Course syllabus
Revised 2023-05-16 (see the Change Log at the end of this page)
Course PM for TEK165 Operations Improvement Projects (2022-2023)
Course PM contents:
A. Schedule
B. Course Design and Examination
C. Course Evaluation Committee and Staff
D. Course Literature
E. Changes since previous course event
F. Change Log
A. Schedule
Please note that sessions (S) and hand-ins (HI) are mandatory unless otherwise noted.
| S1 | Week 1 SP1 |
Friday 2023-01-20 09:00-10:00 | FL51 | Course Introduction (pdf) |
| HI1 | Week 2 SP1 |
Tuesday 2023-01-24 13:00 (deadline) |
Respond to the HI1 Project Preferences questionnaire to which of the available projects you prefer |
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| S2 | Week 2 SP1 |
Wednesday 2023-01-25 09:00-10:00 | FL51 |
Project Introduction (pdf) |
| S3 | Week 3 SP1 |
Tuesday 2023-01-31 10:00-12:00 | FL41 | Guest Lecture on Agile Project Planning (pdf) By Ludvig Lindelöf Required pre-reading is listed under Course Literature |
| Week 4 SP1 |
Wednesday 2023-02-08 09:00-10:00 | (The members of the Course Evaluation Committee gather for the first of two mid-term meetings) | ||
| HI2 | Week 5 SP1 |
Monday 2023-02-13 12:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your Project Planning Report assignment (pdfs: A/B/C/D/E/F) |
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| S4 | Week 5 SP1 |
Tuesday 2023-02-14 09:00-12:00 | FL71 |
Project Planning Report Presentations |
| Open Office | Week 6 SP1 |
Tuesday 2023-02-21 11:00-11:45 | Vasa B | This is an extracurricular (and thus voluntary) session where we will discuss some common writing issues |
| HI3 | Week 8 SP1 |
Monday 2023-03-06 12:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your current brief Project Description (pdfs: A /B /C /D /E /F ) |
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| S5 | Week 8 SP1 |
Tuesday 2023-03-07 09:00-12:00 | FL41 |
Project Meeting 1 |
| S6 | Week 2 SP2 |
Friday 2023-03-31 08:00-12:00 | MC |
Change Management; practical simulation (pdf) The simulation software is available here from 07:45 |
| HI4 | Week 3 SP2 |
Thursday 2023-04-13 12:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your current brief Project Description (pdfs: A /B /C /D /E /F ) | |
| Week 3 SP2 |
Friday 2023-04-14 08:15-09:00 | (The members of the Course Evaluation Committee gather for the second of two mid-term meetings) | ||
| S7 | Week 3 SP2 |
Friday 2023-04-14 09:00-12:00 | MA | Project Meeting 2 Pre-read all Project Descriptions (will be available in a link here at the latest 14:00 the day before) |
| HI5 | Week 6 SP2 |
Thursday 2023-05-04 12:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your current brief Project Description (pdfs: A/B/C/D/E/F) | |
| S8 | Week 6 SP2 |
Friday 2023-05-05 09:00-12:00 | MA | Project Meeting 3 Pre-read all Project Descriptions (will be available in a link here at the latest 14:00 the day before) |
| HI6A HI6B |
Week 9 SP2 |
Tuesday 2023-05-23 08:00 (deadline) | Hand-in of your Project Report (HI6A) and Project Diary (HI6B) | |
| S9 | Week 9 SP2 |
Tuesday 2023-05-23 08:00-12:00 | MB | Final Presentations Each group gets 40 mins for presentation and Q&A |
TimeEdit schedule for TEK165 and TEK156 (the parallel course for MPQOM year 1)
B. Course Design and Examination
B1. Aim and learning outcomes
The basic pedagogical philosophy of this course is to deepen the student knowledge of operations management by working with a real problem in a company. In the course there will be some guest lectures about the challenge of managing change, and on agile project planning. There will be guest lecturers having great experiences in this field.
The main aim of this course is to allow the participants to apply the knowledge gained of Operations Management to a practical project. Students will work with an actual problem inside a company. The project will allow for the integration of several subject areas:
- Students will be able to apply the knowledge gained in other parts of the program
- Aspects of project management will be practiced.
- The project will force students to learn to work in a team.
- Change management will be an integral part of the project, accomplishing real changes in a company.
Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to):
- Understand what is needed to work with practical projects in the field of Operations Management
- Have the ability to identify, formulate and solve complex problems
- Have the ability to improve organizational processes, through selected scientific and analytical approaches
- Apply quantitative as well as qualitative tools to improve organizational processes
- Plan, and manage, accomplishment of an actual improvement project inside a company
- Have the ability to communicate their conclusions
- Understand some of the issues in managing a change project in a company
- Ability to take into account different ethical aspects when doing interviews
B2. Examination
The examination is based on two different parts, the team-based project work and the project diary. Finally, attendance on lectures, project meetings, presentations of planning reports and final reports etc. is needed to pass the course.
