Course syllabus
Course PM TEK165 Operations Improvement Projects (rev 2. 2025-02-03)
A. Course Literature
Main book used for literature seminars: Svenningsson, S. and Sörgärde, N. (2023) Managing change in organizations, Sage. The book will be available to borrow from the course team during the course.
Course literature from the courses TEK146, TEK150 and TEK161.
Pinto, J.K. (2020), Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage, Pearson. E-book available in Chalmers Library E-book Collection.
Additional literature applicable for your project work.
B. Schedule (with reservation for unforeseen circumstances)
The classroom FL41 is booked every Tuesday 8.00-11.45 except for week 12, 15, 16 and 17. Not all scheduled times in TimeEdit are used for activities so always check the schedule on Canvas. Remaining times the room can be used for your team work.
All scheduled activities are mandatory except for the ones marked with *.
Supervision will be part of the project meetings unless other arrangements are made with the supervisor. Supervisor is assigned to you when the projects are introduced in study week 2.
A schedule for the course can be found here:
C. Course Design and Examination
C1. Aim and learning outcomes
The basic pedagogical philosophy of this course is to deepen the student knowledge of operations management and development by working with a real problem in a company. In the course there will be literature seminars and guest lectures about the challenge of managing development work and change, and on agile project planning.
The main aim of this course is to allow the participants to apply the knowledge gained from previous courses in the master’s program Quality and 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
C2. Examination
To pass the course all mandatory elements need to be approved. Your course grade will be based on the sum of your points on different course elements as described in the Table below. Attendance on lectures, literature seminars, project meetings, presentations of planning reports and final reports is needed to pass the course.
There are no opportunities to ‘plussa’, i.e. to improve scores after deadlines.
Upon missing one of the activities, the following apply:
- All absences need to be reported to the course examiner (Pernilla Gluch) prior to the missed occasion.
- 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 extra assignment was handed out.
Grade limits:
- Grade 3: 30 – 39
- Grade 4: 40 – 49
- Grade 5: 50 – 60
The examination is based on the different elements presented in the Table below:
|
Course elements |
Max points |
Assessment criteria |
For pass |
|
Project report |
50 |
· Organization · Content · Coherence |
Min 25 for pass |
|
Project presentation |
|
· Attendance, · Clarity in presentation · Ability to critically review and discuss peer students’ work |
Pass or fail |
|
Project diary |
|
Completed diary for the project |
Pass or fail |
|
Individual reflection on project work |
10
|
· Ability to summarize the project work process. · Ability to describe experiences gained from the project work process and relate those to the rules the group decided on in the beginning of your work. · Ability to reflect on one’s own role for project process and outcome · Ability to reflect on future personal learnings from the project work. · Ability to reflect on diversity, equality and ethical aspects in relation to your project work. |
Min 5p to pass
|
|
Literature seminars |
|
· Active attendance · Completed hand-in of notes |
Pass or fail |
|
Guest lectures |
|
· Active attendance |
Pass or fail |
|
Course total |
60 |
|
30 |
Team-based project work
The main deliverables of the team-based project work is a written project report and an oral presentation. The team-based project work will be evaluated, and counts towards a maximum of 50 points. You need minimum 25 points to Pass.
The report should not exceed 25 pages in 12 pt Times New Roman (or similar), using margins of 2,5 centimeters. Appendices are allowed but should contain additional material that are percieved as valuable to supplement the report with, such as diagrams, tables, calculations, or company documents. Appendices are not graded.
The project report is assessed on organization, coherence and content. The following questions is used as guidance with some variation depending on project focus:
Is the report well organized? Does it have a title page, a table of content, sub-headings? A clear start (introduction) and end (conclusion)? Is the main text supported with tables, figures, graphs and/or appencices?
Is the content of the report of good quality? Is the background and problem well described in the introduction? Does it demontrate a deep understanding of the topic/problem? Does it give sound argumentation for given standpoints? Are arguments supported by previous research? Are concepts and literature from previous courses in the masters’ program incorporated? Is the methodology used clearly presented in terms of data collection, analysis and ethics? Are the analysis supported with empirical data?Are the analysis complete and comprehensive? Does the analysis take account of the relation of important contextual factors? Are assumptions made in the analysis stated explicitly? Does the analysis isolate the fundamental causes of problems? Are the criteria for the recommendations stated? Are recommended actions/change plan specific and complete? Is the plan of action/change integrated in a logical way and linked to the analysis? Does the action/change suggested recognize the importance of timing? Are the limitations of the recommendations acknowledged? Does the report describe the use as well contain a disclaimer on the use of generative AI?
Is the report efficient and coherent in terms of structure and readability? This involves clarity in writing, continuity and logical flow in text, proper grammar and academic style of writing, clear paragraph and sentence structure, proper use of references and footnotes.
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 format and content of the diary are free but must include short notes from every meeting the team have stating:
- what was discussed
- current status of the project,
- progress since last meeting,
- decisions made
- who attended the meeting
When the project is finished the project diary need to be complete and submitted on Canvas in order to pass the course.
The diary will be followed up at the project/supervision meetings.
Note: This is a team-based course, so all team members have to contribute to project. The diary can be used as basis for individual grading of the project work.
The project diary is graded Pass or Fail.
Individual reflection on project work
The individual reflection shall describe your personal experiences gained from the project work process relate to the rules the group decided on in the beginning of the work. The individual reflection should be within 800-1200 words and is graded on a scale of 0-10 points and minimum 5 points is needed to Pass.
Literature seminars
The course includes three literature seminars. Before each seminar you prepare by reading assigned chapters in the textbook and answer the ‘review questions’ that are found in the chapters. Prepare notes for the seminar that cover these questions. After the seminar, revise your notes and submit them on Canvas within one week. The hand-ins are graded Pass or Fail.
On plagiarism and automated text production
All hand-ins, individual and in group, must be authored by the submitting students and will be checked for plagiarism. If we detect plagiarism, we are obligated to report this. If you are not sure about the rules, please read the document about “Academic honesty” under Files on the Canvas course page. All text handed-in must follow Chalmers policy on academic integrity and honesty (https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/rights-and-obligations/academic-integrity-and-honesty/).
Usage of generative AI can support your writing with the following rules:
- You need to make statement on how you have used it in the method chapter as well as a claimer that the work is original in the end of the report.
- Generative AI/Chatbots can only be used to improve language and readability.
- Generative AI/Chatbots are not permitted for generating full texts in the report.
- You must reflect on the usage in your project diary.
- The author(s) is responsible for the work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.
D. Course Evaluation Committee and Staff
D1. Course Evaluation Committee
Continuous dialogue between the students and the examiner throughout the course.
D2. 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.
|
Pernilla Gluch |
|
|
Magnus Persson
|