GBUS 731 Operations Management

This course is designed to convey to students both the fundamentals of operations and the understanding that the link between operations and firm performance is a crucial source of competitive advantage. Managing the underlying processes by which firms create and deliver value is at the heart of the operations function in every line of business, and this course focuses on how to do this well. The course contains modules in capacity management, supply-chain management, and operational improvement. Using a variety of service and manufacturing settings, the course highlights the context-dependent nature of operations management. Throughout, the course builds insight on how to manage the impact of variability on operations, and emphasizes the value of integration with other functional areas—both within a firm and across firms in the value-creation and delivery network—to achieve superior firm performance. The course makes transparent the impact of operational decision making on firm performance, and provides knowledge and perspective that will enable any manager to leverage operations.