Having passed these requirements (and having 40-59 points on the written report), a grade of Three will be awarded. A result of 60-79 points on the written report will result in the grade Four. The highest grade Five will be awarded for 80 points and over.
Upon missing one of the activities above, the following apply:
- All absences need to be reported to the course examiner (Jan Wickenberg) prior to the occasion. Thus, we expect you to notify us beforehand if you are to be absent.
- In case of absences from any one of these activities, the student has to complete an extra assignment. These assignments should be completed one week after the activity took place. No grades will be reported until all extra assignments have been completed.
Team-based project work
The main deliverables of the company project you will be assigned is a written report and an oral presentation. This team-based project work will be evaluated, and counts towards a maximum of 100 points. The evaluation of the written report is further described later in this document, under the heading “detailed course information”.
The project diary
To increase the learning on project planning, accomplishment and management each team need to use a project diary. Each team is responsible for keeping its own project diary updated all throughout the course. The diary should include for example very short notes from all meetings the team have, what that were discussed at the different meetings, what that were decided, who attended the meeting etc. The format for the diary, what that need to be included, will be presented during the course introduction. When the project is finished the project diary need to be complete in order to pass the course. The diary will also be followed up when the team meets its tutor throughout the course. An example of a project diary is provided (pdf).
Based on the activity, and the content of the project diary, individual grading of members in the team may be used. This is a team-based course, and there is a need for every member’s involvement in the company projects.
Om plagiarism and automated text production
All text handed-in must be authored by the submitting students, with the following exception. You may use text fragments (verbatim) written by other authors if you use quotation marks and refer to the source. You are encouraged to seek information from other sources and when you use it (non-verbatim) you always refer to the source.
Do not use AI bots for producing or inspiring your text. If you learn during this course that you underperform when writing texts (a) tell your peers so that you can switch to work that you are good at and (b) sign up for a library writing course.
C. Course Evaluation Committee and Staff
C1. Course Evaluation Committee
Oscar, Tilda, and Petter
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Petter Betsén |
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Tilda Grönlund |
C2. Staff
The course is delivered by IRDM (Innovation and R&D Management) at Technology Management and Economics. IRDM reside at floor 4 by staircase A in Vasa house 2 at Campus Johanneberg.
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Jan Wickenberg |
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Joakim Hillberg |
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Ludvig Lindlöf |
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Magnus Persson |
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Björn Steinwall Jivenberg |
D. Course Literature
This course will cover a broad range of literature. To accomplish the projects there will be a huge need for literature in different fields, and from different sources. Hence, the literature needed will vary between the different projects. For the different lectures in this course some literature will also be used. This will be a number of articles that are possible to find through Chalmers Library or other places on the Internet.
Articles for the guest lecture on ‘Agile’:
- de Meyer, A., Loch, C.H. and Pich, M.T. (2002), “Managing Project Uncertainty: From Variation to Chaos”, Sloan Management Review, Winter issue, pp. 60-67 (pdf)
- Hobbs, B. and Petit, Y. (2017), “Agile Methods on Large Projects in Large Organizations”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 3-19 (pdf)
Articles on ‘Change management’ – to start with:
- Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59-67. (pdf)
- Beer, M. och Eisenstat, R.A. (2000), ”The silent killers of strategy implementation and learning”, Sloan Management Review, Summer, pp. 29-40. (pdf)
E. Changes since previous course event
Principles on the use of AI writing bots is addressed. Regarding staffing, a castling has occured between Magnus and Jan where Jan is now the examiner. Also, Björn Steinwall Jivenberg has been brought aboard the course as project supervisor. Efforts to get all projects going early has been made.
F. Change Log
| 2023-01-17 | New document |
| 2023-01-19 |
Revised the date for the S3 event and corrected a typo for the S6 event. Addressed plagiarism and the use of text producing AI bots Added 'get going early' under E. |
| 2023-01-20 |
Added students of the CEC Added venue for S3 Added pdfs for Course literature |
| 2023-01-22 |
Added HI1 to the Schedule Added that sessions and hand-ins are mandatory |
| 2023-01-23 |
Added Joakim and Ludvig to the gallery |
| 2023-01-25 |
Added the two CEC meetings to the Schedule |
| 2023-01-26 |
Added an example of a project diary under B2. Examination |
| 2023-02-10 |
Shortened the time to present during S4 |
| 2023-02-17 |
Added the Open Office event of 2023-02-21 |
| 2023-03-06 |
Added links to HI3 hand-ins |
| 2023-03-27 |
Corrected the time for the second Course Evaluation Committee meeting of 2023-04-14 |
| 2023-03-30 |
Added the simulation software link to the description of S6 |
| 2023-05-16 |
Venue for Final Presentations is MB (was ML13) |