STRATEGIC OPERATIONS ISSUES
How to use your study pack
Your study pack for this subject contains the following materials: - These learning materials, including the following: - Subject Overview (which includes the introduction, subject content, list of resources and assignment), and - Topics - Sample Exams - Articles - Supplementary Resources (if any)
The information contained in your study pack has been designed to lead you through your learning process.
Note that the learning materials are not a replacement for the textbook.
Learning materials for each topic in the subject are based on specific chapters in the textbook. You should read the textbook along with these learning materials, and concentrate your study on the issues raised.
Learning activities and/or discussion questions are included in the learning materials. Advanced students might wish to pursue more of the discussion questions at the end of the appropriate textbook chapters.
Note that the examiner does not expect that you to memorise all of the issues that are discussed in the textbook or in these learning materials. It is more important in the exam to be able to demonstrate that you understand the various concepts and to show how they can apply to practical examples of organisations in your country or region.
Some of the topics list one or more journal articles related to that topic's content. For exam purposes, the textbook will be the primary source to answer exam questions, but if you are able to do additional reading, information from the journal articles or elsewhere may help you to achieve a higher grade.
Finally, online quizzes and sample exam papers are provided to help you test your understanding of the subject.
Learning from the Workplace
Studying at the Australian Institute of Business is a unique experience. There are no artificial boundaries between the workplace and the classroom. The world of work is never far away from everything we do. It is no coincidence that the Institute's strap-line is ‘The Practical Business School'. Indeed, our very mission is
Overview to provide distinctive business and management education in national and international environments based on AIB's orientation towards work-applied learning.
So how do we do this and how will you experience the difference? The answer is that learning from the workplace is embedded in all aspects of your course. Let us see how this works in practice.
Practitioner experience as entry requirement for students
For a start, most students will already have experience of the workplace and in postgraduate programmes this is a prerequisite. This will enable you to see whether theories make sense in practice and, in turn, to bring real-life problems to the classroom. You will very quickly find, too, that you can also learn from each other, sharing experiences and looking for solutions.
Academic facilitators with practical experience Of course, all of our facilitators are required to have appropriate academic qualifications, as well as relevant workplace experience. With this background, they can bring interesting examples into classroom discussions. In addition, with our international coverage we are very keen that facilitators can relate the various subjects to conditions in different parts of the world, making it all much more meaningful to you as the student.
Design of courses and learning materials
Work-applied research is integrated in all of our courses. This is why we include a work-based assignment in every subject in our undergraduate as well as postgraduate programmes. It is also why you will be asked to undertake at least one work-based research project in the course of your studies. With the guidance of an experienced project supervisor, you will be able to explore a topic of your own choosing, ideally based on a problem that you want to address in the workplace.
Teaching and learning strategies
Even the way you learn will often be more like a workplace situation than a traditional classroom. You will be encouraged to work in groups and to share your understanding of real-world situations. As well as your own selection of case studies, you might discuss one presented by the facilitator or perhaps taken from a textbook. Course objectives are achieved when you relate your readings, course materials and facilitator guidance to the workplace. It is a ‘to and fro' process, backwards and forwards between the classroom and the workplace, reflecting on the links and developing your own ideas.
Design of course assessment
Finally, even the various forms of assessment are designed with the workplace in mind. You will be expected not merely to describe what you observe in the workplace, nor just to replicate what you have read in a textbook or journal article, but rather to achieve a combination of the two. We will be looking always for a balance between theory and practice. As you progress through your course this should become almost second nature to you - reading what others have written on the subject but also looking at what you see in the world around you.
All of the above amounts to a distinctive approach to learning, known as work-applied learning. You will see in the following diagram that knowledge of various aspects of business and management is enriched through projects related to the workplace. This leads to questioning of what you already know and ultimately to well-informed, practical outcomes that can take you well beyond what you could find in libraries alone.
To explain a little more, the natural starting point is where you see the Q. Start by asking questions about a problem that has to be solved through a project, which is shown as P1, then move on to read about the existing knowledge, K, on this subject. Armed with that material, back you go to P1 to see if the explanations make sense, and then you can achieve project and learning outcomes, P2.
