Course Syllabus

Operations Strategy, TEK 156

Spring 2020

 

Examiner:          Peter Almström

                            Tel: 772 1283 peter.almstrom@chalmers.se

Teachers:  

Carla Gonçalves Machado.   Tel: 772 6314 gcarla@chalmers.s

Dan Paulin  Tel: 772 8413 dan.paulin@chalmers.se

David Bennett  Tel: 072 247 0852 david.bennett@chalmers.se

 

COURSE GOALS AND AIMS

The main aim of the course is for you to 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.

Having successfully completed the course, each student should be able to:

• Understand how to use operations strategy as a guidance for the organization's operational activities and business strategy improvement.
• List a number of conceptual tools for analyzing operations’ strategy and enhancing the operations performance.
• Apply tools and models in the analysis of operations strategies and processes.
• Recognize the impact of operations on sustainability and how operations can contribute to a sustainable society 
• Understand 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.

 

EXAMINATION

You can obtain a maximum of 100 points from examination activities.

To pass the course:

• A total minimum of 40 points is necessary.
• A minimum of 20 points obtained from the individual written exam is necessary.
• A minimum of 16 points obtained from the project (written material + oral presentations) is necessary.
• Active attendance in mandatory activities is necessary.

In order to obtain grade 3, a total score of 40-59 points is needed.

In order to obtain grade 4, a total score of 60-79 points is needed.

In order to obtain grade 5, a total score of 80-100 points is needed.

 

The following parts are included in the examination:

Individual written exam (max 50 points)

• The exam will consist of 5 essay questions, worth 10 points each. The exam will be designed to test your knowledge and understanding of the course material. Examples of questions will be provided close to the exam.
• You need to obtain at least 20 points on the individual written exam to pass the course.

 

Group project (max 40 points)

• You will, in groups of 4 - 5 students, conduct an operations strategy analysis of a real organization.
• You should report the project both in writing (executive summary + final report) and through oral presentations.
• Each group needs to obtain at least 16 points on the project to pass the course.

 

The project will be further described later in this document.

 

Literature seminars (max 2 points for the leading group)

There are a number of compulsory seminars in the course, where the relevant research articles are being presented and discussed. Each group is responsible for leading one literature seminar. If the group performs very well in this task, you may be rewarded with one or two bonus points. The articles should be studied in advance to enhance a good discussion around the material. The seminars are led by you and run as discussions around a few questions (but not limited to):

• Capture the topic and content
• Choose a case for the seminar to show the practical application of the topic
• Lead a good discussion

Methods that have proven to be quite successful is to arrange the seminar as follows:

• Group discussions around 2-3 important questions on the material, followed by summing up for the whole class
• Quiz competitions
• Going beyond the articles and discuss more recent problems and what will happen in the future

As there are several articles for each seminar, the responsible group can arrange the discussion around the total picture provided by all the articles instead of one discussion on each article. Often there are different methods being used, which can make the overall results more relevant.

 

Seminar reflections (max 8 points (max 2 points per seminar))

Prior to each seminar, every student shall upload individual personal reflections on the content on Canvas (400-600 words). Not uploading it in advance, or not attending the seminar, will require a longer reflection of 1500 words. The deadline for the longer reflections is the last day of the study period.

The personal reflections shall 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 in the topic! Good reflections, well developed, and clearly providing own thoughts may be rewarded with one or two points.

These seminar reflections are not intended for the group leading the seminar, since they are supposed to read the material well anyway.

 

Regular lectures

The first lecture is compulsory, since there will be much information about the project, seminars and other course matters. In case of absence, please contact the course team! Regular lectures will be organized as about one or two hour of traditional overview of the lecture topic. The other hour will be arranged as group discussions on the topic, which requires that each participant has studied the material in advance.

 

Guest lectures are compulsory

There are some guest lectures in the course, and they are all compulsory. These lectures are indicated in the schedule. Missing a compulsory lecture needs to be compensated by interviewing classmates and writing two pages about the topic of that lecture.

 

COURSE LITERATURE

The course literature consists of a textbook (to be used throughout this course), lecture articles, project material, and seminar articles.

To complement the course book, articles will be used on certain occasions (see under “Lecture articles”). These can be accessed through Chalmers Library.

 

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

 

Textbook

The main course book is available from Cremona:

• Slack, Nigel & Lewis, Michael (2017), Operations Strategy 5^th ed, Pearson Education, UK, ISBN: 978-1-292-16249-2

 

Lecture articles

Strategic consensus (To be studied before the lecture on January 31^th)

• Floyd, S. W. and Wooldridge, B. (1992), Managing strategic consensus: the foundation of effective implementation, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 27-39.
• Edh Mirzaei, N., Fredriksson, A., & Winroth, M. (2016), Strategic consensus on manufacturing strategy content: Including the operators’ perceptions, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 36, No. 4, pp. 429-466.

