REQUIRED TEXT

1. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage by Chase, Jacobs and Aquilano [McGraw
Hill: 11th Edition or newer]. Variants of the same book are available at the Library. Students may
consult any one of them. Please buy the text book since photocopying the book will not serve
the purpose as there will be several diagrams and graphs in a colored format that you will not be
able to understand unless you have the book.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Eliyahu M. Goldrat & Jeff Cox. THE GOAL. 3rd Edition.
Norman Gaither, Greg Frazier. Production and Operations Management.
Anderson, Sweeney, Williams. An Introduction to Management Science;
Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making. Twelfth Edition.
Jacobs, Chase. Operations and Supply Chain Management. Thirteenth Edition.
The Toyota Way: Fourteen Management Principles from the World's Greatest
Manufacturer, Edition 1 by Jeffrey Liker.
Emerald Research - http://www.emeraldinsight.com//journals.htm?
Production and Operations Management Society - http://www.poms.org/journal/
Manufacturing.net - http://www.manufacturing.net/
Logistics Management - http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/
Students who regularly read the business periodicals and business press are more aware of
the current business events and understand how businesses really work. Those students
tend to do well in class participation, analyses of cases and presentations, and eventually
at workplace. It is recommended that you read sources like:

Business Pages of Daily Newspapers Business Week

Strategic Management Review Harvard Business Review
Administrative Science Quarterly Management Science
The Economist Marketing News
Advertising Age Marketing Week
Adweek Sloan Management Review, MIT
Extra readings for research and case
preparation will be announced from time
to time in class.

1
GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVES
To develop a strong perspective for students of the role operations plays in a business
organization and to get them familiarized with the concepts, tools and analytical
techniques used within the field. The focus of the course is to identify approaches and
strategies that help create competitive advantage for organizations by using operations
as a competitive weapon.
To instill a strong sense of management professionalism.
To improve your ability to examine managerial problems.
To develop a better understanding of yourself and others.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will focus on the production and operations management functions of a for-
profit firm from the perspective of general management. The course deals with the overall
question why some companies are successful and others fail from an operations
perspective. This course will include a combination of: (1) lectures (2) cases (3)
presentations (4) exams.
The accomplishment of the objectives of this course depends on the full participation of
everyone. One reason for this expectation is that in any organization only those who are
fully involved (attentive) will ultimately succeed. A further reason is that this class, for its
success, is heavily dependent on your involvement. The meaningfulness of this course
both to you and your colleagues can be increased by active participation. Full
participation includes, but is not limited to: 1) contributing to the class discussions, 2)
reading the chapters, articles, and/or cases assignments prior to the class, 3) actively being
involved in your group projects, 4) attending lectures and doing your assignments on
time.

EXPECTATIONS AND COURSE PHILOSOPHY

Learning is primarily the responsibility of the individual and it can be enhanced
by cooperative effort. Collaborative learning includes, but is not limited to,
participating in class discussions and contributing to the efforts of ones group.
Learning depends on your active involvement. You are expected to read the
chapters before coming to class and to complete the assignments before the class for
which it is assigned. You are further encouraged to bring current news items and
issues which are applicable to each particular topic.
Homework is an important part of your learning experience. You are expected to
put time and effort on this task. Homework assignments can come from business
magazines, the cases at the end of the chapters, exercises from your text, or any other
source the instructor finds important for the learning process IN ADDITION TO
WHAT IS STIPULATED IN THE BELOW MENTIONED COURSE STRUCTURE.
ASSIGNMENTS, PROJECT & PRESENTATIONS
Assignments may be given as and when the instructor deems pertinent for either
knowledge building or for reinforcement purposes. Late assignments will not be
accepted.
 All assignments should be neatly written or typed preferably in Times New Roman,
12 font-size and 1.5 line spacing bearing the students name, date and topic. APA style
of formatting is preferred. Assignments which do not bear the said information will
not be accepted.
Each student (or group) will present case studies or readings during the semester.
In case of group assignments, each student MAY BE evaluated by their peers at the
end of the semester.
Also, during the semester, if a majority of the group members agree that a team
member is not contributing to the group effort, the group may ask the student to leave.
The "fired" student will then complete assignments as determined by the
instructor. The group must inform the instructor and the student of the decision no
later than two weeks prior to the due date of the assignment.
COURSE EVALUATION & GRADING
Final Exam - 35 percent
Midterm - 20 percent
Quizzes - 10 percent
Class Participation - 10 percent
Case Topic Presentations - 15 percent
Group Project - 10 percent

