MSc Business with Operations Management

This is the introductory core Operations Management module for MSc Business with Operations Management. It establishes the basic principles and theories in Operations Management. The module aims to introduce core Operations Management topics across production/ service and hybrid operations and demonstrate Operations Management concepts across for profit, not for profit and 3rd sector organisations. The module will help students develop an understanding of the relationship between the Operation and the Strategy, highlighting the role of emergent strategy, and competitive advantage developed through operational capability.

This module is designed to introduce you to the ideas of modelling and analysis, and to the relevance of modelling for management. The emphasis is upon the student being a critical consumer of quantitative information and quantitative modelling. It is not intended that the module will turn you into an experienced modeller but that it will teach you to understand the importance of, and benefits to be gained from, modelling for management. Therefore the module is concerned with the context and process of modelling rather than with the technicalities underlying specific modelling approaches.

To become a critical consumer of modelling it is necessary to consider some of the modelling approaches in some detail. This module considers a variety of approaches that are commonly used in a business and management environment. The focus will not solely be on the mechanics of those approaches but upon the interpretations to be placed upon the output of the models and upon the usefulness of such output to management.

As a further guide to the situations where such models may be used, and how they may be employed, you will consider a number of case studies based on applying the techniques in actual business situations.

This module sets out to provide a holistic strategic view of supply chain management as a source of
competitive advantage and examines five core questions:

• Where does supply chain management fit within the business decision making strategies?
• How do supply chains behave?
• Why are supply chain relationships important?
• What coordinating mechanisms exist to manage commercial, NGO and humanitarian supply chains?
• What are the critical supply chain issues pertaining to performance, risk, strategy and sustainability?

The module aims to provide an introduction to quantitative methods to students from non-numerical backgrounds. The module will equip you with an understanding of descriptive/inferential statistics and data presentation and enable you to apply the major tools needed for MSc level study and for the use of data analysis in the workplace.

You will learn to: 

• Describe a data set in a way that highlights what is important, by drawing the client directly to relevant comparisons.
• Choose which statistical method is most appropriate for each kind of data, and each kind of research question.
• Conduct basic inferential statistical tests, such as t- tests and Chi-square tests
• Conduct and interpret a multiple regression analysis
• Conduct and interpret a logistic regression analysis
• Demonstrate the ability to think quantitatively about data and determine what data can tell us, and what it cannot.

There are two specific features about project management theory which make it a slightly different type of subject to most other academic modules. Firstly, the subject has its origins in large-scale, complex operations. This means that a large proportion of the published theory concerns the planning and control aspects of the management of such processes. Secondly, most of the concepts were developed in the heyday of the 1960s, where a lot of activity was taking place in the aerospace, defence and construction sectors. This means that most of the basic literature is reasonably old and technically focused.

In the modern context, project management methods are now used for a much wider variety of applications including change management, Third World development programmes and IT-based projects. As a consequence, this module aims to span a range of sectors and be as multi-disciplinary as possible. The planning and control aspects of the module occupy only about 20% of the total time available.

You will:

1. Develop an understanding of current project and programme management approaches and to make comparisons with your own organisation.
2. Develop sensitivity to different project environments and to make comparisons and conclusions about them.
3. Increase your understanding of commercial and behavioural issues in the management of projects.
4. Provide experience of handling project management problems in a simulation setting.

This module will provide you with a foundation for, and a critical assessment of, theoretical and empirical approaches to strategy.

You will also understand the historical and academic roots of the field of strategy, and provide frameworks and models for the interrogation and development of strategy in a variety of industries, and illustrate links between Strategy and Performance.

The module aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to financial reporting and management accounting. 

By the end of the module, you will be able to prepare simple versions of the main Financial statements: use financial statement information to analyse the performance of Firms over time and across industries, and demonstrate an understanding of the role and the importance of the auditor and corporate governance in ensuring the quality of financial statement information and user confidence in this information.

The module aims to introduce fundamental economic concepts to non-economists. It will familiarise you with conventional assumptions about the behaviour of individuals and firms, their interactions in markets and the role of government with respect to market failures of various kinds. It will alert you to some basic questions and doubts about the conventional assumptions.