Operations and Supply Chain

Understand how firms create and capture value. The value a product offers to a customer is a function of that product's quality and price, while the fraction of that value captured by the firm is a function of the firm's production cost (note: we use the term "product" to denote either a physical item or a service, such as healthcare). Thus students will learn how to maximize quality relative to cost.

Since virtually no product is fully created within just one firm but is instead created within a broader supply chain, students will understand the firm's role in optimizing activities across that supply chain.

Given that product quality contributes to value creation, students will learn how to measure quality and insure its attainment.

Due to the importance of lowering production cost, a learning objective is to help students understand and be able to apply the fundamentals of managing process flows. This includes determining the number and type of resources needed in the production process.

Since inventory can be both a blessing and a curse, students will learn how to manage inventory - especially when that inventory involves people (in a factory setting inventory typically involves physical goods but in a service setting the inventory consists of customers waiting to be processed; such as people in a waiting room at a hospital).

Different industries and different strategic objectives can call for variations in the way a firm manages its quality, its process flows, its inventories, and its supply chains. Students will learn about how to make these strategic choices regarding operational strategies.

Students will gain a basic understanding of how to effectively use information systems in managing their operations and supply chains.

Students will gain practice in presenting operational results to management and/or other operations personnel.

Given that there are a number of electives in the program, students will be able to go deeper in one or more of the above topics.