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Prerequisites
Taught by
Identical coursesOperations Strategy in Manufacturing and Services (B-KUL-D0S92A)
Cannot be taken as part of an examination contractAims
Upon completion of this course, the student is able to:
• evaluate the alignment of the operation strategy with other business strategies;
• develop and evaluate benchmarking models using data envelopment analysis;
• formulate and apply models for optimal capacity sizing and investment decisions;
• formulate and apply models for optimal timing of capacity investment;
• design optimal revenue management strategies (e.g. using price discrimination, overbooking and yield management tactics);
• evaluate different alternatives for capacity flexibility from the perspective of the inherent risk;
• analyse the processes of improvement and innovation and their role in operations strategy.
Previous knowledge
At the beginning of this course, students have to be familiar with:
- Basic concepts of operational management/supply chain management as illustrated, for example, in the preliminary course D0H26A Productie & Logistiek Management (Production and Logistics Management).
- Basic queueing models (M/M/1, M/M/m, G/G/1, G/G/m) as discussed, for example, in the courses D0H28 Operationeel Onderzoek (Operations Research) and D0H26A Productie & Logistiek Management (Production and Logistics Management).
- Basic principles of statistics (see, for example, course D0H46A Kansrekenen en beschrijvende statistiek (Probability theory and descriptive statistics)).
During the course, support and materials for self-study of all the mathematical and statistical concepts will be provided.
Identical courses
This course is identical to the following courses:
D0S34A : Operations strategie
Is included in these courses of study
- Master in de toegepaste economische wetenschappen (Leuven) (Minor: Productie en logistiek) 60 ects.
- Master of Business Economics (Leuven) 60 ects.
- Master of Business Economics (Leuven) (Minor 6: Production and Logistics) 60 ects.
- Master of Business Engineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Business Engineering: Double Degree UCLouvain (incoming) (Leuven et al) 126 ects.
- Master of Business Engineering: Double Degree UCLouvain (outgoing) (Leuven et al) 127 ects.
- Master of Mobility and Supply Chain Engineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Business and Information Systems Engineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master handelsingenieur in de beleidsinformatica: bidiplomering UNamur (inkomend) (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Business and Information Systems Engineering: Double Degree UNamur (incoming) (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Courses for Exchange Students Faculty of Economics and Business (Leuven)
Activities
6 ects. Operations Strategy in Manufacturing and Services (B-KUL-D0S92a)
EnglishFormat: Lecture
39 
First termContent
The course consists of the following topics:
I. Concepts and framework for operations strategy
II. Competitive cost advantage analysis + Data Envelopment Analysis
III. Capacity sizing and investment
IV. Capacity timing and location
V. Revenue management
VI. Capacity flexibility and operational hedging
VII. Improvement and innovation
Course material
Used Course Material
All course material (slides, exercises, weblectures, journal articles,...) is distributed via Toledo.
Additional (non-obligatory) material
• Jan A. Van Mieghem, 2008, Operations strategy: principles and practice, Dynamic Ideas, available at Ekonomika Cursusdienst.
Toledo
* Toledo is being used for this learning activity.
Format: more information
The focus during the course sessions is on explaining the learning content. Students are expected to critically and thoroughly study the methods and models presented during the lectures.
During the semester, cases need to be solved in teams of approximately 4 students (students are free to choose their teammates). Each case is afterwards discussed in class. Cases are graded (see "Evaluation").
Additional self-study material (exercises, journal articles) is distributed through Toledo.
Evaluation
Evaluation: Operations Strategy in Manufacturing and Services (B-KUL-D2S92a)
Explanation
Evaluation characteristics:
*The written exam is closed book. Students are allowed to bring a single handwritten double-sided A4 formula sheet to the exam. Students need to bring their own calculator to the exam.
* During the semester, assignments need to be solved (in teams). Feedback for each assignment is communicated directly via Toledo. Note that the cases NEED to be solved in team, during the course of the semester. Requests to solve cases individually (either during the semester or after the end of the course) will be denied. These team assignments include peer assessment.
*The deadline of each case will be determined by the lecturer and communicated via Toledo.
Determination of final grades
*The grades are determined by the lecturer as communicated via Toledo and stated in the examination schedule. The result is calculated and communicated as a number on a scale of 20.
* Multiple-choice questions are graded using a correction for guessing.
*The final grade is a weighted score that is determined as follows:
- If a student obtains a grade of less than 10/20 in the final exam, the final grade of that student is their score in the final exam.
- If a student obtains a grade equal or higher than 10/20 in the final exam, the final grade of that student is the maximum between their score in the final exam and a weighted combination of the score in the exam (80%) and the average score in their assignments (20%).
*Based on peer assessment (team self evaluation) a correction can be made to the grade for the team assignments, depending on how the peers evaluated the student's contribution to the team work.
* If the set deadline of a particular assignment was not respected, the grade for that respective assignment will be a 0-grade in the weighted score, unless the students asked the lecturer to arrange a new deadline. This request needs to be motivated beforehand.
* If the student did not participate in a given assignment, the grade for that respective assignment will be a 0-grade in the weighted score.
* If the student did not participate in the final exam, the final score for the course is NA ("not attended").
Second examination opportunity
*There is no retake for the team assignments. Due to the nature of the (team) assignments, the grade attained at the first examination opportunity (including peer assessment) will be transferred to the second examination opportunity.
Information about retaking exams
* See ‘Explanation’ for further information regarding the second examination opportunity.