GROUP PROJECT AND PRESENTATIONS

As per LSE rules, students will be expected to identify, analyze and evaluate different
aspects of manufacturing/operations processes of a designated organization and present
their findings. Groups of a minimum of four and a maximum of five students are allowed
except in exceptional circumstances where more (up to six) may be allowed. Each group
will be allocated a company based on discussion with the instructor at the beginning of
the semester. Company designated, cannot be changed arbitrarily by any group unless
otherwise discussed and approved by the instructor in writing. A group project report will
be due at the beginning of the class on the first day of presentations. Length of this report
will not exceed 10 pages (excluding appendices and diagrams). The group presentations
will be held during the last two class sessions of the semester. All group members will be
expected to present for 20 to 25 minutes including a questions and answers session.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES
As per LSE rules the project deliverables comprise:

A) - Identify process flow structure (job shop, batch etc), process selection and
manufacturing process flow design and its rationale and suitability for the organization.
B) - Analyze processes specific to supply (of components, parts, and materials),
assembly, and inspection (and/or testing) functions. Develop process flowcharting and
types of processes used by the company.
C) - Analyze supplier base of the organization in context with the supply chain
management. Investigate the split of outsourcing and internally manufactured/assembled
parts. Analyze the function of outsourcing if applicable, for the components, raw material,
parts or functions the strategic reasons and benefits?
D) - Discuss the approach, techniques and model(s) used for quality control. Determine
number of employees and total cost related to quality function. Identify whether the
company has a separate department for quality, why or why not? Indicate if and how
quality is built into the product and how the company ensures distribution of defect free
finished product. Also include in your report benchmarking approaches followed by the
company, identify any influence of international quality standards of (the company or) the
industry in which it operates.
E) - Investigate and discuss company policies and practices related to workforce
recruitment, training, development, and appraisal with specific focus on individual key
performance indicators.
F) - Your recommendations in terms of evaluation of the current state of process,
technology, employees, quality, workforce and operating focus of the organization.

PROFESSIONALISM AND PLAGIARISM

I do not accept plagiarism (copying other peoples/authors/writers/composers work)
in any form. If I find that students have copied each others assignments or have
copied material off the internet or any other source without mentioning the full
reference of the source, I shall not accept the presentation/assignment/project/paper.
This means that even if you copy a diagram or a piece of information from any
source, it is expected that you reference the source as per the APA style.
Also please remember that professionalism includes but is not limited to:
Being in class on time
Raising your hand when you want to ask a question/participate in class
discussion/lecture
Switching off or silencing your cell-phone before and during the class
Taking care of your attendance and being on time for class
The quality of your contribution to class work
Your individual contribution to class discussions
Respect to your colleagues
If you need to leave the class during any lecture please let the instructor know in
advance.

Instructor Feedback
I expect a candid and open feedback on my lectures and anything that you may want to
suggest to improve the quality of this course. PLEASE STOP ME DURING THE
LECTURE IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND SOMETHING OR NEED FOR ME TO
IMPROVE THE COURSE.

COURSE STRUCTURE
As per the LSE Guidelines
LEC
LECTURE SESSION DISCUSSION SESSION
NO.
1 Ch1: Introduction, course overview Project Intro and Group
 Formation
2 Introduction to the field The Goal 50 pages
3 Ch2: Operations Strategy and Competitiveness The Goal 50-100 pages
4 Operations Strategy and Competitiveness The Goal 100 to 150 pages
5 Ch 3: Project Management The Goal 150 to 200 pages
6 Project Management Cont. Problem set
7 Technical Note Learning Curves Journal Article discussion
8 Ch 4: Process Analysis Case Discussion 1
9 Process Analysis Quiz 1
10 Ch 5: Product Design and Process Selection The Goal 200 to 275
11 Product Design and Process Selection The Goal 275 to 360
Technical Note Facility Layout, Assembly Line Assembly Line video of Ford
12
Balancing Model T
Ch 6: Product Design and Process Selection
13 Quiz2
Services
14 Technical Note Waiting Line Management Case Discussion 2
15 MID TERM MID TERM
16 Ch 7: Total Quality Management (Six Sigma focus) Problem set / Assignment
17 Ch 8: Operations Consulting and Reengineering Journal Article Discussion
Ch 9: Supply Chain Strategy Cont../Ch 11: JIT
18 Quiz 3
(not in original syllabus but is in the book)
19 Ch 12: Forecasting Case discussion 3
Short video of Mega
20 Forecasting Cont
Projects
21 Ch 13: Aggregate Sales & Operations Planning Problem set / Assignment
22 Aggregate Sales & Operations Planning Case discussion 4
23 Ch 14: Inventory Control Quiz 4
24 Day long Industry Tour Day long Industry Tour
Case discussion 5/Case
25 Inventory Control
Presentations
26 Overview of the Operation Management Review for the Final Exam
27 Final Presentations Final Presentations
28 FINAL EXAM FINAL EXAM

Please remember that in addition to the above, surprise quizzes/in-class assignments may
be introduced as and when the instructor deems fit to improve or reinforce ideas which
the class may be lacking in.