BBA 103OPER Subject Overview V7Feb13

8/9/2019 BBA 103OPER Subject Overview V7Feb13

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Australian Institute of Business . V2Mar11 CD:2011:10ed 0

Bachelor of Business Administration

LEARNING MATERIALS

OPERATIONS 1


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Australian Institute of Business. V7Feb13 - SCJ:2010:6ed 1

103OPER Operations 1 Subject Overview

SUBJECT OVERVIEW

How to use your study pack ........................................................................... 2 Learning from the Workplace ......................................................................... 2

Introduction to the subject............................................................................. 5

Content .......................................................................................................... 5

Resources ....................................................................................................... 8

Assignment ................................................................................................... 10 Online Revision Quizzes ................................................................................ 12


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How to use your study pack

Your study pack for this subject contains the following materials:- These learning materials, including the following:

- Subject Overview (which includes the introduction, subject content, list ofresources and assignment), and

- Topics- Sample Exams- Articles- Supplementary Resources (if any)

The information contained in your study pack has been designed to lead you through your

learning process.

Note that the learning materials are not a replacement for the textbook.

Learning materials for each topic in the subject are based on specific chapters in thetextbook. You should read the textbook along with these learning materials, and concentrateyour study on the issues raised.

Learning activities and/or discussion questions are included in the learning materials.Advanced students might wish to pursue more of the discussion questions at the end of the

appropriate textbook chapters.

Note that the examiner does not expect that you to memorise all of the issues that arediscussed in the textbook or in these learning materials. It is more important in the exam tobe able to demonstrate that you understand the various concepts and to show how they canapply to practical examples of organisations in your country or region.

Some of the topics list one or more journal articles related to that topics content. For exampurposes, the textbook will be the primary source to answer exam questions, but if you areable to do additional reading, information from the journal articles or elsewhere may help

you to achieve a higher grade.

Finally, online quizzes and sample exam papers are provided to help you test yourunderstanding of the subject.

Learning from the Workplace

Studying at the Australian Institute of Business is a unique experience. There are no artificial

boundaries between the workplace and the classroom. The world of work is never far awayfrom everything we do. It is no coincidence that the Institutes strap-line is The PracticalBusiness School. Indeed, our very mission is


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to provide distinctive business and management education in national andinternational environments based on AIBs orientation towards work-appliedlearning.

So how do we do this and how will you experience the difference? The answer is thatlearning from the workplace is embedded in all aspects of your course. Let us see how thisworks in practice.

Practitioner experience as entry requirement for students

For a start, most students will already have experience of the workplace and inpostgraduate programmes this is a prerequisite. This will enable you to see whethertheories make sense in practice and, in turn, to bring real-life problems to the

classroom. You will very quickly find, too, that you can also learn from each other,sharing experiences and looking for solutions.

Academic facilitators with practical experience

Of course, all of our facilitators are required to have appropriate academicqualifications, as well as relevant workplace experience. With this background, theycan bring interesting examples into classroom discussions. In addition, with ourinternational coverage we are very keen that facilitators can relate the varioussubjects to conditions in different parts of the world, making it all much more

meaningful to you as the student.

Design of courses and learning materials

Work-applied research is integrated in all of our courses. This is why we include awork-based assignment in every subject in our undergraduate as well aspostgraduate programmes. It is also why you will be asked to undertake at least onework-based research project in the course of your studies. With the guidance of anexperienced project supervisor, you will be able to explore a topic of your ownchoosing, ideally based on a problem that you want to address in the workplace.

Teaching and learning strategies

Even the way you learn will often be more like a workplace situation than atraditional classroom. You will be encouraged to work in groups and to share yourunderstanding of real-world situations. As well as your own selection of case studies,you might discuss one presented by the facilitator or perhaps taken from a textbook.Course objectives are achieved when you relate your readings, course materials andfacilitator guidance to the workplace. It is a to and fro process, backwards andforwards between the classroom and the workplace, reflecting on the links anddeveloping your own ideas.


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Design of course assessment

Finally, even the various forms of assessment are designed with the workplace inmind. You will be expected not merely to describe what you observe in theworkplace, nor just to replicate what you have read in a textbook or journal article,but rather to achieve a combination of the two. We will be looking always for abalance between theory and practice. As you progress through your course thisshould become almost second nature to you reading what others have written onthe subject but also looking at what you see in the world around you.

All of the above amounts to a distinctive approach to learning, known as work-appliedlearning . You will see in the following diagram that knowledge of various aspects of businessand management is enriched through projects related to the workplace. This leads toquestioning of what you already know and ultimately to well-informed, practical outcomes

that can take you well beyond what you could find in libraries alone.

To explain a little more, the natural starting point is where you see the Q. Start by askingquestions about a problem that has to be solved through a project, which is shown as P 1,then move on to read about the existing knowledge, K, on this subject. Armed with thatmaterial, back you go to P 1 to see if the explanations make sense, and then you can achieveproject and learning outcomes, P 2.

