MBA 851
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
SPRING 2002
INSTRUCTOR: Peg Pennington
Office: 612 Fisher Hall
Phone: (614) 292-3081 (O)
Phone: (614) 875-9950 (H)
FAX: (614) 292-1272
E-mail: Pennington.84@osu.edu
OFFICE HOURS: Monday and Wednesday 5 PM – 6 PM and by appointment
COURSE CONTENT
Operations represents a critical area for both manufacturing and service industry firms in
today’s competitive market place. This business function can be designed to provide
major competitive advantage along dimensions that include: cost, delivery speed and
reliability, quality, and quick response in product design. Because of the competitive
importance of operations activities, this function is undergoing rapid change and re-
structuring in many companies involving efforts such as:
– Cross-functional integration
– Continuous improvement of business processes
– Service and product quality improvement
– Employee empowerment and teamwork
– Time-based competition
The need for achieving improved competitive advantage through operations has created
important opportunities for MBA’s entering both general management and operations
management positions.
This course presents a general management perspective on the operations function in a
business. It is concerned with how operations activities can best be designed and
managed to support the strategic objectives of a business. It covers the basic areas of
managerial decision-making in operations, including operations strategy, process
improvement, quality management, and operations planning and control. The course is
designed to place the management of operations in a strategic business context, and to
support the increasingly competitive business environment faced by operations managers
today.
COURSE STRUCTURE
Each class session has two objectives. One involves the discussion of a case designed to
provide an opportunity to apply the concepts developed in the reading assignment for that
class. The other involves a lecture/discussion intended to re-enforce and elaborate upon
the concepts developed in the reading, case, or exercise assignment for that class. The
classes will also include several other type of activities. These include video type
presentations, class exercises, and executives as guest speakers.
REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS
Course Pack: The course pack contains cases and readings and is available at Copy-EZ.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Case Write-ups
Students will be expected to critically read all assignments and be prepared to discuss
them in class. You are encouraged to raise questions and share observations or analysis
that the readings have indicated to you. In each class session one case will be analyzed
and discussed. Two group written reports will be turned in. The written reports are due
at the start of the class for which they are assigned.
Each written report should be a maximum of 5 double spaced pages, plus exhibits, using
no smaller type font than a 12 font size. It is recommended that the case assignment
questions for each case (included in this course outline) be analyzed first. These
questions have been constructed as an aid in preparing the case analysis. After all of the
assignment questions have been analyzed, the written report should be prepared which
includes a response to each question.
Each report should begin with a short executive summary (1/2 page). In all instances,
reports should identify major issues, analyze those issues, and make clear
recommendations. Be sure that the recommendations that you make follow from your
analyses. Written cases are evaluated on both the quality of the analysis and the
presentation. Simply put, case write-ups should not only reflect good thinking but should
also be professional in style and appearance. The quality of the writing counts.
No formal presentation of results will be required although teams are encouraged to
prepare overhead transparency exhibits which might be shared with the class to support a
point of view during the case discussion.
Teams should consist of 5-6 students and will be determined on the first day of class.
Classroom Performance
The value of the class discussions is directly related to the amount of quality student
participation. The class discussion questions (included in this course outline) have been
developed as an aid in preparing the case analysis for all of the cases.
All students are expected to be prepared to discuss each assigned case regardless of
whether you have done a formal group analysis of that case. Your participation grade
will be based on quality rather than quantity:
– evidence of careful preparation of the case and readings
– clarity and conciseness of your comments and recommendations
– strong and convincing quantitative and qualitative analysis to support your
comments and recommendations
I will grade your contribution to the class discussion after every class meeting. You are
encouraged to check with me periodically to find out about your participation grade.
Grading:
Group Case Analysis 20% (10% per report)
Group Assignments 10% (2.0% per assignment- must complete 5 out of 6)
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 30%
Class Participation 10%
Peer Evaluation 5%
Examinations:
Each exam will be a combination of case analysis and problem solving. The material
could be based on anything covered in the lecture, text, other assigned readings and video
or guest presentations. Formula sheets are given on exams.
No make-up, late or early exams will be given, except in the case of medical
emergency. Business related absences are not excused. Students should make
arrangements now to avoid time conflicts.
OPTIONAL PLANT TOUR
An optional plant tour at Delphi Automotive has been scheduled in conjunction with the
Operations Management course. The following tour dates are available; Thursday, April
18th and Thursday, April 25th. A sign up sheet for the tour will be provided on the first
day of class.
Delphi Automotive is located at 200 Georgesville Road, on the corner of Georgesville
Road and West Broad Street. The entrance to the plant is off of Georgesville Road.
Please park in the Visitors section. Appropriate attire is required. Shoes must be leather
with no exposed heels or toes. The tour will begin promptly at 6 PM.
TEAM GROUP CASE ASSIGNMENTS
CASE TEAMS 6-8 PM TEAMS 8-10 PM
Eli Lilly A, B, C 1, 2, 3
Annonke Apparel D, E 4, 5
Morris Valley Grp Assignment All Teams Grp Assignment All Teams
American Seal F, G, H, I, J 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
