Admission requirements
Not applicable
Description
This course is an introduction to the world of Operations Management (OM). You will learn how companies plan, organize, and control their entire production process – from sourcing materials, to pricing their products, and ultimately, delivering finished products that meet customer needs.
One of the main goals of OM is to achieve the optimal utilization of the company’s resources, which can significantly increase the organization’s profits. For this reason, OM plays a vital role in any type of business.
Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to some of the fundamental aspects of Operations Management, e.g., inventory management, cost optimization, facility location planning, capacity management, pricing, etc. More specifically, the course will:
- Make students conversant in the language of OM and expand their knowledge in this field.
- Help students develop business modeling skills and provide them with problem-solving tools, which are applicable to OM.
- Give students a 'hands-on' feel of how OM decisions are made and how they can be put into practice in a real business context.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Understand and define key terms and concepts related to Operations Management.
Interpret data and information related to OM problems.
Use problem-solving tools and business modeling techniques to analyze real-world OM challenges.
Apply learned concepts to propose solutions for improving operational efficiency in a business context.
Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of current operations in a business.
Critically analyze the effectiveness of different OM strategies, assess their potential impact on a business's operations, and select the most suitable one.
Propose recommendations and design an implementation plan to improve operational efficiency in a real-world business setting.
Deliver a presentation to summarize and communicate effectively the key issues identified and the solutions proposed for the business.
Prepare a report to explain in detail the key issues identified and the solutions proposed, ensuring clear and concise writing, demonstrating proper grammar, vocabulary, and referencing.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
This course combines in-person lectures, recorded tutorials, case discussions, use of computer-based models, and hands-on activities to create a dynamic learning experience. You are expected to prepare all the pre-assigned readings before coming to class, and be active participants during the class.
Recorded tutorials
Before some of the lectures, students will be asked to watch short online tutorials. Recorded online tutorials allow students with diverse backgrounds to learn at their own pace. You are expected to watch the videos before the lectures.
Case preparation
You are expected to read the case, and prepare for the accompanying questions, before coming to class. In each case session, you can obtain bonus points by presenting a brief summary of the case (~5 minutes maximum). Please let me know in advance if you want to present (by email).
Computerized applications
1) Beer Game
The Beer Game is a business simulation game created at MIT Sloan School of Management in the early 1960s to demonstrate a number of key principles of supply chain management. This game puts you in the shoes of different players in a supply chain, from retailers to manufacturers. You will experience the challenges of coordination and communication in a fun and interactive way. Please read the rules of the Beer Game before Lecture 1 (see course manual). Once the game has started, verbal communication between players is not allowed.
2) Burrito Optimization Game
This free, web-based game lets you play the role of a business owner opening burrito trucks in a virtual city. As you play, you will learn how optimization helps businesses make the best decisions, even with complex factors like costs, customer demand, and location. You will also see firsthand how difficult it can be to find the absolute best solution, especially as the game becomes more complex.
The game uses an optimizer to show you the most efficient way to place your burrito trucks, giving you a practical example of how optimization algorithms are used in real-world scenarios.
3) Excel's Optimizer (Solver)
In today's business world, data-driven decision making is key. Excel's Solver empowers you to tackle complex operations problems and find optimal solutions.
In this course, you will learn how to create optimization models to solve real-world operations challenges, such as:
Transportation planning: What's the most efficient way to distribute products to your customers, minimizing transportation costs?
Capacity planning: How many factories does your company need to meet production goals without going over budget?
Course Load
8 2-hour lectures
Preparation for each lecture
Team project assignments
Final 3-hour exam
Detailed course load:
Attending in-person lectures (8*2h) - 16h
Reviewing online tutorials - 4h
Preparing case studies - 4h
Team project assignments (total) - 50h
Searching & contacting companies - 3h
Preparing & conducting interviews with company - 5h
Data collection & analysis - 10h
Preparing team presentation - 10h
Preparing team report - 20h
Preparing inter-team feedback - 2h
Practice exercises - 10h
Self-study - 25h
Exam - 3h
Total - 112h
Assessment method
Team project
Operations Management in practice: Support a real business
Goals:
Apply what you have learned in the course in a real business context
Help a real business improve their operations.
