OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS

Instructor: Shakeel Sadiq Jajja Email: ssj@lums.edu.pk

Room No: 308 Telephone: +92 42 35608435
Administrative Sharha Mumtaz
Office Hours: On appointment.
Assistant X5228
COURSE OVERVIEW

1. The primary objectives of this course are:

A) To develop understanding of the role operations management plays in a business
organization.
B) Develop understanding of the fundamental concepts, analytical techniques and
implementation issues involved in operations management
C) With a general management perspective develop the understanding of the linkages between
operations and overall strategy, and other functional areas like marketing, finance, and
organizational behavior.
D) Sensitize students to operational issues in some of the major industries in Pakistan

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate understanding of the role operations management plays in a business organization.
2. Demonstrate understanding of the fundamental concepts, analytical techniques and
implementation issues involved in operations management
3. With a general management perspective, understand the linkages between operations and overall
strategy, and other functional areas like marketing, finance, and organizational behavior.
4. Analyze and design a process in the context of an overall business strategy.

MBA PROGRAM LEARNING GOALS & OBJECTIVES

1. Leadership and teamwork: Students will be able to assume leadership roles, perform
leadership tasks responsibly, and work effectively in teams.
2. Functional, integrative and strategic abilities: Students will demonstrate understanding of the
functional and strategic aspects of business and management, be able to integrate across
functional areas, and develop feasible strategies and action plans.
3. Critical thinking and decision making: Students will be able to identify key problems, collect
and use information critically, and generate viable alternatives and solutions.
4. Global perspective and flexibility: Students will demonstrate understanding of global and
multi-cultural perspectives within the local context and be able to work effectively in multi-
cultural settings.
5. Social, ethical, economic and environmental responsibility: Students will be able to
understand the broader ramifications of their decisions and assess the impact of economic,
ethical, environmental factors on the policies, strategies and operations of the organization.
6. Effective communication: Students will be able to communicate clearly and persuasively in
writing and verbally, in ways appropriate for a variety of objectives and audiences.
7. Entrepreneurialism and innovativeness: Students will be able to create, identify, assess, shape
and act on opportunities in a variety of contexts and organizations.
8. Managing pressures, complexities and uncertainties: Students will be able to manage
pressures and resource constraints, and think, decide and act in complex and ambiguous
situations.

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Indicate below how the course learning objectives specifically relate to any program learning goals
and objectives.
Program Learning Goals and Course Learning Objectives Course Assessment Item
Objectives

Goal 1 – Leadership and Students will work in groups to Plant Visit

Teamwork submit reports on the plant visit.

Goal 2 – Functional, integrative Covered in objective 1 and 3 CP, Quizzes, Exam

and strategic abilities (Module 1 & 5)

Goal 3 – Critical Thinking – Application of critical thinking CP, Quizzes, Exam

Decision making capabilities and decision making through
case studies (obj 2 & 3).

Goal 4 – Global perspective and Most case situations encourage CP and Exam
flexibility global perspective.

Goal 5 – Social, Ethical, Ethical issues related to CP

Economical and Environmental operational decisions are
Responsibility addressed in various cases.
Somewhat covered in obj 4

Goal 6 – Communication Students have multiple CP

competency opportunities to demonstrate
their ability to communicate
effectively

Goal 7 – Entrepreneurialism Discussion on various aspects CP

and innovativeness of entrepreneurialism and
innovativeness in case studies.

Goal 8 – Managing pressures, Ability to handle course related CP, Quizzes and Exam
complexities and Uncertainties pressure is reflected in course
achievements.

RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS/SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS ( if Applicable)

-

COURSE ASSESSMENT/GRADES

Grading Instruments:

The following instruments of evaluation shall be used to assess individual performance.

1) Class Participation 35%

2) Quizzes 15%

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COURSE ASSESSMENT/GRADES
3) Plant Visit Report 15%
4) Final Exam 35%

Class Participation:
Though it is traditionally called “class participation” and is competitively graded, perhaps a better
word is “Class Contribution”. We believe that when we pool together the minds of many it produces
greater learning than could individual effort. To enable this (and to protect against losing these
learning opportunities), we provide some guidelines for CP scoring. There are two pre‐requisites for
effective participation. The first is thorough preparation, while the second is active listening.

Quizzes
There will be short surprise quizzes usually given at the beginning of the class. Their purpose is to
determine the extent to which you have analyzed the case and/or reading assigned for the class. These
quizzes could also test comprehension of material related to the previous class.

Plant Visit Report

This report, developed by a team of up to five students, should reflect on the plant visit in the light of
various takeaways of the course. The group will find a manufacturing or service facility on their own
and visit them after reading “Read a Plant – Fast.” The Plant Visit Report is to be submitted in print
form on last session of the course i.e., session 14. The report can be as long as 5 pages of single spaced
text and three pages of exhibits.

The report should report summary of key plant level facts, critically evaluate operations practices,
generate managerial insights, and provide substantial lessons/takeaways.

Final Examination
Case based, four hours long, close books/notes.