But that cycle is not the end of it because, on the basis of what you have learnt, you will nowwant to return to the questioning stage and repeat the whole process. In theory, you can

repeat the cycle yet again as each time your understanding will be refined by more practicalexperience. Theory and practice, as you will discover, go hand in hand and this model helpsto show how this is achieved.


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Learning is an adventure, a journey of exploration. At AIB we encourage you to be bold, tocross the line between the classroom and the workplace. We will support you along theway and our hope is that the experience will be enjoyable as well as productive. There areno limits to what you can discover, no end to the learning process.

Introduction to the subject

Welcome to the Operations I subject in your BBA program. The study of operationsmanagement is about designing, managing and controlling the operations and processesthat produce an organisations products and services. Operations management is a criticalactivity for all businesses because it is one of the primary managerial functions. So we needto have a good grasp of how operations and processes are managed and that is what thissubject is about. Note that this subject precedes Operations II which continues the study ofoperations management into additional areas of operations and process study. You may notbe required to take Operations II in your particular major, but I would urge you to completeOperations II as an elective so that you will be thoroughly furnished with all the necessaryskills to manage an organisation successfully.

The objective of this subject is to provide you with a depth of knowledge about the basicconcepts of operations management. It complements other subjects that you study in yourBBA program such as Marketing Principles and Practice, Distribution and Marketing Logistics,Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Project Management, and of course Operations

II. The subject has been clearly set out around a good textbook, so we are sure you will do aswell in the subject's assessment as you want to. Note that there is now a wealth ofinformation available on the Internet about various aspects of this subject. A simple Google,or other search on any question you may have should expose a good deal of relevantinformation.

Content

1.

Introduction to operations management

Objective: To obtain a basic understanding of what operations management is about.Parts:

What is operations management? Managing processes The different characteristics of operations processes Activities and model of operations management

Article:

Hammer, M and Stanton, S 1999, How process enterprises really work, Harvard BusinessReview , November-December.


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understand the links between the design process and operations and processmanagement.]

Benefits of interactive design

6. Supply network design

Objective: To understand the role of the supply network and its design in the overalloperations process of the organisation.Parts:

Introduction and the supply network perspective [Note that there is no need to studysupply chain management in this topic. The later subject of Operations II coversdetails about supply chain management.]

Configuring the supply network The location of capacity

Long-term capacity management

7. Operations layout and flow

Objective: To understand the importance of process layout and flow in achieving operationsand customer service objectives.Parts:

What is operations or process layout? The basic layout types Choosing an operations layout Detailed design of the layout

8. Process technology

Objective: To understand and evaluate basic process technologies.Parts:

What is process technology? Understanding process technologies - materials-processing; information-processing;

customer-processing Evaluating process technologies

Implementing process technologies

Article:

Hackett, GP 1990, Investing in technology: the service sector sinkhole?, Sloan ManagementReview , Winter.

9. Job design and work organisation in operations management

Objective: To explore the design of jobs and how work is analysed and organised to achieveoperations management objectives.Parts:

Job design


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Task allocation Designing job methods method study and work measurement Ergonomics and workplace design Designing for job commitment behavioural approaches to job design

Articles:

Adler, PS 1993, Time and motion regained, Harvard Business Review, vol. 71, no. 1, January-February.

There are some core issues among the topics that should be mastered for a basicunderstanding of this subject. The exam paper (that will require answers to four questionsout of six on the paper, in three hours) may cover these core issues and may also cover other

issues. These core issues are:

1. Operations management and operations performance2. The characteristics of operations processes and their implications for operations

management3. The four perspectives on operations strategy4. Process analysis and design5. Operations management in the design of products and services6. Supply network design7. Operations and process layout and flow, particularly applied to service operations.

8. Process technology and how to evaluate alternative technologies9. Job design and work organisation including ergonomics, methods improvement, and

job commitment.

Resources

Prescribed Text Book

Slack, N, Chambers, S and Johnston, R 2010, Operations Management with MyOMLab , 6thedn, Prentice Hall (ISBN: 9780273731603)

Note that the 6th edition is not too different from the 5 th edition. Students who cannotobtain the 6th edition might be able to use the 5th edition with only a somewhat slightdisadvantage. Nevertheless, students should be cautioned that using an old edition of atextbook could cause them to miss new concepts that may be covered in exam questions.

Required reading of journal articles

The following selected up-to-date journal articles are also shown under each relevant topicin the contents section above.


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Adler, PS 1993, Time and motion regained, Harvard Business Review, vol. 71, no. 1, January-February.

Deo, BS and Strong, D 2000, Cost: the ultimate measure of productivity, IndustrialManagement, vol. 42, no. 3, May-June.

Hackett, GP 1990, Investing in technology: the service sector sinkhole?, Sloan ManagementReview , Winter.

Hammer, M 1990, Reingineering work: dont automate, obliterate, Harvard BusinessReview , July-August.

