THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA
FACULTY OF BUINESS MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
MASTER OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT (MPM) PROGRAMME
OLG 629: Management of Strategic Operations
COURSE OUTLINE
Introduction
This course is for those who wish to become expert in managing project operation strategies
for competitive performance, time compression, responsiveness, waste elimination through
operations management, globalization, supply chains and operations performance
measurement. It is the management of processes in systems that transform inputs into
finished goods and/or provide services and influence decisions about the strategic
Operations Management. This course is designed to address the key operations and logistics
issues in service and manufacturing organizations that have strategic as well as tactical
implications. The tools learnt from this course will apply to any industry including for nonprofit organizations, manufacturing and service companies.
Objectives of the course
The course aims at equipping learners with skills and practice behind the strategic
importance of project management in both manufacturing and service settings. It provides a
fundamental underpinning for the design of sustainable business strategies by focusing on
how to achieve the efficient and effective management of resources and operations. The
course will provide students with knowledge, skills to analyse project operations activities
and design solutions to overcome wasteful operational processes and appreciate the
strategic importance of operations to a wide range of settings.
Learning outcomes
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Understanding of the strategic project management and how they function as a
centre of competition
Understanding of the strategic role and objectives of operations and there position in
strategy implementation
Understanding of main design factors and their alternatives which shape operations
management and how product and service should be considered together
Understanding of a range of fundamental operational improvements and the core
function of marketing, product/service and operation functions
Understanding of the quality management and control in organization and its
application
OLG 629: Management of Strategic Operations
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Understanding of a capacity management in operations and its challenges of
globalization, environment, technology and cooperate social responsibility
Understanding a range of operations management methods and supply chain
Understanding the role of operations within different business models
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Ability to evaluate the strategic project operations management
Ability to determine the strategic role and objectives of operations
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Ability to apply main design factors and their alternatives which shape operations
management
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Ability to analyse a range of fundamental operational management of services
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Ability to access the quality management and control
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Ability to analyse organisations capacity management in operations and its
challenges
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Ability to apply a range of operations management methods and supply chain
Ability to evaluate the role of operations within different business models
Formulate strategic project management in an organization
Develop a strategic role and objectives of operations
Adopt main design factors and their alternatives which shape operations
management
Demonstrate a range of fundamental operational management of services
Explain and apply quality management and control in an organization
Analyse organisations capacity management in operations and its challenges
Synthesise from a range of operations management methods and supply chain
Applying operations management methods within different business models
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Lecture 1-Strategic Project Operations Management
Operations management involves the planning and coordination of work. It is especially
concerned with the creation and delivery of products and services and with providing the
best match of supply with demand. Operations strategy involves the long-term planning and
structuring of work by configuring appropriate resources and processes into an operating
system that best implements the organization’s strategy.
Sub-topics
 What is a project
 Elements of project
 Forms of project
 Factors in successful project management
 An overview of Operations Management
 Operation functions
 Operation managers
 Levels of operation analysis
 Characteristics of Operation Management “four Vs of operations”
 The volume dimension
 The variety dimension
 The variation dimension
 The visibility dimension
OLG 629: Management of Strategic Operations
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Activities of Operation Management
Important of operations Management
Lecture 2-The Strategic Role and Objectives of Operations
Strategically, project operations management involves the long-term planning and
structuring of work. Indeed, the task of operations strategy is to design the operating
system, which is the joint configuration of resources and processes, such that its resulting
competencies are aligned with the organization’s desired competitive position.
Sub-topics
 The role of the operations function
 Strategic implementation
 Strategic support
 Strategic drive
 Operation performance objectives
 The quality objective
 The speed objective
 The dependability objective
 The cost objective
Lecture 3-Operations Strategy
Operations strategy focuses on how to best enable and implement the organization’s
strategy. (For for-profit organizations, “best” can be measured as maximizing the net
present value of profits. For not-for-profits, it could mean minimizing cost subject to
strategically specified constraints on quality, time, flexibility, and other non-financial
metrics.)
