Course syllabus
Revised 2024-04-12 (see the Change Log at the end of this page)
Course PM for TEK165 Operations Improvement Projects
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
TimeEdit schedule for TEK165 and TEK156 (the parallel course for MPQOM year 1)
Please note that sessions (S) and assignment hand-ins (A) are mandatory unless otherwise noted.
| S11 | Week 1 SP1 |
Tuesday 2024-01-16 09:00-10:45 | FL61 | Course Introduction (pdf1, pdf2) |
| A12 | Week 2 SP1 | Monday 2024-01-22 13:00 (deadline) |
Hand in your individual Speculations (Theory) chapter |
|
| S12 | Week 2 SP1 |
Tuesday 2024-01-23 09:00-11:45 |
FL41 |
Project Introduction (pdf) |
| A13 | Week 3 SP1 |
Monday 2024-01-29 13:00 (deadline) | Hand in your individual Speculations, Results and Discussion chapters | |
| S13 | Week 3 SP1 |
Tuesday 2024-01-30 09:00-11:45 | FL41 |
Lecture: The Shadow System of Organizations (pdf) Guest Lecture on Management Fads |
| A14 | Week 4 SP1 |
Monday 2024-02-05 13:00 (deadline) | Hand in your Compilation of Tiny Reports | |
| S14 | Week 4 SP1 |
Tuesday 2024-02-06 09:00-11:45 | KS1 |
Guest Lecture on Management Fads (pdf) Lecture: The Shadow System of Organizations |
| Week 5 SP1 |
Tuesday 2024-02-13 10:00-11:00: LPW1 STEM only 11:00-12:00: LPW2 Buses only |
KS1 | Supervision | |
| A15 | Week 5 SP1 |
Thursday 2024-02-15 13:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your Project Planning Report assignment (1 STEM, 2 Buses) |
|
| S15 | Week 5 SP1 |
Friday 2024-02-16 10:00-11:45 |
KS1 |
Project Planning Report Presentations |
| A18 | Week 8 SP1 |
Monday 2024-03-04 13:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your current brief Project Description (1 STEM, 2 Buses) |
|
| S18 | Week 8 SP1 |
Tuesday 2024-03-05 10:00-12:00 | FL41 |
Project Meeting 1 |
| S22 | Week 2 SP2 |
Tuesday 2024-03-26 08:00-12:00 (note!) | KS1 |
Change Management; practical simulation (pdf) |
| A23 | Week 3 SP2 |
Thursday 2024-04-11 13:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your current brief Project Description (1 STEM, 2 Buses) | |
| S23 | Week 3 SP2 |
Friday 2024-04-12 10:00-12:00 | KS1 | Project Meeting 2 Pre-read all Project Descriptions (will be available in a link here at the latest 14:00 the day before) |
| A26 | Week 6 SP2 |
Thursday 2024-05-02 13:00 (deadline) | Hand-in your current brief Project Description (1 STEM, 2 Buses) | |
| S26 | Week 6 SP2 |
Friday 2024-05-03 09:00-12:00 |
FL41 |
Project Meeting 3 Pre-read all Project Descriptions (will be available in a link here at the latest 14:00 the day before) |
| Week 9 SP2 |
Thursday 2024-05-16 08:00 (deadline) | Hand-in of your Preliminary Project Report (1 STEM, 2 Buses) | ||
| S28 | Week 8 SP2 |
Friday 2024-05-17 (Reserve: Tuesday 2024-05-21 10:00-12:00 in MB) |
KS1 |
Presentations Link for Victor: https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/7345717191?omn=65474154359 |
|
Exam Week |
Wednesday 2024-05-29 12:00 (deadline) |
Hand-in of your Finalized Project Report (A2EWA) and Project Diary (A2EWB) |
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
Since the enrolment is less than 10, no CEC will be formed
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.
|
Jan Wickenberg |
|
|
Joakim Hillberg |
|
|
Ludvig Lindlöf |
|
|
Magnus Persson |
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.
Article for the guest lecture on Management Fad:
- Clark, T. (2004). The fashion of management fashion: a surge too far?. Organization, 11(2), 297-306. (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
The Small Project Work, including The Small Report, has been added
F. Change Log
| 2024-01-09 | New document |
| 2024-01-16 | Corrected invalid dates in the Schedule |
| 2024-01-19 |
Set date for the Change Management Simulation (S22) Removed the two events for the midterm Course Evaluation meetings Corrected dates for A13, A14 and A15 |
| 2024-01-30 |
S13 and S14 switched content |
| 2024-02-08 |
Added 2024-02-16 as a reserve for S15 Moved S29 to 2024-05-17 (kept 2024-05-21 as a reserve) Some shortening of session durations |
| 2024-02-09 |
A15/S15 moved from Monday/Tuesday to Thursday/Friday of week 5 Tuesday is reserved for supervision |
| 2024-04-14 |
2024-05-03 is now 09:00-11:45 (was 10:00-11:45) |
| 224-05-02 |
Added hand-in A28, removed A29 Extended S28 to begin at 09:00 |