But that cycle is not the end of it because, on the basis of what you have learnt, you will now want to return to the questioning stage and repeat the whole process. In theory, you can repeat the cycle yet again as each time your understanding will be refined by more practical experience. Theory and practice, as you will discover, go hand in hand and this model helps to show how this is achieved.
Learning is an adventure, a journey of exploration. At AIB we encourage you to be bold, to cross the line between the classroom and the workplace. We will support you along the way and our hope is that the experience will be enjoyable as well as productive. There are no limits to what you can discover, no end to the learning process.
Introduction to the subject
Welcome to the Strategic Operations Issues subject in your MBA program. Operations and processes are the activities of organisations that drive their output. The processes of every country's organisations produce our needed products and services, but they also produce ideas, advertising campaigns, financial reports, new employees, improvement projects, new office buildings, clean floors and everything else that makes organisations what they are today. The textbook for this topic is focussed on operations and process management because processes are the building blocks of operations in every area of human endeavour. This subject will be a fascinating journey for you and it has been clearly set out around a good textbook, so we are sure you will do as well in the subject's assessment as you want to.
The objective of this subject is to provide you with in-depth knowledge of the concepts associated with strategic operations issues. It complements other subjects in your degree such as Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Strategic Marketing, Integrated Logistics Management, and Strategic Supply Chain Management. This complementarity is based on the need that all executives and entrepreneurs have to make sound operational and strategic decisions to successfully guide their enterprise into the future. Every business manager and CEO is aware that operations management can deliver vital strategic advantages over competitors through lowering costs, improving quality and ensuring that the right quantities of products are produced and made available to the consumer at the right time and place. In today's Internet driven world, operations issues are vital to logistics and supply chain management, as products continue to be sourced and delivered through the most cost-efficient global networks.
Good luck with your studies and best wishes for a successful completion of Strategic Operations Issues.
Content
1 Introduction to operations and process management ? What is operations and process management? ? What is a process perspective? ? Should all processes be managed in the same way? ? Operations strategy & performance objectives ? Operations strategy from the top and bottom of the business including operations resources alignment ? Operations strategy and operations improvement
Article:
Hammer, M and Stanton, S 1999, ‘How process enterprises really work', Harvard Business Review, vol. 77, no. 6, pp. 108-118.
2 Supply network design and capacity planning ? Supply network design ? Supply network configuration ? Operations location decisions ? Fundamental issues in capacity planning for the supply network
3 Process design and analysis ? Process design - positioning ? Process design - analysis ? Process configuration
Articles:
Hammer, M 1990, ‘Reengineering work: don't automate, obliterate', Harvard Business Review, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 104-112.
Climent, C, Mula, J and Hernandez JE 2009, ‘Improving the business process of a bank', Business Process Management Journal, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 201-224.
4 Supply chain management ? What is supply chain management? ? Supply chain objectives ? Managing supply chain relationships ? Managing the supply side and the demand side of the supply chain ? Supply chain dynamics
Article: Lee, HL 2004, ‘The triple A supply chain', Harvard Business Review, vol. 82, no.10, pp.102-112. 5 Capacity management and planning ? Introduction to capacity management ? Defining an operation's current capacity ? Managing demand-capacity mismatches
6 Inventory management ? What is inventory management?
? Inventory decisions - how much to order ? Inventory decisions - when to order ? Inventory control and ABC analysis
Article
Flores, BE and Whybark, DC 1987, ‘Implementing multiple criteria ABC analysis', Journal of Operations Management, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 79-85. 7 Resource planning and control ? Introduction to resource planning and control ? Dependent demand systems ? Enterprise resource planning ? Loading and scheduling work ? The theory of constraints
Article:
Schafer, WB 1986, ‘Keep patients waiting? Not in my office', Medical Economics, May 12, pp. 137-141 (www.memag.com). 8 Lean synchronization ? Introduction to lean synchronization ? Just-in-time (JIT) in lean operations ? Barriers to lean synchronisation ? Is lean synchronization applied throughout the supply network? ? Practical issues in lean synchronization.