Hammer, M and Stanton, S 1999, How process enterprises really work, Harvard BusinessReview , November-December.

Shostack, GL 1982, How to design a service, European Journal of Marketing , vol. 16, no. 1.

Recommended reading

In general, students will not need to go beyond the set textbook for their reading in order topass this subject. Advanced students or those seeking higher grades may want to read morewidely than the set textbook, and the following books provide a guide to further reading andstudy.

Bozarth, C and Handfield, RB 2006, Introduction to Operations and Supply ChainManagement , Prentice Hall

Davis, MM & Heineke, J 2005, Operations Management: Integrating manufacturing andservices , McGraw-Hill

Davis, MM, Aquilano, NJ & Chase, RB 2003, Fundamentals of Operations Management,McGraw-Hill

Finch, BJ 2006, Operations Now , McGraw-Hill

Gilgeous, V 1997, Operations and the Management of Change, Pitman Publishing

Parker, S and Hall, T, 1998, Job and work design: organizing work to promote well-being andeffectiveness , Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (Recommended for general reading only and forstudents wishing to delve more deeply into issues of job and work design)

Ramaswamy, R 1996, Design and Management of Service Processes , Addison WesleyLongman

Raturi, RS & Evans, JR 2005, Principles of Operations Management, Thomson South-western

Saville, J & Reid, H 2002, Managing Effectively , Prentice Hall, Australia


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These texts will be contextualised to reflect the unique circumstances of the particularindustry, enterprise or student/client group especially those from overseas.

Recommended reading of journal articles

The following articles are suggested for additional reading and for the benefit of advancedstudents.

Bitner, MJ 1992, Servicescapes: the impact of physical surroundings on customers andemployees, Journal of Marketing 56, April.

Hammer, M and Stanton, S 2004, Deep change: how operational innovation can transformyour company, Harvard Business Review , vol. 82, iss. 4.

Hayes RH and Pisano, GP 1994, Beyond world class: the new manufacturing strategy,Harvard Business Review , vol. 72, no. 1.

Reference journals

Harvard Business ReviewIndustrial ManagementJournal of Operations ManagementManufacturing and Service Operations ManagementProduction and Operations Management

Sloan Management Review

Assignment

Either

a) Practical application of concepts in a local organisation.

Assignment objective : To briefly describe and analyse an operations process in a localorganisation in your country or region, and to explore how this process might be improvedby applying at least one of the core concepts you have learned in this subject.

Assignment description : Find a process preferably in a local organisation in your country orregion. Describe and analyse the key tasks of the process and evaluate how well the processoperates now. This means finding out how well the process is performing particularly interms of the five operations management objectives. Having analysed the process, discussthe potential improvements in the process that might result from the application of at leastone of the concepts covered in this subject. Your report should be brief, well written andpresented, and capable of being given to the manager of the business as a seriousrecommendation for change. Your report should cover the following points:


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A brief overview of the organisation and the process, with a description of the operatingelements or tasks in the process, together with any available performance information suchas output or production rate, cycle time, productivity measures, etc).

A detailed flow diagram of the process showing what happens from raw materials throughto the finished product or service, including the flows of information and communication.A brief evaluation of the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the process in terms of thefive performance objectives quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. You shouldalso try to identify any problems with the process for example, layout issues, cost, quality,bottlenecks, and job design issues and so on.

Brief analysis of the opportunity for improving the process using at least one of the conceptscovered in this subject. This might include: the design of the process, or changes to the flow

process particularly based on the four Vs; process layout; supply network configuration(particularly if the process you have chosen is part of a supply network); process technology;or job design.

Brief practical recommendations for improvement based on your analysis. For example, youmight summarise the improvement and briefly suggest how it should be implemented. Bearin mind that your recommendations should be potentially cost effective i.e. you must try to

justify the improvements from the point of view of their practical feasibility.

Or

b) Case study analysis

Your local lecturer will select a short-to-medium length case study (preferably set in yourown country or region) from your textbook , or obtain one from sites likehttp://www.asiacase.com/ or http://www.caseplace.org/# . That is, the local lecturer willselect the case (although you may like to recommend one to them), your lecturer will restrictthe number of different cases used in the class to just one to increase the reliability of theassignment marking process . In that case, identify three or four management challengescovered in this subject, and address how those challenges can be met using the principles

developed in this subject . Be sure to cite and reference the name and source of your case aswell as other references in your assignment report.

Important Instructions

1. Assignments must contain proper citations and referencing using the Harvard stylereferred to in the AIB Style Guide, that is:a. citations (or in-text references) of quoted and paraphrased materials to support

your arguments/comments, andb. a reference list relating specifically to your in-text references.
http://www.asiacase.com/http://www.asiacase.com/http://www.caseplace.org/http://www.caseplace.org/http://www.caseplace.org/http://www.asiacase.com/


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BBA 103OPER Subject Overview V7Feb13

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