The American University DBA 8475 Operations and Supply Chain Management

Explores the fundamental issues and recent developments in operations management, including manufacturing and service management, supply chain management, and project and systems management. Learners investigate the role of operations and supply chain management and the interactions of these business activities with other functional areas within the firm. In addition, students examine contemporary issues related to total quality management, just-in-time systems, supply and value chains, reengineering, and other business improvement processes. Case methods and review and analysis of pertinent scholarly and practitioner research are used to enhance the learning experience and assist students to develop a framework for understanding, analyzing, and addressing operations and supply chain management issues.

Learning outcomes

• Explain and illustrate supply chain management and associated terminology.
• Describe and explain the steps involved in developing strategy for operations management.
• Explain the significance of project management to the implementation of operations management.
• Compare the sequential relationship between process design and process analysis.
• Explain the significance of bottlenecks to the success of operations management initiatives.
• Assess the significance of behavioral science principles to the successful implementation of operations management.
• Generalize the waiting line approximation model and its application to operations management.
• Assess the significance of the Six-Sigma approach.
• Explain how reengineering is applied to operations management.
• Explain the concept of strategic alignment of supply chains.
• Explain the concepts and relationships of Just-in-time and Lean Systems.
• Discriminate between the concepts of collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment.
• Explain and discuss the importance of aggregate planning and aggregate sales to operations management.
• Explain the importance of inventory control to operations management.
• Summarize how scheduling impacts operations management.

Prerequisites

None