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MET AD605 Operations Management

Spring 2024

Course Description

This course helps students to develop an understanding of the impact of operations and business processes on the organization's performance and provides students the key tools to analyze and improve processes in both manufacturing and service sectors. It emphasizes analytical approaches presented in a content that seeks to maximize value, eliminate wasteful practices, and optimize operations.

Lean Six Sigma with an Analytical Focus

[See the Course Framework visualization found later in this document]

This course concerns the business processes by which inputs of material, labor, capital and information are transformed into products and services that customers want and are willing to pay for.  Business processes are the mechanisms for getting work done in organizations.  Regardless of one’s functional orientation, superior business performance relies on good operational practices.  This course will provide students with the analytical tools to understand and articulate the impact of the organization’s business processes.  It enables the learner to analyze and continuously improve these processes using traditional and modern analytical tools.  In this way, value is created for all stakeholders – including internal and external customers, suppliers, employees, corporate shareholders, and the greater community.  The suggested framework is based on contemporary Lean Six Sigma practice, while emphasizing the role of analytical methods.

Contemporary management practice requires that every professional does their job effectively and plays a role in improving how their work is done.  Because every professional works within a business process, all students can gain valuable knowledge from this course that will help improve job performance and accelerate career opportunities.  

Learning Outcomes

Students will learn important fundamental concepts and many quantitative methodologies used to analyze, manage, and improve business processes.  Students will gain an understanding of business process characteristics and learn how to analyze and improve process performance.  By employing contemporary practices, decision makers consider various options to lower operational costs and improve responsiveness to customers’ needs, including operating system design, product & service design, capacity analysis & buffering, waiting line optimization, and process quality analysis using statistical approaches.  Quantitative methods include application of stochastic simulation, analysis of random outcomes, statistical analysis routines (confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, machine learning), system reliability analysis, and statistical process control.  It address the role of artificial intelligence in the increasingly digitized supply chain. The Deming philosophy of management, Lean operations principles, and Six Sigma process improvement methodologies form the underlying foundation of the course coverage.

In summary, at the completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Evaluate a production or service operation relative to its ability to meet customer demand with acceptable costs, while appreciating the role of uncertainty in both demand and activity durations.

2. Analyze a business process by simulating its flow characteristics and by separating all process activities into those that are value-added and those that are wasteful.

3. Calculate capacity buffers that account for activity duration variations, while planning capacity in ways that account for customer demand uncertainty.

4. Conduct a comprehensive review of a business process, diagnose problems, and formulate solutions using a Lean mindset.

5. Setup a framework for digitizing an operating system by identifying where value is added, removing waste, and optimizing activities.

6. Implement a process improvement program based on Lean and Six Sigma methodologies that make use of advanced analytical methods such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Textbook and Cases

1. Service Science: Analysis and Improvement of Business Processes, by John Maleyeff, Routledge, 2021, ISBN: 978-0-367-33605-9 (hardback), ISBN: 978-0-367-33603-5 (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-429-32075-0 (e-book).

2.  “Stickley Adhesives I,” Case Study by John Maleyeff, unpublished.  Will be available on course Blackboard site.

3. “Stickley Adhesives II,” Case Study by Steve Cashton, John Maleyeff and Patrick Courtney, unpublished.  Will be available on course Blackboard site.

4. “IMD Help Desk,” Case Study by John Maleyeff, unpublished.  Will be available on course Blackboard site.

5. “Laralex Hospital,” Case Study by John Maleyeff and Frank Kaminsky, The World Association for Case Method Research & Application, 2000 (Rev 2018). Will be available on course Blackboard site.

Boston University Library Link

At Boston University (BU), all students have access to the BU Library from anywhere in the world, using the following link: http://www.bu.edu/library.  Users who are members of the BU community can access materials using their Kerberos login name and password.  

Using the links on the library’s homepage, you can find articles, access electronic journals and e-books, and you can search for content associated with keywords, subjects, authors, etc. I addition, by accessing the “Reference Shelf” you can access dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and other useful reference materials.

Blackboard Site

A Blackboard webpage will be available for this course.  You will need to access this web page for announcements about the course, discussion boards, lecture notes, weekly assignments, exams, quizzes, and other course materials, and links to articles and case studies.

