Contemporary Operations Management

Overview

This course develops the major themes of Operations Management within both manufacturing and service organisations and highlights contemporary issues, methods and models, as well as trends. The primary objective of the module is to familiarise students with both, the basic concepts, techniques, methods and applications of operations management, as well as some new approaches. Content includes some traditional operations management topics, such as operations strategy and performance, process design, and lean management, as well as contemporary topics related to sustainability of operations, circular economy and implications of the use of new manufacturing and digital technologies (Industry 4.0).

Learning Objectives

This module is designed to give the learner practical and theoretical knowledge of the intricacies of operations management and its link with the organisation's overall competitiveness.
At the end of the module, students should acquire knowledge and understanding of
- Main principles and key theories of operations management, as well as tools and models for quantitative and qualitative analysis of operations and their environmental impact.
- Contemporary issues that impact managing operations, as well as new manufacturing and service trends, tools and technologies
- Importance of considering sustainability implications of manufacturing and services, and assessing their impact of business on the environment and society.
- Impact of digitalisation on both, the productivity of manufacturing and services as well as environment and society.

Skills

Plan, conduct and report a piece of original research;
- Synthesise, analyse and evaluate information from a variety of different sources;
- Enhanced communication skills - both written and oral;
- Teamwork;
- Competent use of information technology (MS Office, internet searches, AI-powered tools, subject-specific software).

Assessment

Students must achieve an overall mark of 40% in the module to pass