 

Setting-up an International Production System (to be studied prior to the lecture on February 10^th)

• Ferdows, K. (1997), Making the Most of Foreign Factories, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 75, Mar/Apr, pp. 73-88
• Miltenburg, J. (2009), Setting Manufacturing Strategy for a Company’s International Manufacturing Network, International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 47, No. 22, pp. 6179-6203
• Bennett D.J. (2008), Global Logistics Concerns, Chapter 26 in Taylor G D (ed) Logistics Engineering Handbook, CRC Press / Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton FL, USA.http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9780849330537

 

Sustainable operations (to be studied prior to the lecture on February 17th)

• Drake, D., Spinler, S. (2013), Sustainable Operations Management: An Enduring Stream or a Passing Fancy?" Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Vol.15, no. 4.
• Opresnik, D., Taisch, M. The conceptualization of Sustainability in Operations Management, Procedia CIRP, Vol. 29, pp. 532-537.
• Porter, M. E., Hills, G., Pfitzer, M., Patscheke, S., Hawkins, R. (2012), "Measuring Shared Value: How to Unlock Value by Linking Business and Social Results." (pdf)

 

Project Material (available at Canvas):

• Säfsten, K., Winroth, M. and Löfving, M. (2014) STRATEGO Manufacturing strategies supporting competitiveness in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises– a handbook, School of Engineering, Jönköping University and Chalmers University of Technology, JTH Research Report 2014:04
• Analytical tool in Excel following the handbook
• Information Pamphlet for company presentation

  

Seminar articles (all available through Chalmers Library)

Seminar 1: Operations Strategy

• Skinner, W. (1969), Manufacturing - Missing link in corporate strategy, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 47. No.3, pp-136-145.
• Skinner W. (2007), Manufacturing Strategy: the story of its evolution, Journal of Operations Management, 25, No. 2, pp. 328-335.
• Hayes, R.H. and Pisano, G.P. (1994), Beyond World-Class: The New Manufacturing Strategy, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb, pp. 77-86
• Pinheiro de Lima, E., Gouvea da Costa S.E., Reis de Faria, A. (2009), Taking operations strategy into practice: Developing a process for defining priorities and performance measures, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 122, pp. 403-418.

 

Seminar 2: Strategic alignment

• Brown, S. and Blackmon, K. (2005), Aligning Manufacturing Strategy and Business-Level Competitive Strategy in New Competitive Environments: The Case for Strategic Resonance, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 42, No. 4, June, pp. 793-815
• Hudson Smith, M. and Smith, D. (2007), Implementing strategically aligned performance measurement in small firms, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 106, pp. 393-408
• Albu, E. and Panzar, C. (2010), A new tool for assessing maturity alignment: the enterprise maturity matrix, Performance Improvement, 49(9), October, pp. 35-47

 

Seminar 3: Operations’ Systems Improvement

• Krafcik, J.F. (1988), Triumph of the Lean Production System, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 41-52.
• Mehri, D. (2006), The darker side of lean: an insider’s perspective on the realities of the Toyota production system, Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 21-42.

• Netland, T.H., & Aspelund, A. (2014). Company-specific production systems and competitive advantage: A resource-based view on the Volvo production system. The TQM Journal, 26, 2. DOI:10.1108/IJOPM-07-2010-0171

 

Seminar 4: Business Process Outsourcing

• McIvor, R. (2008), What is the right outsourcing strategy for your process? European management Journal,6, No.1, pp. 24-34.
• Weimer, G. and Seuring, S. (2009), Performance measurement in business process outsourcing decisions, Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 275-292.
• Grössler, A., Timenes Laugen, B., Arkader, R. and Fleury, A. (2013), Differences in outsourcing strategies between firms in emerging and in developed markets, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 296-321.

 

Seminar 5: Servitization

• Baines, T., Lightfoot, H., Peppard, J., Johnson, M., Tiwari, A., Shehab, E. and Swink, M. (2008), Towards an operations strategy for product-centric servitization, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 29, No. 5, pp. 494-519
• Pawar, K.S., Beltagui, A. and Riedel, J.C.K.H. (2008), The PSO triangle: designing product, service and organization to create value, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 29, No. 5, pp.468-493
• Lerch, C., Gotsch M. (2015) Digitalized Product-Service Systems in Manufacturing Firms: A Case Study Analysis, Research-Technology Management, 58:5, 45-52, DOI: 10.5437/08956308X5805357

 