Each week, the Blackboard site will include supplemental videos that concerns analytical details not covered in class, specialized applications, and other very useful operations management methods and applications.  Students are responsible for both the class lecture material and the content of the supplemental videos.

Grading

To be successful in this course, students must achieve satisfactory performance on a wide range of assignments, including 4 case studies, 4 quizzes, 1 case study presentation, and 2 examinations.  The list below includes the components of the grading scheme including the maximum points earned for each component. Based on an interactive teaching style, students are expected to participate in class discussions and come to class fully prepared for every session.  Coming prepared will maximize benefits for everyone.  Details are provided below:

By totaling the number of points earned on each component above (and rounding to an integer), students can calculate their letter grade for the course, which will follow the following guideline (note that the instructor reserves the right to increase a student’s letter grade based on the grades of the other students in the course).  

Additional details for each grading component are provided below:

Case Studies: Case studies are team assignments.  They will give each student the opportunity to apply the concepts and tools discussed in class to real-world problems. A list of questions will be provided with each case study.  During the subsequent class, short presentations may be required.  To obtain an exceptional grade, your team will have to provide unique insights and perspectives, and present them using a well-organized professionally formatted report (see note on APA guidelines below).  Each student will be asked to provide the instructor with feedback on participation levels of each team member, and grades may be adjusted accordingly.

Case Study Presentation: Each case study team will participate in a brief PowerPoint presentation for one assigned case study.  Details will be provided on the course Blackboard site.

Quizzes:  On-line quizzes will be given, on dates noted in the schedule found later in this document.   The quizzes are open book and notes, and they are timed.  No significant calculations will be required.

Examinations:  In-class exams will be given, on dates noted in the schedule found later in this document.   The exams are closed book and notes.  However, you will be allowed to use one (double sided) A4 sheet with notes that you create.  Please bring a calculator to the exams (phones and laptops cannot be used as calculators). In-class exams are not cumulative and cover the material through the weeks indicated on the schedule.  Laptops should be fully charged for exams administered on Blackboard.

Practice Problem Set Assignments: Each of the practice problem set assignments will evaluate students’ ability to apply the quantitative aspects of the course material.  The problem set may require the use of Excel.  They are used for practice only – they are not turned in for grading. Solutions will be provided.

Make-Up Policy:  Accommodations can be made if a student cannot be present for an examination due to events beyond their control (e.g., illness, work travel, family emergencies, etc.).  In these cases, the student must notify the instructor prior to the session to make alternative arrangements.  Students cannot request an alternative time due to heavy workloads (because this is an unfortunate but common occurrence for all full-time students and part-time working professionals).  Under no circumstances can a student re-take an examination or request a new examination due to poor performance.

Submission Format

All written contributions should follow the APA writing style, in particular, the requirements how to lay out a paper, as well as how to cite and reference correctly.   A guide is provided in here: http://library.bu.edu/citeys.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to adhere to the highest standards of honesty and integrity for this course.  University policy on academic integrity will be followed to the fullest. Students are encouraged to review the university policy on academic integrity including a detailed listing of activities warranting sanction. Anyone who fails to adhere to these requirements and/or otherwise engages in unethical behavior (including cheating on exams, false representation of self or one’s work efforts, use of unauthorized aids, etc.) will be referred to university administration for further action.  In particular, the university's policy and consequences regarding plagiarism are clearly described in the official Boston University documents, and will be enforced without any compromises. Please take the time to review the Student Academic Conduct Code:

http://www.bu.edu/met/metropolitan_college_people/student/resources/conduct/code.html.

Request for Accommodations

If you have a disability and will be requesting accommodations for this course, please inform the instructor early in the semester.  Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for accommodations.

Timely Presentation of Materials Due

All assignments have due dates. It is a good idea to set personal targets before them as your personal completion date to avoid difficulties.  With this warning, please note that MET instructors are not inclined to accept late work; if late work should be accepted it will be done only after considerable weighing of rationale, and with penalty. 

Course Schedule (With Book Chapter Indicated)

Satisfaction of Department-Wide Goals