Faculty of Business: Management
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level: Undergraduate

Result Type: Grade and marks

Handbook description

All goods and services are delivered to customers by processes that need to be designed and managed effectively. Technological advances, particularly in electronic business, provide new opportunities in process design. There is significant opportunity for more effective design and control of all the processes involved in supplying a good or service to the end customer, in other words, value chain management. This subject provides a broad introduction to planning, design, implementation and improvement of operations with an emphasis on the value chain. Topics covered include operations strategy, various approaches to operations planning and control, quality management, performance measurement, value chain management and operations improvement.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1. understand how the strategic objectives of the organisation can be translated into effective business processes that add value
2. be familiar with a number of approaches to the control and improvement of the operations in the value stream
3. apply a number of analytic methods and tools to the improvement of processes and operations
4. be familiar with important contemporary issues related to the interaction between people and technology in the systems used to control and fulfil the transactions of the business.

Contribution to graduate profile

Managing the value stream is designed to develop in students an understanding of the fundamental principles of process and operations management in a complex and rapidly changing business environment. The subject contributes to the aims of the Management major through its focus on a wide range of critical concepts and issues concerning the management of processes across a wide range of business types. The subject places a strong emphasis on ensuring students develop critical thinking and analytical skills. The subject also assures students are able to effectively communicate and maintain collaborative relationships with peers through a group assessment task.

Teaching and learning strategies

There is a commitment to the application of experiential learning strategies in this subject. Simulation exercises are used to enable the participants to develop skills in the application of the abstract concepts of this discipline. Teaching sessions are normally of three hours duration. These sessions involve lectures, workshops, video-based cases, tutorial work, student presentations and simulation exercises.

Content

• The strategic role of operations
• Process design
• Process technology
• Planning and control
• Design and control of supply chains
• Methods of measuring and improving performance of the value chain
• Contemporary issues.

Assessment

Assignment (Individual)	30%
The assignment requires students to write a report on a technology used in the value chain area on the simulation exercises used in the subject. It addresses objectives 1 and 4.
Analysis of a value chain (Group)	30%
Students map and analyse a value chain and make suggestions for improvement. It enables students to demonstrate they have met objectives 1-3.
Formal Final Examination (Individual)	40%
This uses multiple choice and long answer format questions in order to test students' understanding of subject material. It enables students to demonstrate they have met objectives 1-4.

Examinations will be conducted under University Examination conditions and hence thoroughly address secure assessment concerns. The group assignment is based on the collection of primary data. Protocols are established to ensure that managers in the participating companies can be identified and, if necessary, corroborate student claims on data collection. Individual essay assessment is subjected to plagiarism detection software.

Recommended text(s)

Russell, R, and Taylor, B, Operations Management, 4th edn, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2002

Indicative references

Gaither, N, and Frazier, G, Production and Operations Management, 8th edn, South-Western College Publishing, 1999

Hines, P, Lamming, R, Jones, D, Cousins, P, and Rich, N, Value Stream Management: Strategy and Excellence in the Supply Chain, Pearson Education, 2000

Goldratt, E, and Cox, J, The Goal, revised edn, Gower Publishing Group, Aldershot, 1989

Porter, M, Strategy and the Internet, Harvard Business Review, March, 63-78, 2001