Course syllabus

Jump to today

Course-PM

TEK156 Operations Strategy

Spring 2022 (7.5 HEC)

Course is offered by the department of Technology Management and Economics

 

Examiner:

Dan Paulin. Phone: 031-772 8413. E-mail: dan.paulin at chalmers.se

 

Teachers:  

Dan Paulin. Phone: 031-772 8413. E-mail: dan.paulin at chalmers.se

Mirka Kans. Phone: 031-772 1352. E-mail: mirka.kans at chalmers.se

Peter Almström. Phone: 031-772 1283. E-mail: peter.almstrom at chalmers.se

 

Guest lecturers might be added continuously during the course.

 

Support staff:

Ann-Sofie Ullenius. Phone: 031-772 6945. E-mail: ann-sofie.ullenius at chalmers.se

 

COURSE GOALS AND AIMS

The main aim of the course is to provide you, the students, the opportunity to further develop your knowledge of how to design, manage and improve operations processes.

The starting point will be to analyze operations by means of its operations strategies. Having done that, possible differences between the present status of operations and the intended status can be detected. Finally, different improvement approaches will be discussed.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Having successfully completed the course, each of you students, should be able to:

  • Show understanding of how to use operations strategy as a guidance for the organization's operational activities and business strategy improvement.
  • Apply conceptual tools and models for analysing operations' strategy and enhancing the operations performance.
  • Recognize the impact of operations on sustainability and how operations can contribute to a sustainable society
  • Show understanding of how digitalisation, in the context of Industry 4.0, may influence the operations strategy and processes.
  • Formulate an improvement plan for strategic operations strategy alignment.

 

SCHEDULE

The detailed schedule is available on the course webpage in Canvas under “Modules/Schedule” and in the course calendar.

Please note that possible changes to the preliminary schedule will only be made on the course webpage, not in TimeEdit.

Please note that all teacher led course activities are subject for change (both in time and place) due to the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. The intention is to run lectures, exercises and seminars on campus. At Chalmers will adjust our guidelines for education according to The Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten). Please keep updated via https://student.portal.chalmers.se/en/chalmersstudies/covid-19/Pages/default.aspx 

 

CHANGES MADE SINCE THE LAST OCCASION

Several changes has been made to the course since last year.

First, a group project has been removed from the course.

Second, literature seminars will cover fewer papers than last year.

Third, the number of exercises has been increased in order to create more learning opportunities focusing on applying concepts covered in the course,

Fourth, two case seminars have been introduced in order to create learning opportunities on applying complex concept combinations to more accurately reflect actual professional decision making situations.

Five, opportunities for consultation with teaching staff has been added in order to enable individual learning opportunities.

These changes will also impact the examination in the course to focus on individual examination focusing on analytical skills, rather than group based examination focusing on analytical skills combined with individual examination focusing on lower levels of knowledge and skills.

 

ORGANISATION

In this course, several different learning activities are included; Lectures, exercises, literature seminars, case seminars, consultation sessions, and individual written exam. Below you will find a description of the learning activities "Lectures", "Exercises" and "Consultation sessions". Descriptions of individual written exam, literature seminars and case seminars can be found under "Examination".

Lectures

Lectures are voluntary. They will be organized as a traditional overview of the lecture topic interweaved with group discussions on the topic. It is highly recommended that each participant has studied the material in advance to be able to contribute to the group discussions, and to enhance the opportunity for learning.

Exercises

Exercises are voluntary. Here, shorter case descriptions and/or assignments are analysed and discussed in groups as opportunities for applying theoretical concepts introduced during lectures. It is highly recommended that each participant has studied the material in advance to be able to contribute to the group discussions, and to enhance the opportunity for learning.

Consultation sessions

Consultation sessions are voluntary. Here, you will have scheduled opportunities to consult with members of the teaching team on topics related to the course.

 

EXAMINATION

You can obtain a maximum of 50 points from compulsory examination activities, and 5 points from voluntary activities.

To pass the course:

  • A total minimum of 22 points is necessary.
  • A minimum of 20 points obtained from the individual written exam is necessary.
  • Active attendance in compulsory activities (seminars) is necessary.