SCHEDULE 

Date	Time	Location	Lecturer	Topic	Literature
Study week 1
Monday 20/1	13.15 17.00	SB-H5	Carla Machado and Dan Paulin   Compulsory lecture!	Course introduction Project description Operations Strategy & Performance	Course book Chapters 1-2
Thursday 23/1	9.00 11.45	SB-H5	Dan Paulin	Analyzing Operations Strategy (Methods & Tools)	Course book Chapters 1-2
Friday 24/1	13.15 15.00	SB-M022	Guest Lecture: Anders Karnstedt   Compulsory lecture!	Performance Management: experiences from the industry	Course book Chapter 2   Discussion on Canvas from 21/01 to 23/01
Study week 2
Monday 27/1	12.00	Deadline for company suggestion (look at the instructions)
Monday 27/1	13.15 16.00	SB-H3	Carla Machado	The process of Operations Strategy	Course book Chapters 9-10
Thursday 30/1	09.00 11.45	Vasa 3 Vasa 4	Group 1  Group 6	Seminar 1: Operations Strategy	See seminar articles section
Friday 31/1	13.15 15.00	HA2	Guest Lecture: Nina Edh, Jönköping University   Compulsory lecture!	Strategic Consensus	See Lecture articles section
Study week 3
Monday 3/2	12.00	Deadline for final choice of company
Monday 3/2	13.15-17.00	HA2	Peter Almström	Operations Improvement	Course book Chapters 3 & 7
Thursday 6/2	09.00 11.45	Vasa 3 Vasa 4	Group 2 Group 7	Seminar 2: Strategic Alignment	See seminar articles section
Friday 7/2	13.15-15.00	SB-L200	Carla Machado	STRATEGO Presentation of analytical tool and handbook	Handouts, handbook, software   Study Stratego material prior to the lecture
Study week 4
Monday 10/2	13.15-17.00	SB-H6	Guest Lecture: David Bennett   Compulsory lecture!	Capacity strategy issues in international production networks   BMW case Part A: "BMW’s rise and global capacity expansion"	Course book Chapter 4     BMW Part A Study articles by Ferdows (1997) and by Miltenburg (2009) prior to the lecture!
Thursday 13/2	08.00 10.45	Vasa 3 Vasa 4	Group 3 Group 8	Seminar 3:  Operations Systems Improvement	See seminar articles section
Thursday 13/2	10.45 12.00	Vasa 3 Vasa 4	Carla Machado and David Bennett	Supervision	Groups should reserve time in advance
Friday 14/2	13.15 15.00	HA2	Guest Lecture: David Bennett   Compulsory lecture!	Purchasing and supply strategy issues in international production networks BMW case Part B: "BMW’s international supply strategy and the Brazilian automotive industry"	Course book Chapter 5       BMW Part B. Study Bennett D. J. (2008) prior to the lecture!
Study week 5
Thursday 20/2	09.00 11.45	Vasa 3 Vasa 5	Group 4 Group 9	Seminar 4:   Business Process Outsourcing	See seminar articles section
Friday 21/2	13.15 15.00	SOM Division and Skype	Carla Machado and David Bennett	Supervision	Groups should reserve time in advance
Study week 6
Monday 24/2	13.15 17.00	SB-H3	Dan Paulin	Product and service development and organization   Servitization	Course book Chapter 8
Thursday 27/2	09.00 11.45	Vasa 3 Vasa 4	Group 5 Group 10	Seminar 5:   Servitization	See seminar articles section
Friday 28/2	13.15 14.45	HA2	Carla Machado	Process technology  Sustainable Operations Management	Chapter 6 See Lecture articles section
Study week 7
Monday 2/3	12.00	Deadline for uploading project executive summary
Monday 2/3	13.15-16.00	Vasa B	Guest Lecture: Anna E. Öberg (Volvo CE) Compulsory lecture!	Digitalization and Process Technology	-------------
Thursday 5/3	8.00 12.00	Vasa B Vasa 3 Vasa 4	Carla Machado	Project presentation	Attendance is mandatory Separate schedule will be announced later
Friday 6/3	13.15-15.00	HA2	Carla Machado Dan Paulin	Closing Lecture	-------------
Monday 9/3	18.00	Deadline for uploading FINAL Project Report

 

Written exam in DIGITAL FORMAT: March 19^th, 2020. - 14.00-18.00

Information about digital exams are available at: https://student.portal.chalmers.se/en/ chalmersstudies/Examinations/Pages/Digital-Examination.aspx

An example of exam questions is uploaded in Canvas. More information about the exam will be provided during the course and in the closing lecture.

 

GROUP PROJECT

The most important vehicle for learning more about operations strategy is the group project. Here, you are given the chance to apply the concepts and tools and to further deepen your understanding of particular aspects of manufacturing strategy. The outcomes of the project are to be reported both in writing and through class presentation.

 

Project groups

You will work in groups of 4-5 students. Group constellations will be predefined by the course team and posted on Canvas on January 21^th, 2020.

