Subject Overview

A comprehensive study of how entrepreneurial organizations design, operate, improve and scale systems that produce and deliver goods and services. The subject integrates operations strategy, process management, planning, sourcing, logistics, analytics, sustainability, resilience and digital transformation.

Learning Goal

Students will be able to design, analyze and improve operations and supply chains; apply quantitative and managerial tools; make ethical, data-informed decisions; manage risk and technology; and build scalable, competitive operating models for entrepreneurial ventures.

Syllabus

1. Foundations of Operations and Supply Chain Management

Learning Objective: Explain operations systems, supply chain structures, flows, stakeholders, performance objectives, productivity, value creation, trade-offs and the strategic role of operations in entrepreneurial competitiveness.

Category: foundation

2. Operations Strategy and Business Model Alignment

Learning Objective: Translate venture strategy and customer value propositions into operating priorities, capabilities, make-or-buy choices, performance metrics and scalable operating models; apply order qualifiers, order winners and the resource-based view.

Category: core

3. Product, Service and Process Design

Learning Objective: Design products, services and processes using lifecycle thinking, process mapping, service blueprints, volume-variety analysis, bottleneck analysis, standardization, mass customization, design for manufacturability and concurrent engineering.

Category: core

4. Demand Forecasting and Sales and Operations Planning

Learning Objective: Apply qualitative and quantitative forecasting methods, measure forecast error, manage demand uncertainty and integrate marketing, operations and finance through sales and operations planning and collaborative forecasting.

Category: core

5. Capacity, Location, Layout and Workforce Decisions

Learning Objective: Analyze capacity utilization, economies of scale, break-even points, location alternatives, facility layouts, line balancing, waiting lines, workforce planning and constraints when launching or expanding operations.

Category: application

6. Quality Management and Process Improvement

Learning Objective: Apply quality dimensions, cost of quality, total quality management, statistical process control, process capability, Six Sigma, benchmarking, root-cause analysis and ISO-based quality systems.

Category: core

7. Inventory and Materials Management

Learning Objective: Explain inventory roles and costs and apply ABC analysis, economic order quantity, reorder-point, safety-stock, service-level, periodic-review, newsvendor and multi-echelon inventory principles.

Category: core

8. Operations Planning, Scheduling and Enterprise Systems

Learning Objective: Use aggregate planning, master production scheduling, materials requirements planning, bills of materials, capacity requirements planning, sequencing and scheduling; explain how ERP systems integrate operational information.

Category: core

9. Lean Operations, Theory of Constraints and Continuous Improvement

Learning Objective: Identify waste, variability and flow barriers; apply just-in-time, pull systems, Kanban, value-stream mapping, 5S, takt time, Kaizen, theory of constraints and agile operations in manufacturing and services.

Category: application

10. Procurement, Sourcing and Supplier Management

Learning Objective: Develop sourcing strategies, evaluate suppliers, conduct total-cost-of-ownership analysis, negotiate contracts and manage supplier relationships, outsourcing, ethical procurement, supplier innovation and supply assurance.

Category: application

11. Logistics, Warehousing and Omnichannel Fulfilment

Learning Objective: Plan transportation, warehousing, distribution, packaging, last-mile delivery, reverse logistics and omnichannel fulfilment using cost-service trade-offs and relevant operational performance measures.

Category: application

12. Supply Chain Coordination, Network Design and Global Operations

Learning Objective: Design supply networks, evaluate centralized and decentralized structures, address the bullwhip effect, coordinate information and incentives, assess global trade decisions and manage cash-to-cash cycles and supply chain profitability.

Category: strategic

13. Risk, Resilience, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance

Learning Objective: Identify operational and supply chain risks; apply continuity, scenario and resilience frameworks; assess environmental and social impacts, circular economy practices, responsible sourcing, compliance, traceability and governance controls.

Category: contemporary

14. Operations Analytics, Digital Transformation and Emerging Technologies

Learning Objective: Use descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics for operational decisions; evaluate IoT, cloud platforms, robotics, blockchain, digital twins and AI for forecasting, optimization and automation while addressing cybersecurity, data governance, bias and future-of-work implications.

Category: contemporary