Module
Operations and Project Management
Module description
Being able to organise and drive efficiencies through your company’s processes and assets is vital to staying competitive. This module provides a fundamental underpinning for the design of sustainable business strategies by focusing on how to achieve the efficient and effective management of resources and operations. The module will provide you with the means to analyse operational activities and design solutions to overcome wasteful operational processes and issues. It will also equip the participant with the skills to manage projects to achieve these goals.
Full module specification
| Module title: | Operations and Project Management |
|---|---|
| Module code: | BEMM223 |
| Module level: | M |
| Academic year: | 2021/2 |
| Module lecturers: |
|
| Module credit: | 15 |
| ECTS value: | 15 |
| Pre-requisites: | None |
| Co-requisites: | None |
| Duration of module: |
Duration (weeks) - term 1: 2 |
Module aims
The aim of the module is to explore the frameworks and key thinking associated with operations and project management. Building on this, the module will reveal the complicated relationships and emerging complexity in operations. It will cover why operations management is of strategic importance and why project management is a critical tool in delivering entrepreneurial objectives. Finally, the module will be underpinned by the latest thinking in technology and how this can be harnessed to support disruptive business models.
ILO: Module-specific skills
- 1. identify, apply and critique the strategic frameworks of operations management for start-ups and business growth initiatives;
- 2. compare and effectively prioritise variables within a start-up business project;
- 3. critically evaluate the role of operations within different technological disruptive business models.
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
- 4. design and compose conditions which shape operations management;
- 5. evaluate and apply project management tools and techniques linked to clear objectives.
ILO: Personal and key skills
- 6. create and deliver SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable/ Assignable, Relevant, Time-based) business goals and objective;
- 7. relate a wide set of operational conditions to the impact of emerging technology.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 100 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 16 | Lectures: Subject sessions and guest lectures |
| Workshops | 16 | Workshops exploring a variety of topics |
| Online introduction | 18 | Online introduction to topic (pre-learning) & in course |
| Research and assignment | 100 | Research and assignment: Operations simulation; Project plan for business growth |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop exercises and discussions | In class (Approximately per day = 60 minutes) | 1-7 | Verbal |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group Assessment: Build and assess operational conditions through simulation | 30 | Group teaching lesson (20 mins + 10 mins Q+A) [2,500 words or equivalent] | 1,3,4,6 | Written |
| Individual Assessment: Project plan | 70 | 12 x A4 (landscape) PDF slides [2,000 words +/- 10%] | 2,5,7 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Assessment: Build and assess operational conditions through simulation (30%) | Individual essay on the original assessment operational process and analysis of simulation output (30%) [3,000 words or equivalent] | 1,3,4,6 | August resubmission period |
| Individual Assessment: Project plan (70%) | Individual Assessment: Project plan 12 x A4 (landscape) PDF slides (70%) [2,000 words +/- 10%] | 2,5,7 | August resubmission period |
Syllabus plan
- Operations Management - Theory and practice
- Project Management - Tools, techniques and skills
- Industry 4.0 and 4IR
- Lean operations for start-ups
- Managing resources, decisions, and effective execution
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Brown, S, Bessant, J, and Lamming, R (2013) Strategic Operations Management (3rd Ed.). Routledge. ISBN-13: 978-0415587372
Slack, N, Brandon-Jones, A, and Johnston, R (2016) Operations Management(8th Ed.). Pearson.ISBN-13: 978-1292098678
Benner, M.J and Tushman, M (2002). Process Management and Technological Innovation: A Longitudinal Study of the Photography and Paint Industries, Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(4), pp.676-706+768-769. doi: 10.2307/3094913
Benner, M.J., & Tushman, M.L. (2003). Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited, Academy of Management Review, 28(2), pp.238-256. doi: 10.5465/AMR.2003.9416096
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, 42(4), pp.793-815. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00519.x
Mrugalska, B and Wyrwicka, M, (2016) Towards Lean Production in Industry 4.0, Procedia Engineering, Volume 182, 2017, Pages 466-473, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705817312717
Kolberg, D., & Zühlke, D. (2015). Lean automation enabled by industry 4.0 technologies. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 48(3), 1870-1875. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405896315005984
Almada-Lobo, F. (2016). The Industry 4.0 revolution and the future of manufacturing execution systems (MES). Journal of innovation management, 3(4), 16-21. https://journals.fe.up.pt/index.php/IJMAI/article/view/249
Module has an active ELE page?
Yes
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
TED Talks:
Markus Lorenz: Industry 4.0: how intelligent machines will transform everything we know. (2015) https://www.ted.com/talks/markus_lorenz_industry_4_0_how_intelligent_machines_will_transform_everything_we_know
Olivier Scalabre: The next manufacturing revolution is here. (2016) https://www.ted.com/talks/olivier_scalabre_the_next_manufacturing_revolution_is_here
Recommendations for implementing the strategic initiative INDUSTRIE 4.0. Final report of the Industrie 4.0 Working Group. (2013) http://en.acatech.de/publication/recommendations-for-implementing-the-strategic-initiative-industrie-4-0-final-report-of-the-industrie-4-0-working-group/
Origin date
27/11/2018
Last revision date
27/01/2021