You will:
Analyze the firm’s current situation
Identify improvement areas
Propose a solution and implementation plan
For the team project, there are three group assignments: (i) a written report, (ii) a presentation, and (iii) providing feedback to other team’s presentations. The written report and inter-team feedback should be submitted via Brightspace at the specified time and date.
Teams
3-6 students (to be defined)
Written report structure
1. Introduction
2. Current situation
3. Improvement areas
4. Implementation plan
5. Conclusions
Team presentation
Duration to be defined
Feedback to other teams
Each team will receive feedback on their presentation from another group.
You are expected to provide constructive feedback.
Final exam
The final exam is closed-book and it covers all the lecture content.
Grading
Your final grade will be determined according to the following components (see the table below). You need to have at least 5 for the exam and for each of the other three components to pass the course. And the final grade should be at least a 5.5. If you failed the course, you should attend the re-sit. The re-sit is still a closed-book exam and it will replace your previous exam score, accounting for 50% of your final grade. After the re-sit, if your final grade is at least 5.5, then you pass the course.
Grade Components
1. Group assignment 50%
1.1. Group Report 30%
1.2. Group Presentation 20%
1.3. Feedback to other groups (Ungraded, but mandatory)
- Final exam 50%
Bonus points
Students can accumulate bonus points (up to +0.5 added to final grade before rounding) when they:
Are ranked within the top participants in a Kahoot quiz
Present a summary of the business case reading to the class. Students should let the instructor know in advance (by email) if they want to present.
Actively participate in class (answering to the instructor's open questions)
When the course ends, the student(s) with the highest num. of bonus points will get +0.5 on their final grade (before rounding). The rest of students with bonus points will get between +0.4 and +0.1 (depending on their number of bonus points).
Bonus points are only applicable if the student meets the requirements to pass the course.
Reading List
We recommend the following books for this course (NOT mandatory):
1. Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky and Simchi-Levi, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain, Irwin McGraw Hill, 3rd edition, 2008.
2. Chopra and Meindl, Supply Chain Management, Prentice Hall, 2nd edition 2004.
There will also be complementary readings provided throughout the class (see course manual for more details).
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Business Studies programme coordinator
Note: If you are an ICTiBPS student, you can contact the programme coordinator of ICTiBPS for any questions about your program.
Remarks
Important information about the course is posted in Brightspace.
Students are responsible for enrolling/unenrolling themselves for (partial) exams/retakes.
Students are responsible for enrolling themselves for (partial) exams/retakes.
The deadline for enrolling for an exam/retake is 14 calendar days before the exam/retake takes place (exam date - 14 = deadline enrolling date).
Students who do not enroll themselves for an exam/retake by the deadline are not allowed to take the exam/retake.
Students fail the course if any of the components that make up the final mark of the course is assessed below 5.0, including the grade for the final exam.
The final grade is expressed as a whole or half number between 1.0 and 10.0, including both limits. The result is not to be expressed as a number between 5.0 and 6.0.
If one of the components of the final mark constitutes a component that assesses attendance or class participation, students cannot take a retake for this component. Therefore, students fail the course if their mark for this component is less than 5.0.
Partial grades, inclusive the exam grade will not be rounded. If partial grades will be communicated, it is possible partial grades are rounded, but unrounded partial grades will be used in the calculation of the final grade. The final grade will be rounded at 0.5 (5.49 will rounded down to a 5 and a 5.5 will be rounded up to a 6.0).
It is not possible to do retakes for group assignments. Therefore, if students fail the group assignment component, they fail the course.
Students pass the course if the final mark is 6.0 or higher (5.49 will rounded down to a 5 and a 5.5 will be rounded up to a 6.0).
For courses, for which class participation is an assessment component, students may not be penalized for an absence if the student has a legitimate justification for this absence. The student must notify the program coordinator via email (info@sbb.leidenuniv.nl) of such an absence BEFORE the lecture, describing the reason for missing the lecture. If the student does not notify the program coordinator before the lecture, the student will be penalized. Students may be required to provide further documentation to substantiate their case, and class attendance requirements are only waived under exceptional circumstances such as illness.
Students who are entitled to more exam/retake time must report to info@sbb.leidenuniv.nl 10 days before the exam/retake takes place.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.