INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
School of Business

BUS 351 – Introduction to Operations Management (3 hrs.)

Summer II, 2002

Instructor: Jeffrey S. Harper, Ph.D.

                    MIS Program Coordinator and Associate Professor

Office:       School of Business 805

Office Phone: (812) 237-2279

FAX:  (812) 237-8129

E-mail: JeffHarper@indstate.edu

Office Hours: MW 11:15-12:00

Course Description:
A decision-making approach to the study of the design, planning, and control of the production and service-providing functions of business.  Because of the concentrated nature of a summer 5 week course, the student must be prepared to digest a significant amount of material in a short time span.

Prerequisites: Completion of the pre-business requirements with a minimum GPA of 2.25.

Required Textbook:  Aquilano, Chase and Jacobs, Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, 9^th edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 2001, ISBN 0-07-239530-3 or 0-07-250961-9

Course Educational Objectives: At the completion of this course, students should be able to do the following:

1.  Describe the role of the operations function and the different types of manufacturing and service operations systems and methods found in modern business organizations.

2.  Explain how operations strategy is formulated and linked to overall corporate strategy and how this strategy is important in achieving competitive advantage.

3.  Describe the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Total Quality Control (TQC).

4.  Describe how product and process design is done in modern organizations and the impact of technology on these functions.

5.  Recognize fundamental types of manufacturing and service layouts and explain how these relate to the implementation of operations strategies.

6.  Describe aggregate planning, master production scheduling and capacity management processes and formulate models required to accomplish these functions.

7.  Explain the fundamentals of inventory management for dependent and independent demand.

8.  Explain the methods and models used in scheduling operations and services.

9.  Explain the principles of Just-in-Time production systems and the Theory of Constraints, and how they impact businesses in a global market.

Perspectives Coverage:

Ethical and Global Issues – Ethical issues are raised in the discussion of Total Quality Management. Discussion deals with issues related to worker empowerment and trust, stressing that the authoritarian model of management is being fundamentally challenged by the use of worker teams and decentralized management structures. This same topic deals with the ethics of quality as relates to customers and suppliers. Discussion of facility location and capacity planning issues involves corporate citizenship and worker treatment issues.  Just-in-Time manufacturing has its roots in Japanese culture and permits discussion of the transferability of manufacturing methods across cultures. The same is true of many of the methods of Total Quality Management.

Influence of Political, Social, Legal, Regulatory, Environmental, and Technological Issues – The discussion of facility location provides an excellent place for the discussion of all of these issues as they relate to a strategic issue for any company. Product and process design discussions must consider the impact of computers, robotics, and other technology on manufacturing. Also, this topic permits discussion of the frequent use of technology to improve and change service delivery. Here also, issues related to the social impact of technology on the workforce are raised. The discussion of facility layout incorporates cellular manufacturing and the use of robotic technologies in such environments. Supply chain management and international sourcing issues permit consideration of international trade agreements, such as NAFTA, as well as consideration of such issues as the impact of international exchange rates. Discussion of “green manufacturing” and other concerns related to the environmental responsibility of companies in their manufacturing practices is used to raise this issue in class.

Impact of Demographic Diversity on Organizations – The discussion of facility location is used to raise issues concerned with international and domestic issues dealing with cultural differences and managing a workforce with diverse backgrounds and needs.

Communication Coverage:

Written Communications – Among assignments that emphasize written communications are analyses of short cases or problems and written reports submitted for grading.  Discussion groups on the course web sire will require students to present ideas in a clear, concise manner.

Oral Communications – As it is a web-based distance class, oral communication is not an integral part of the course

Instructional Resources:

Library Usage – Textbook and Internet resources are usually sufficient to meet any student research needs. Reserve articles and current periodicals are used to update topical coverage.

Computer Usage – Students are encouraged to use spreadsheets to solve many problems in the areas of quality control, aggregate planning, inventory management, and scheduling. As an alternative, Minitab or another statistics package may be used to solve quality control and aggregate planning problems. Students use the World Wide Web to research selected topics, such as the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Awards and ISO/QS 9000.

