21871 Operations and Value Chain Strategy

Subject level: Postgraduate

Handbook description

Operations and Value Chain Strategy presents operations from a vantage point that encompasses both the entire organisation and the broader supply network. The subject contextualises operations management by arguing that the goals to which any high quality operation must aspire are the goals of profitability and sustainable business practices. The subject presents operations within a context that acknowledges the interactions both within all functional areas of an organisation as well as the supply chain network serving it.

Subject objectives/outcomes

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

1. Understand challenges in the area of operations and value chain management related to social, environmental and technological issues.
2. Relate operations and value chain concepts, techniques and examples of best practice, to their own work environment.
3. Apply advanced conceptual skills in value chain management to complex business problems through exposure to up-to-date, leading-edge knowledge of core business processes.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the dynamic nature of relationships between business strategy, operations and business environment.

Contribution to graduate profile

This subject focuses on development of advanced conceptual skills in operations and value chain analysis through reviewing up-to-date leading-edged knowledge and decision making in complex and unpredictable business environments. Students will acquire an understanding of the issues and challenges faced by organisations managing operations and the value chain in the global context, with particular emphasis on the strategic aspects of managing services and operations in these organisations.

Teaching and learning strategies

There is a commitment to critical enquiry and intellectual debate with regard to the material covered, and students are encouraged to explore the relationship between the theories and research on operations and value chain strategies. The subject is experientially grounded and uses simulation workshops, cases and teamwork activities as the catalyst for learning. The various activities are designed to enable students to analyse a variety of complex operations problems in different business environments and apply creative thinking to finding solutions.

Content

• Strategy and value: competing through operations
• Quality tools: process performance to process perfection
• Supply chain management: managing business to business interactions
• Supply chain optimisation: RFDI in the supply chain
• Demand forecasting: building the foundation for resource planning
• Inventory: managing to meet demand
• Logistics: positioning goods in the supply chain
• Lean systems: eliminating waste through the supply chain
• Constraint management: simplifying complex systems
• Workforce: optimising human capital

Assessment

Recommended text(s)

Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnson, R. (2007) Operations Management, 5th edn. Prentice Hall, Harlow, England

Indicative references

Evans, R. and Lindsay, W.M. (2008) Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence, 7th edn. Thomson, South-Western, Mason, OH, USA

Fitzsimmons, J.A. and Fitzsimmons, M.J. (2006) Service Management: Operations, Strategy and Information Technology, 5th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York