FACULTY OF BUSINESS
MBAB 5P07: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
WINTER 2015, ISP class
Instructor: Dr. Ken Klassen
Office:
TA 342
Office Hours:
MTWTH 12:30 – 1:45
Phone ext.:
3968
E-mail: kklassen@brocku.ca or by appointment
Sakai:
https://lms.brocku.ca/portal
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to operations management, a functional area of major significance to all organizations. Operations management focuses on managing the transformation of resource inputs such as labor and material into useful outputs such as products or services. The goal is to make the transformation process both efficient (low-cost, fast) and effective (providing value to the customer).
This course considers both service and manufacturing operations, which are both important in today’s economy. The focus in managing services leans more toward customer satisfaction and the customer’s experience, while manufacturing focuses more on efficiency and product quality. Improvements in manufacturing productivity over the last 70 years are largely responsible for the standard of living we enjoy. Currently services account for approximately 75% of the jobs in this country, and companies are increasingly using high quality service to gain a competitive advantage.
Both qualitative and quantitative tools are used to suggest answers to management challenges. The solutions these tools give should always be tempered by management judgment.
Course Materials
Text: Heizer & Render, Operations Management, Custom Edition for Brock University, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2014 Recommended: purchase text with access to myOMlab. myOMlab is optional but highly recommended. It can be obtained in one of 3 ways:
Purchase a new copy of the text at the Brock bookstore - includes a free access code.
Purchase an e-text at the Brock bookstore - includes a free access code. This is much lower cost than a new hard copy book, but expires after 4 months.
If you obtain a text