Appropriate Instructional Technology – Students are provided examples of spreadsheet or other computer solutions to problems.  Some instructors may opt to take students to one of the computer labs located in the School of Business or elsewhere on campus. PowerPoint slide shows and HTML documents are provided to assist students in assimilating the course material.

Course’s Relationship to School of Business Shared Values:

Lifetime Learning Skills – Students are exposed to changing technology and the impact of this technology on the manner in which work is done in organizations. Exposure to the basics of Total Quality Management, forecasting, Just-in-Time operations, Manufacturing Resource Planning, and project management provide a basis for building an individual’s knowledge of how modern manufacturing works, a knowledge that is essential to a balanced understanding of business. For students who are entering the service industry, this course provides an introduction to service system analysis and design and exposure to issues in forecasting and scheduling services, aggregate workforce planning, and achieving high quality service that will help them in advancing their careers.

Workplace Knowledge and Skills – Students learn the language of the workplace and the analytical tools that are useful in solving problems encountered in their work. Plant tours and tours of the School of Technology’s CIMM lab expose them to how real-world facilities operate. They are taught the importance of data-driven decision making and the advantages of using this approach in conjunction with intuition and judgment as opposed to using the last two methods alone.

Integration of Technology is taught and demonstrated throughout the course, as was discussed in the sections on Perspectives Coverage and Instructional Resources above.

Development of Values and Ethics is provided through coverage of relevant topics, as was discussed in the section on Ethical and Global Issues under Perspectives Coverage above.

How are course educational objectives measured?

Course educational objectives are measured by students’ performance on exams, and the successful completion of a library research project.

(a) Exams will test you on material from the text and other readings. Exams will include multiple choice questions and problems.

(b) Library research will be required, as discussed in the next section.

Library Research:

You will be required to find three articles related to any of three different topics covered in the text. You may find these articles on the Internet or in the hard copies of journals and business magazines in the library, and they must be more than a full page in length, exclusive of photos and graphics.  Articles from common newsweekly publications (Time, Newsweek, etc.) will also be acceptable if the article is significant in depth – ask me if you have questions on this point. You will turn in a copy of each article, along with a 2-page summary of the main points of that article and what you learned from it.  Articles must be dated no earlier than January 2002.  You may turn in the project any time during the course, but no later than August 2^nd.

Your summaries must be typed, double-spaced with one-inch margins, 12-point font or smaller, and at least one and one-half pages in length.  For each summary, list the appropriate reference, give a brief intro into the topic covered and how it relates to the course, and then present the main points of the article.  At the end of the summary, tell me what you personally learned from this article.  Use the outline below as a guide.

Your summaries as well as the copies of the articles must be professionally presented.  Avoid use of dot matrix and inkjet printers, unless they print very clearly and legibly.  If you are printing an article off of the web at the library, and the printer is not doing a good job, move to another station.

Sample Summary Outline:

Article Title: ____________________________________

Author: ________________________________________

Publication Name and Date: ______________________________________________

Relevant BUS 351 Topic: ________________________________________________

Start your review . . . . . . .

Grading:

Grading is fairly straightforward.  Below is the distribution of points to different assignments, and the total point to final letter grade ranges.

SourcePointsGradePoints

Exam 1100A315-350

Exam 2100B+305-314

Exam 3100B280-304

Library Research 50C+266-279

Total350C245-265

D+231-244

D210-230

F< 210

CONTACTING ME OUTSIDE OF CLASS

In person:You are welcome to visit me in my office during office hours or to drop in at other times.If the office hours are not convenient for you, schedule an appointment with me for another time.I am on campus almost every day, but I have meetings, etc. across campus and you may or may not catch me in my office if you just “drop in.”

Email:You can me anytime.The response is not as immediate as during office hours, but you can ask your questions anytime.I check email several times a day, and will almost always get back to you within 24 hours.This is usually the best method to contact me in an emergency.However, don’t bother to email me to tell me you missed class and want to know what we did.I won’t respond favorably to frivolous requests.

Phone:You may phone me also, but I can only guarantee being here during office hours.If I am not here, you can leave a message on my voice mail system or call me at home (812)299-3339 at reasonable times.