 

Project topic

Your task is to: “Critically analyze and evaluate the operations strategy of an organization”.

You are expected to use the STRATEGO tool (STEPS 1 to 5)  supported by other frameworks from the course. In approaching your topic, the following guidelines should be followed:

Data

Your analysis should be based on data gathered from, for example, surveys, interviews, discussions with customers/managers, from your observations as customers and from any secondary sources that may be available. You should describe your methodology for data collection and the analysis clearly in the body of the report.

Analyze

The core of the project is to analyze the data using use operations strategy concepts and tools, as well as the Stratego methodology, in the analysis. You may select the concepts most suitable to analyze the operation of your choice. You may also find material from other courses useful to support your work.

Evaluate

Evaluate the alignment between the company’s current strategy and operations based on your analysis and give recommendations for improvement.

 

Project outline

Companies can be found through the Business Retriever database through Chalmers Library. In order to avoid companies which have been studied in previous courses, you will have access to a list of those companies at Canvas. However, it is possible to study a different product segment of a previously studied company.

Before January 27^th, at 12.00, each team should upload a suggestion of an organization to study. If you have any problems finding a suitable organization, please contact Carla or David.

The minimum criteria for approving an organization are as follows:

• The organization must not be too small. One-person service organizations and large multi-national companies have proven not to work well for the assignment. A well-defined product segment of a larger company may however work.
• The organization must have easily identified external customers with which it interacts.

 

Before February 2^nd, at 12.00, each team should upload their final selection of company, including:

• The name of the organization and business unit/product/service.
• The name, and contact information, of your contact person within the selected organization.
• Timeplan for researching the topic and gathering data

 

If you experience any problems, do not hesitate to contact Carla or David. It is desirable to address any problems early on rather than wait until it is too late!

The written reports

Each group should upload an executive summary of the project (maximum 1 page, MS Word format) on the course webpage in Canvas no later than March 2^nd, 12.00.

 

Each group should upload the final report (in MS Word format) on the course webpage in Canvas no later than 18.00 on March 9^th. Late reports will suffer from a 5-point reduction per day that the report is delayed.

The final report should not exceed 6.000 words in length, excluding any tables or exhibits and references. Exhibits cannot contain text only but should contain figures and tables. In case you exceed the specified length, we will deduct points off the grade based on how much you exceed the length requirement.

We are interested in depth, quality, and completeness, rather than verbosity. Your emphasis should be on critical analysis rather than simply reporting. This means that there is no need for a separate theory section. Thus, theory may be included in other sections.

Evaluation of the project report

At the most basic level, you need to be able to demonstrate that you understand the chosen models and frameworks and can use them to analyze a company’s manufacturing strategy.

To reach the next level you also need to be able to demonstrate an ability to adapt and apply the model(s) to suit your particular situation.

To reach the highest level you also need to be able to show the ability to discuss both the strength and the weakness of the chosen model(s) and company, and the power to keep the reader interested.

Fail

If the group is unable to meet the basic requirements.

 

If so, you will be required to resubmit a revised report before the study period is over. This resubmitted report will be assessed according to the same criteria. A failure to meet these criteria will result in a failed report.

Evaluation guidelines

When evaluating the project reports, the following will be used as a guide.

 

1. Report Structure and Organization (10 p)

An important part of any piece of writing is that it is effectively structured, so that it is logically consistent and sells its recommendations. To encourage proper structure and organization of your report, so as to facilitate reading it, part of the evaluation will depend on the following (approximately equally weighted):

1. Structure and readability of the report
2. Clarity of Writing
3. Paragraph/Sentence Structure
4. Continuity of Flow

 

1. Report Content (30 p)

The following are example of questions that could be asked during the evaluation of the content of the hand-in.

1. How well described is the chosen methodology and its execution?
2. How well are the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen methodology discussed?
3. Is the analysis complete and comprehensive?
4. How well is the analysis of the market requirements conducted?
5. How well is the analysis of operations resources conducted?
6. Are any assumptions made in the analysis stated explicitly?
7. How well are the applied models used?
8. How well has the different tools have been understood?
9. Do any recommendations follow logically from the analysis?
10. Are the criteria for selecting recommendations and their limitations stated?
11. How well is the discussion and adaptation of the models carried out?

 

Project Presentations

Each student should present their project to the class on March 5^th, during the presentation sessions between 8.00 and 12.00. Attendance is mandatory. Absence will result in extra assignments, involving a thorough analysis of each project that was missed!

Each student should read the Executive Summaries from the other groups in advance and asked to prepare at least one question for the group.

The presentations will take place during small group sessions, where one member from each project group will participate in each small group session. Every member in each project group will thus need to be able to present and discuss their project in this small group session format.

Additional details about the project presentations will be posted on the course webpage within short.