Articles (Either article is suitable)
Julien, DM and Tjahjono, B 2009, ‘Lean thinking implementation at a Safari Park', Business Process Management Journal, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 321-335. [Lean manufacturing]
Salaiz, C 2003, 'Lean Operations at Delphi', Manufacturing Engineering, vol. 131, no. 3, pp. 97-104. [Lean service]
9 Quality management and operations improvement ? Defining and measuring quality ? Total quality management (TQM) ? Identifying operations improvement opportunities ? TQM strategies for improving operations ? Improvement techniques (TQM tools)
Articles
Hammer, M and Stanton, S 2004, ‘Deep change: how operational innovation can transform your company', Harvard Business Review, vol. 82, iss. 4, pp. 84-93.
10 Project management ? Defining projects and project management ? Understanding the project environment ? Key issues in defining and managing projects ? Project planning and scheduling ? Issues in project control
There are some core issues among the chapters that should be mastered for a basic understanding of this subject. The exam paper (that will require answers to four questions out of six on the paper, in three hours) may cover these core issues and may also cover other issues.
These core issues are:
1. Operations objectives and operations strategy 2. Supply network design and supply chain management 3. Process analysis and design 4. Capacity planning & capacity management 5. Inventory management 6. Resource planning and control 7. Lean operations and JIT 8. Total quality management (TQM) 9. Operations improvement 10. Project management.
Assignment
Using your own organisation or a local organisation that you know well, identify a strategic operations issue or problem that needs to be addressed. This problem should be based on one of the topics you have covered in this subject. Essentially, your task will be to:
a) Describe the organisation briefly, but well enough for the assignment examiner to understand what the organisation does and its relevance to this assignment
b) Briefly explain the specific operational issue, problem or process that needs to be addressed and provide clear details of its function within the organisation. For example, this might include: • a chart or process flow diagram to show the functional relationships of the process or problem issue with the rest of the organisation's workflow • key objectives and purpose of the operation including your opinion of its current and ideal performance (preferably supported by actual performance data) • opportunities for change and improvement to the process or techniques being used now • resource implications or constraints that need to be considered • technologies and/or manpower issues involved in the process.
c) Analyse the problem using a concept covered in this subject (this should be the major part of your work and your report). (If you believe it is appropriate, you can use more than one concept from the subject but bear in mind the word limit mentioned below.) In analysing the problem, you should consider: • the five main performance objectives of operations management; • changes to performance or outcomes (such as cost, output, quality, productivity etc); • potential improvements that you believe can be made; • relevant theory calculations where possible; • where possible, any information about the costs involved
d) Provide brief recommendations for improving the process or problem including comparisons of your recommendations against the current system, and details of changes needed to correct the problem or improve the situation. Bear in mind that your recommendations should be potentially cost effective i.e. you must argue the changes from the point of view of their potential to improve cost, quality, output, productivity etc. In other words, do not just provide a ‘wish' list of recommendations without considering their practicality.
Important Instructions
1. Assignments must contain proper citations and referencing using the Harvard style referred to in the AIB Style Guide, that is:
a. citations (or in-text references) of quoted and paraphrased materials to support your arguments/comments, and b. a reference list relating specifically to your in-text references.
2. Your grade will be adversely affected if there is no/poor citations and/or reference list, as referred to above.
3. Assignments of this nature normally contain between 6 and 12 relevant references from different sources in the reference list.
4. All references must be from credible sources. Journals sourced from the EBSCO Host library (see Online Library User Guide on the next page) should be used first, then books, company documents and other media.
5. You are encouraged to make use of the AIB online library which can be accessed through the AIB website.
6. AIB checks assignments with anti-plagiarism software. Please carefully check your assignments before final submission to ensure that all quoted and paraphrased materials are properly cited and referenced.
7. The total number of words should not exceed 2500 words (excluding your cover page, an executive summary, table of contents, list of references or appendices.) Penalties may apply if you exceed the word limit (please refer to the Assessment Policy on AIB website). You may place any supporting material that exceeds this word limit in the appendices. However, a reader should not have to look at an appendix to determine the main thrust of the points you are making in your assignment. So make sure all your main points are in the body of your assignment and refer to the appendices that will support the points you are making.
8. You are strongly advised to carefully read the AIB Style Guide for clarification of these requirements.
9. For guidance on how to write an assignment, please refer to the AIB Assignment Guide.