HSBC Business School of Peking University
Syllabus
 
Course: Operations Management
 
Dates:           May 2 – July 5, 2013 (see last page for changes due to HKU Workshop)
 
Instructor:   Philip Y. Huang, Ph.D., CFPIM
              Professor of Operations Management
              Office:         C219
Telephone:  +86-755-2603 3059
              Fax:               +86-755-2603 5344
              Email:           phhuang@phbs.pku.edu.cn
 
Office Hours:
1:30 – 3:00 p.m., M. & Th.
or, by appointment
 
Course Description:
Technology and globalization have changed the way companies compete in the market place.  To gain competitive advantage, companies have increasingly focused on customer satisfaction, which depends heavily on their ability to efficiently design, process, and deliver products/services meeting or exceeding customer requirements. The still lingering global economic slow-down has put even more intense pressure on manufacturers to explore all possibilities of improving process efficiency and reducing operation costs, which extends beyond the corporate boundary and involves partners of the entire supply chain.  This course will provide participants with the opportunity to examine the major functions, the problems involved, the analytical tools available, and the recent developments in operations and supply chain management. After completing this course, the participants are expected to understand the importance of operations management, the interactions between operations and other functional areas, the decisions involved, and the tools that could be employed to improve company’s competitiveness.
 
Course Objectives:

1. To understand the roles that operations and supply chain management play in supporting the corporate strategy
2. To gain exposure of the operations and supply chain functions in a company and their impact on quality, costs, cycle time, and customer service
3. To understand and be able to analyze decision problems in managing operations and supply chain
4. To be familiar with the theories and current practices of operations and supply chain management                                                                                               
5. To be able to effectively communicate with colleagues in other business functional units and supply chain partners

 
Teaching Methods:
This instructor is a strong believer of participative learning.  This course therefore uses an interactive approach, in which both students and instructor are resource pool.  Active participation is not just recommended but required.  Teaching methods in this class will include lecture/discussion, video presentation, case analysis, team exercise, simulation game, term project, and a possible plant tour.
 
 
Grading Policy:              
                                         
                                    Participation                                 15%
                                    Team Activities:                                   25%
                  Case                                          5%
                  Project                    20%        

                                    Mid-term Exam                              25%               

                                    Final Exam  _                                  35%     

                                         Total                                        100%               
                                                                         
       Note:                                                            

1. Since there is a direct correlation between academic performance and class attendance, students are required to attend all of the scheduled learning sessions. This implies arriving on time and remaining for the duration of the scheduled sessions.
2. The participation grade is determined by your attendance and active involvement in class discussion.

 
Text:  Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, Chase, Jacobs, and Aquilano, Irwin, 11^th ed., 2006.
 
Cases:

1. Kwong, R. (2011) "Taiwan’s coffee chain challenger," Financial Times. 2011-08-30.
2. McFarlan, F.W., M.S. Chen, and K.C. Wong (2012) “Li & Fung 2012,” Harvard Case (9-312-102)
3. McAfee, A., A. Sjoman, and V. Dessain (2004) “Zara: IT for Fast Fashion,” Harvard Case (9-604-018)

 
Course Outline:
 

Topics	Chapter	Case
Introduction	1
Operation Strategy	2, video	850C Café (Handout)
Quality Management	8, video
Product and Process Design	4, 6, video
Lean Production	12, video
Facility Layout	TN 6
Mid-term Exam (TBD)
Supply Chain Management	10	Li & Fung 2012 (Harvard)
Aggregate Sales & Operations Planning	14
Inventory Management	15	Bosideng (Hnadout)
Materials Requirements Planning	16	Zara (Harvard)
Project Presentations (Last week of class)
Final Exam (July 4 or 5)

 
 

 
 
Guidelines for Team Activities:
1. The instructor will form teams with 5-6 members in each team. 
2. Each team should elect one or two facilitators who are responsible for scheduling and handling team meetings.
3. Team works will include one assigned case and one term project.
4. Team members should collectively solve the assigned case and be prepared to present their analyses to the class. At the time of case discussion, teams should submit a written report. 
5. Case report, no more than 4 double-space pages, should be divided into sections with proper titles.  You should leave proper margin and use the font size of 12.  The grade weights allocated to case report is 5%.
6. Term project should be an in-depth study of a local company, in either manufacturing or service industry.  The study should include the following items:

1. general information including company size, main product lines, major competitors, customers, and suppliers.
2. primary processes
3. planning and control systems
4. strengths and weaknesses of their operations
5. recommendations for improvement

7. A project proposal, no more than two double-space pages, is due on May ___.  The proposal should at least include the following:

1. title
2. objectives
3. identified main tasks
4. a rough project plan

8. A progress report, no more than two double-space pages, is due on June __.  The progress report should at least include the following:

1. title
2. meeting summary
3. current status
4. experienced difficulties
5. proposed solutions

9. The findings of your project should be reported in: 1) a 15-minute oral presentation, and 2) a written report.  The grade weights allocated to the presentation and report are 10% each.
10. Your written project report, no more than 7 double-space pages, should be divided into sections with proper titles. 
11. Each member is required to evaluate the contributions of all the members in the team. A student may receive lower grade if the evaluations indicate a lack of contributions.
 
Note:  
 
Schedule changes due to HKU Workshop, Dragon Boat Festival, and AACSB:
 

1.  Four classes from June 10^th through June 20^th are moved to June 1^st and June 8th (2 Saturdays) with double sessions on each day.  The meeting time of these two days will be from 8:30 – 12:20.
2. I’ll be out of the country on June 3^rd for an AACSB Workshop.    That day’s class is moved to July 3^rd as an optional review session.