Sub-topics
 Difference between strategy and operation strategy
 The top-down perspective
 The bottom-up perspective
 The market requirement perspective
 The operation resources strategy
 The process of operation strategy (Five Ps of operation strategy formulation)
 Purpose
 Point of entry
 Process
 Project Management
 participation
Lecture 4-Quality Management and Control
Quality refers to the degree of excellence of the process, product, or service. It has designrelated dimensions such as performance and features, as well as process-related dimensions
such as durability and reliability. Quality is a key differentiator in luxury and high precision
businesses and a required competency in mature industries.
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Sub-topics
 An overview of Quality Management
 Importance of quality
 Meaning Conformance to specification and the steps involved
 Statistical process and control (SPC)
 Process control learning and knowledge
Lecture 5-Capacity management
Capacity sizing is deciding on how many resources to invest in for each resource type. The
resource type with lowest resource capacity is the bottleneck and determines the capacity of
the entire operations system. Strategically, capacity sizing involves investment in processing
resources: capital and labour.
Sub-topics
 An overview of capacity
 Capacity constraints
 Medium and short term capacity
 Aggregate demand and capacity
 Planning and control capacity
 The objective of capacity planning and control
 Capacity planning as a queuing problem
 Choosing a capacity planning and control
 Plant Location, Layout and Design
Lecture 6-Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management (SCM) is management of a network of interconnected business
involved in the provision of product and service packages required by the end customers in
a supply chain. Supply chain management spans all movement and storage of raw material,
work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.
Sub-topics
 Supply chain management
 Importance of Supply Chain Management
 Activities involved in supply chain management
 Objectives of supply chain management
 Quality
 Dependability
 Flexibility
 Cost
 Supply chain behaviour and dynamics
 Inventory Management,
Lecture 7-Services Operations Management
Operations management is an area of management concerned with overseeing, designing,
controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations in the production
of goods and/or services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations
are efficient in terms of using as few resources as needed, and effective in terms of meeting
customer requirements
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Sub-topics
 Understanding Services Economy
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Role of services in manufacturing firms
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Service Strategy
 Developing a service strategy
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Service Positioning & Implications for Service Delivery Design
 Degree of customer contact, divergence, customization; Service blue printing
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Pricing strategies in Services
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Performance issues in service systems
 Queuing Theory Applications in Service Systems
Lecture 8-Design of Products and Services
Although operations managers may not have direct responsibility for product and service
design, they have indirect responsibility for product and service design and provide
information and advice upon which successful product or service development depends.
Sub-topics
 Importance of good design
 Design in product or service
 The stages of product/service design
 Concept screening
 Design evaluation and improvement
 Prototyping and final design
Lecture 9-Materials and Inventory Control
Materials and Inventory Control introduces about the distribution on service industry. The
course will enable you to manage distribution centers, warehouses, and supply rooms. To
learn safety standard compliance, tool and equipment identification, operation of industrial
lift/transport equipment and data entry.
Sub-topics
 An overview of inventory
 Forms of inventory
 Functions of inventory
 Inventory related costs
Lecture 10-Operation Challenges
Challenges are caused by new technologies, new ideas, changing market and environmental
circumstances, or shift in the very paradigm of business, the operations will have to
understand the consequences of these changes and respond to them.
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Sub-topics
 An overview of Operation challenges
 Challenges of operation managers
 Globalization challenges
 Environmental protections
 Corporate social responsibility
 Technology awareness
 Knowledge management
Reference
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3rd Edition. Jordan Hill Oxford Burlington UK: McGraw-Hill.
Cachon, G. & Terwiesch, C. (2006). Matching supply with demand: An introduction to
operations management. USA: McGraw-Hill.
Chopra, S. & Meindl P. (2004). Supply chain management: Strategy, planning and
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Gehrlein, W. V. (2005) .Operations management cases. Canada: McGraw-Hill.
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