A total score of 22-32 points will result in grade Pass (3).

 A total score of 33-43 points will result in grade Pass with credits (4).

A total score of 44 points or more will result in grade Pass with distinction (5).

 

The following parts are included in the examination:

Individual written exam (max 50 points)

  • The exam will be run as an individual home exam, consisting of essay questions.
  • The individual home exam will be available in Canvas from March 10th, 2022 at 8:00.
  • The deadline for uploading your individual answer will be March 15th, 2022 at 17.00. All answers will be checked for plagiarism, and all suspicious answers will be reported to Chalmers Disciplinary Board.
  • You need to obtain at least 20 points on the written exam to pass the course.

  • Examples of exam questions will be uploaded in Canvas. More information about the exam will be provided during the course and in the closing lecture.

 

Literature seminars (active participation is compulsory)

The course includes five compulsory literature seminars, where relevant research articles are being presented and discussed. The articles should be studied by everyone in advance to ensure a high quality discussion around the material. Missing a compulsory seminar needs to be compensated by interviewing classmates, and writing an extended seminar reflection (1000-1200 words) to be handed in via Canvas before the exam week. Missing a compulsory literature seminar will also result in a lost opportunity to gain a bonus point from that seminar (for more details on bonus points, see the section "Bonus Opportunity").

 

Case seminars (active participation is compulsory)

The course includes two compulsory case seminars, where cases are being analysed, solved and discussed. The case material should be read by everyone, and analysed and solved in groups in advance, to ensure a good discussion around the material. Missing a compulsory seminar needs to be compensated by interviewing classmates, and writing an extended seminar reflection (1000-1200 words) to be handed in via Canvas before the exam week.

 

Bonus opportunity: Literature seminar reflections (max 5 bonus points (max 1 bonus point per seminar))

Following each literature seminar (no later than 3 working days after the seminar is held), every student can upload individual personal reflections on the content on Canvas (400-600 words. excl references).

The personal reflections should be reflections, and not just summaries. They should demonstrate that you have understood the content in each article, but focus mainly on combined reflections on all articles including own thoughts on the topic! Good reflections, well developed, and clearly providing own thoughts will be rewarded with one bonus point (per seminar).

All reflections will be checked for plagiarism, and all suspicious answers will be reported to Chalmers Disciplinary Board.

 

COURSE LITERATURE

The course literature consists of a textbook (to be used throughout this course), articles and case descriptions.

Additional literature may be used and will be announced at Canvas in due time.

 

Textbook

The main course book is available at Cremona/Store:

  • Slack, Nigel & Lewis, Michael (2020), Operations Strategy 6th ed, Pearson Education, UK, ISBN: 978-1-292-31784-7

 

Lecture articles (available through Chalmers Library)

To be announced

   

Seminar articles (available through Chalmers Library)

Literature Seminar 1: Operations Strategy

 

Literature Seminar 2: Strategic alignment

 

Literature Seminar 3: Operations’ Systems Improvement

 

Literature Seminar 4: Business Process Outsourcing

  • Boffelli, A., Fratocchi, L., Kalchschmidt, M., & Silva, S. C. L. da C. e. (2021). Doing the right thing or doing things right: what is better for a successful manufacturing reshoring? Operations Management Research, 14(1/2), 1–16.
  • Lacity, M. C. Willcocks, L. P. (2013). Outsourcing Business Processes for Innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, Research feature, March, available at: Outsourcing Business Processes for Innovation (mit.edu).

 

Literature Seminar 5: Servitization

  • Landscheidt, S., Kans, M., Winroth, M., Wester, H. (2018). The future of industrial robot business: Product or performance based?. Procedia Manufacturing, p. 495-502. 
  • Tukker, A. (2004). EIGHT TYPES OF PRODUCT–SERVICE SYSTEM: EIGHT WAYS TO SUSTAINABILITY? EXPERIENCES FROM SUSPRONET. Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 13, pp. 246–260.

 

Case descriptions

To be announced

Course summary:

Date Details Due