
In-Class Exercise
SPECIAL TIME (Tentative)
5:00 - 6:30
Supply Chain Management
Littlefield Part 2 Write-up Due
Problem Set II Due
Fast Growth Enterprises – Managing
the Supply Chain in a High-Velocity
Industry
Process Improvement
Vignette Presentations
The Implementation Challenge
Wrap-up and Review
National Cranberry Case, Due February 9
Problem Set I, Due February 23
Mid term Examination, March 2
Littlefield Part 1 Write-up, Due March 25
Littlefield Part 2 Write-up, Due April 8
Linear Programming Problem Set, Due April 20
Process Improvement Presentation, Due April 27
Reading: Stevenson Excerpt
Reading: John Pinot’s Winery
(See Assignment for links)
Reading: Stevenson Excerpt
Reading: Stevenson Excerpt
In-class Exercise Continues
Case: Barilla SpA, Part A