BS4S30 - Strategic Operations Management 01 Sep 2024 - 31 Aug 2030 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: BS4S30
Module Title: Strategic Operations Management
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Operations Management
Faculty Sub Group: Management
Module Leader: Ahmed Abdullah
Module Team: Omoboyede Alalabiaye, Catherine McCluskey, Gail Evans, Katie Jones, Sriram Chinnadurai, Simon Thomas
First Intended Intake: SEP 2024 Final Year of Intake: 2029
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 7
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100078 - business and management 100080 - international business
HECOS Code Weighting: 80 20

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Sep 2024
Valid To 31 Aug 2030

Module Aims

This module aims to help the students develop some of key employability skills to enter an organisation at ‘operational level’ after graduation.  

Conceptual Understanding and Awareness: Develop a thorough grasp of strategic operations management concepts, operational processes, techniques, planning, and control systems, with reference to both manufacturing and service industries. 

Practical Application: Acquire the ability to apply operations principles, techniques, and theories to real-world scenarios, analysing operations data, evaluating strategic initiatives, and identifying risks. 

Problem-solving and Decision-making: Utilise game theory, simulation, and a range of practical activities to enhance problem-solving and decision-making skills in the context of strategic operations, developing and implementing strategic plans, optimising processes, managing supply chains, and leveraging technology. 

Critical Evaluation: Strengthen critical thinking and evaluation abilities related to strategic operations, analysing stakeholder impact, assessing competitive landscapes, critiquing frameworks, and developing creative solutions. 

Communication: Become an effective communicator of strategic operations plans and recommendations, conveying concepts to senior management, collaborating for implementation, and contributing to theory and practice.

Content Summary

Introduction to Operation strategy / Operations Management: The four perspectives of operations strategy, the ITO model, the 4Vs of operations.  

Technology and Process Innovation: understanding process technology, characterising process technologies, automation, scalability & connectivity, ethics, performance & technology.  

Process Design:  Volume & Variety, Process Types, and Process mapping. 

Supply Chain Network and Analytics: First Tier Suppliers & Customers, Vertical Integration, Bullwhip Effect, Outsourcing & Partnerships, Supply Chain Dynamics.  

Capacity Management: Understand the concept of capacity management, discuss measuring the capacity of an operation, examine strategies for responding to demand fluctuations and Forecasting, capacity planning, OEE calculation. 

Operations Performance and analysis: The nature of operations performance, Operations performance at an operational level, The Five performance objectives, measuring performance and Polar diagram. 

Lean in Operations Management and continuous improvement: Lean operations, Line Balancing, 5S, Toyota Production System (TPS), and the eight wastes. 

Quality Management improvement techniques: Total Quality Management, (TQM), Managing Quality, Six Sigma.  

Operations Risk Management and Resilience: Risk assessment, mitigation strategies, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), maintenance for reliability.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 10
Practical Classes and Workshops 20
Independent Study 122
Directed Study (Including online independent learning) 40
Active/Simulation based 8
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Critically evaluate the broad knowledge of the range of activities that comprise contemporary strategic operations management within a variety of contexts and situations.
LO2 Develop personal skills and critical thinking to be able to implement operations strategies to operations, plan and manage resources to improve the performance of processes and achieve competitive advantages for organisations.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Practical Assessment Simulation (Onsite) 1 Assessment of application of knowledge and practical skills to real-world problems via simulation of an event or situation that reproduces the real-life characteristics with which a learner physically or virtually interacts. Also, through a set of questions and peer-assessment. 0 N/A 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Self Reflective Assessment 1 Reflection on the experience of working in a group in Assessment 1 (simulation). Critical writing about the skills gained, the strategic decisions implemented in Assessment 1 (simulation), and the reasons for those decisions. 0 2300 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Simulation (Onsite) 1
Self Reflective Assessment 1

Reading List

Batista, L. (2012) ‘Translating trade and transport facilitation into strategic operations performance objectives’. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 17(2), pp. 124–137. doi: 10.1108/13598541211212870. 

Chen, C. (2020) ‘Technology adoption, capital deepening, and international productivity differences’. Journal of Development Economics 143, p. 102388. doi: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.102388. 

Chen, C.-J. (2019) ‘Developing a model for supply chain agility and innovativeness to enhance firms’ competitive advantage’. Management Decision 57(7), pp. 1511–1534. doi: 10.1108/MD-12-2017-1236. 

Chen, X. and Han, T. (2019) ‘Disruptive Technology Forecasting based on Gartner Hype Cycle’. in 2019 IEEE Technology & Engineering Management Conference (TEMSCON). IEEE, pp. 1–6. doi: 10.1109/TEMSCON.2019.8813649. 

Cooper, R.G. (2019) ‘The drivers of success in new-product development’. Industrial Marketing Management 76, pp. 36–47. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.07.005. 

Fan, D., Yeung, A.C.L., Tang, C.S., Lo, C.K.Y. and Zhou, Y. (2022) ‘Global operations and supply-chain management under the political economy’. Journal of Operations Management 68(8), pp. 816–823. doi: 10.1002/joom.1232. 

Fiorentino, R. (2016) ‘Operations strategy: a firm boundary-based perspective’. Business Process Management Journal 22(6), pp. 1022–1043. doi: 10.1108/BPMJ-06-2015-0087. 

Gupta, M.C. and Boyd, L.H. (2008) ‘Theory of constraints: a theory for operations management’. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 28(10), pp. 991–1012. doi: 10.1108/01443570810903122. 

Hill, A. and Hill, T., (2023) Essential operations management. . 2nd edition. Pearson Education, Limited. 

Jay Heizer, Barry Render and Chuck Munson (2024) Principles of Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management. 12th edition. Pearson. 

Nigel Slack and Alistair Brandon-Jones (2021) Operations and Process Management. 6th edition. Pearson. 

Nigel Slack, Alistair Brandon-Jones and Nicola Burgess (2022) Operations Management. 10th edition. Pearson. 

Nigel Slack and Mike Lewis Bath (2024) Operations Strategy. 7th edition. Pearson. 

Robert Johnston, Michael Shulver, Nigel Slack and Graham Clark (2021) Service operations management: improving service delivery. 5th edition. Pearson Education