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 OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS

MBA 2021

Sessio
n TITLE OF READING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
CASE MATERIAL
No.
Module 1: Introduction and Process Choices
 Introduction to operations management
and some basic vocabulary
Rapid Rewards at Are You Having
 Pivotal role of operations in business
Trouble Keeping
1 Southwest performance, and its interlinkage with
Your Operations
Airlines other functions
Focused?
 Importance of attention to detail in
operations management
 Advantages and disadvantage of
American various operations strategies
 Understanding the tension in design of
2 Connector
operations:
Company Flexibility versus capacity utilization
Cost versus innovation strategy
Module 2: Process Analysis and Designing, Managing and Improving Operations
 Basic concepts of process analysis
1. Types of A Note on Process  Process Flow Diagram
3
processes Analysis (Abridged)  Managerial trade-offs in various
processes
 Analyze capacity, bottlenecks, demand
rates, cycle time, and throughput
1. Process  Batching strategies to improve
Operations Fundamentals throughput
Management 2. Designing,  Optimize capacity in an operation.
4-5 Managing and Minimize or eliminate demand
Simulation: Improving variability (cyclical, stochastic, batch
Benihana V2 Operations (Section size, and service time)
2.1, 2.2, 2.3)  Optimize multiple variables in an
operation and ensure consistency in the
overall strategy.
 Process Flow Diagram
 Process-Product Fit
McLeod Motors 1. Inventory Control
6  Form vs. Function (Role) of
Ltd. 2. Process Design
Inventories
 Flexibility vs Costs
Productivity and
Performance  Basic performance measures in
Systems: A operations management
Comparative  Measurement of productivity in
7
Analysis of service operations
Northern Telecom  Basics of scientific management
and United Parcel (Taylor’s approach)
Service
4
Sessio
n TITLE OF READING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
CASE MATERIAL
No.
8 Panel discussion: How Covid-19 pandemic has affected operations functions? (The
order/number of this session can be changed to accommodate scheduling needs.)
Module 3: Process Improvement and Quality Management
 Essential calculations in SPC,
including control limits and process
Operations capability index
Managing Quality  Use of statistical process control in
Management
9-10 with Process Control real time to make go/no go decisions
Simulation: about a process
Terminology Primer
Quality Analytics  Process capability and control
 Prevention and failure costs and total
cost of quality
Florida Power
 Statistical Process Control
Light Quality
11-12 Managing Quality  Issues in Program Implementation
Improvement (Q1)
 Issues in ‘Service’ Operations
Story Exercise
Apollo Hospitals:
Quality
Differentiation  Statistical Quality Control
13 Management: Focus
Through  Six-Sigma
on Six Sigma
Hospitality
Module 4: Wrap-up
Comfort Designing, Managing
 Improving process: The stages and role
Knitwear: Dyeing and Improving
14 of process knowledge
Process Operations (Section
 Summing up the course
Improvements 2.4)

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Assignment Questions

Rapid Rewards at Southwest Airlines

1.       Should southwest save low-numbered boarding cards for its most frequent fliers? What is the
key motivation for your opinion? What are the tradeoffs that southwest must consider in making this
decision? Please fill out the poll associated with this question.

2.       Should Southwest allow its most frequent fliers that have missed their flight to take the next
available flight with an empty seat or should these customers have to wait for the next available flight
with an empty seat within the same fare class? What drives your decision? Please fill out the poll
associated with this question.

3.       What are the Southwest’s sources of competitive advantage?

4.       Consider how you might determine the economic importance of frequent fliers? In class, we’ll
determine an approximation of this measure for southwest.

5.       In what instances do you advocate firms offer tiered or differentiated service to its customers?
What guidelines do you propose firms use in making this decision?   

American Connector Company

1.       How serious is the threat of DJC to ACC?

2.       How big are the differences between the DJC plant and ACC’s Sunnyvale plant? Consider both
DJC’s performance in Kawasaki and its potential in the US?

3.       What accounts for these differences? How much of the differences is inherit in the way each of
the two companies compete? How much is due strictly to differences in the efficiency of the
operations?

4.       What should ACC’s management at the Sunnyvale plat do?

Types of Processes

Be ready to discuss key concepts in the teaching material.

Operations Management Simulation: Benihana V2

Be ready to discuss key concepts in the teaching material.

McLeod Motors Ltd.

1.       Identify each step in the BN-88-55 production process and identify where inventory exists in
the system. What function(s) does it serve?

2.       How long does it take for a batch of BN-88-55s to go through the McLeod manufacturing
process (the throughput time)?

3.       How much work-in-process inventory of BN-88-55’s predecessors might the company have had
before it started producing BN-88-55s? How much BN-88-55 work-in-process inventory could it have

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now? Why might the inventory level at McLeod have changed? How low could McLeod Motors get
it?

4.       What action should Sue Reynolds consider taking and what should she tell John Ingram?

Productivity and Performance Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Northern Telecom and

United Parcel Service

1.       What are the similarities and differences between the UPS and Northern Telecom approaches?

2.       What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each approach?

3.       Define the circumstances where approach is more appropriate than the other?

Operations Management Simulation: Quality Analytics

Be ready to discuss key concepts in the teaching material.

Florida Power Light Quality Improvement (Q1) Story Exercise

Be ready to discuss key concepts in the teaching material.

Apollo Hospitals: Differentiation Through Hospitality

1.       How much importance should be given to aspects of hospitality in hospitals? Should Apollo set
a target Sigma level for hospitality?

2.       There were 1434 complaints from the 138600 patients treated between March2011 and
December 2012. What is the Sigma level of the overall hospitality service?

3.       Explain the use of the Kano Evaluation Table in the context of determining those hospitality
services that would provide maximum satisfaction to patients.

4.       Discuss ways of reducing complaints in the housekeeping and food and beverages departments
of a hospital. Develop a DMAIC framework for reducing defects in these two departments.

5.       What is your opinion about the methodology adopted by Dr. Rao and his team?

6.       Analyze the word frequency count provided in Exhibit 9.

7.       Suggest lean Six Sigma methodologies that can be used to reduce the number of complaints
related to hospitality.

8.       What strategy should Dr. Rao adopt to reduce the number of complaints at the hospital? How
should generic complaints such as “housekeeping service needed to be improved” be handled?

Comfort Knitwear: Dyeing Process Improvements

Be ready to discuss key concepts in the teaching material.