Managing Service Operations for Competitive Advantage
DAYS / SECTION / TIMES / LOCATION
Wed / Fri / 0010 / 12:45 – 2:05 pm / SB 319
I. SUMMARY
This course surveys contemporary issues facing service operations and considers a variety of strategic and tactical approaches to managing them from an operational management point of view. Because customers are involved in both the demand for and delivery of the service, human considerations of customers, employees, and organizations are emphasized in our discussions about management and leadership. Our goal is to expose students to information, theories, and concepts while sharpening their strategic thinking, problem solving, and communication skills in order to prepare them for roles in a wide variety of service organizations.
II. INSTRUCTOR
III. TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
IV. REQUIRED MATERIALS
A. Text: The text for this course has been customized and you should be careful to get the correct one available through our university book outlets. All readings, articles, and cases are included in the text.
Custom Text for: Service Operations Text, Articles and Cases
Create, McGraw Hill. ISBN: 9781308841731
B. Simulation: In addition to the text, an online simulation is required for this course. The simulation will be run before classes on December 2nd and 4th and requires every registered student to attend these classes. Harvard charges a minimum fee of $15.00 per student that must be paid online. Use the special URL indicated below to register. When you register the simulation will automatically associate you with the correct school/faculty/course and then require you to purchase your “seat” in the simulation.
Special simulation URL: TBD
V. COURSE OBJECTIVES
The service sector is the largest and fastest growing segment of the global economy. Intangible products, high customer involvement and extensive use of information technology create unique operational challenges for managing service operations. Effective operations management is necessary to compete, and excellence in operations management can be a competitive advantage. In pursuit of excellence, a central focus of this course is on customer satisfaction and the role of a firm’s employees, processes, and leaders in designing, delivering, and improving service operations.
This course employs an Operational Excellence Framework for understanding, designing, and managing service operations in order to accomplish four learning objectives:
1) How to think more strategically about service operations – Understanding why service firms are different than manufacturing firms, what trends drive service sector growth, how to position a service firm uniquely among competitors for sustainable growth and profitability, and how to translate strategic intent into operational designs and service delivery priorities.
2) How to improve problem solving and decision making skills by employing management concepts and frameworks – Using qualitative and quantitative analytical frameworks and tools to manage and improve service operations by applying them in class exercises, case analyses and independent research.
3) How to communicate more effectively in order to manage and lead service operations – Practicing structured oral and written communications through in-class exercises, group case analyses and in-class presentations for more effective thought leadership.
4) How to hear and act on the “voice of the customer” – Appreciating the organizational significance of managing the service encounter to achieve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
VI. COURSE FORMAT AND GRADING
This course will consist of reading, lectures, cases, research, and exercises. Case discussions involve analysis and in-class presentations by student teams. There is strong emphasis placed on collaboration and experiential learning, so class attendance is encouraged and rewarded. Grades will be based on participation, team cases, and exams as follows:
Grading Components (100 points possible) / Teams / Individuals / TotalsExams / 30
Midterm (1x) / 15
Final (1x) / 15
Individual contributions / 30
Research paper (1x) / 15
Class attendance and feedback (27x) / 10
Simulation exercise (1x) / 5
Team contributions / 40
Class case discussions (2x, presentation) / 20
Simulation assessment (1x, presentation) / 20
Totals / 40 / 60 / 100
A. EXAMS
There are two exams in this course, a midterm and a final, each worth 15 pts. Exams are closed book, closed notes, etc. Each exam will be a combination of conceptual and problem solving questions based on the body of knowledge covered in the lectures, text books, cases, exercises, and other assigned readings, videos, etc. Exams may also cover the content of in-class discussions. Each student must bring their own calculator and writing instruments. Sharing of materials is prohibited. Devices that can send or receive data are NOT allowed for any reason during an exam.
Each exam is one course period in length and NO MAKE-UP, LATE, OR EARLY EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN, except in the case of medical emergency. Business related absences are not excused. Students should make arrangements now to avoid time conflicts.
The exams represent only the work of the individual student. No outside assistance (discussion with peers, cheat sheets, etc.) is permitted. See discussion on academic misconduct.
B. INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS
1) Research paper
One of the biggest challenges service operations face is called “customer-induced variability”. Using the article: Breaking the Trade-Off Between Efficiency and Service by Frances X. Frei (Harvard Business Review, November 2006), students will independently find actual business situations where one or more tactics for each of the four strategies identified in the article might be applied, evaluate whether or not they are being employed, and consider the impact they might have. Students will document and present their findings in a 3-page research paper due by session 18: Managing Variability.
2) Class attendance and feedback
In services, customers are part of the process. So, in this class students are part of the process and class attendance matters. I will award up to 10 pts for your attendance, in-class contributions, and feedback you provide your classmates to help me evaluate class case contributions (see below).
3) Simulation exercise
A simulation exercise will be employed in this course to allow students to apply what they have learned. Individual performance on the simulation will be considered in awarding up to 5 pts. Students must individually sign up for this simulation (cost $15) by going to TBD . This access code is required to register for this simulation.
C. TEAM CONTRIBUTIONS
An important element of this class is teamwork. Students will form teams of 4, and each team is responsible for two class-case presentations (worth 10 pts each) and one simulation presentation (worth 20 pts)..
1) Class case presentations
The schedule for class case presentations is indicated in the syllabus. Presentations will be in power point form of no more than 10 slides designed for 20 minutes of in-class discussion (including questions). Students should utilize the Op Ex Framework presented the first week of class and address questions indicated in the case in order to generate class discussion. Suggested slides include a summary of the case facts (situation), indication of concepts and/or frameworks employed, discussion questions, and team recommendations. Student feedback will be used in assessing the quality and completeness of the analysis, the quality and delivery of the presentation, and the class engagement (See Class-Case Feedback Form).
2) Simulation assessment
While each student will run the simulation individually, teams will work together to compare and analyze results and jointly prepare an in-class presentation to share their experience. This presentation (one per team) should take about 20 minutes to indicate how teams organized, strategized, and made decisions. Pick one set of individual results to share with the class. Indicate how course concepts were employed or exemplified in the simulation, and most importantly, identify key learnings from the exercise. Team presentations will occur on December 2 and 4th. Grading will be based upon the analytical preparation, demonstrated teamwork, and overall presentation quality and delivery. This project is worth 20 points.
VII. DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION
If you need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, please arrange an appointment with me as soon as possible. We need to discuss the course format and explore potential accommodations. I rely on the Office for Disability Services for assistance in verifying need and developing accommodation strategies. You should start the verification process as soon as possible.
VIII. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
Academic integrity is essential to maintaining an environment that fosters excellence in teaching, research, and other educational and scholarly activities. Thus, The Ohio State University and the Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM) expect that all students have read and understand the University’s Code of Student Conduct, and that all students will complete all academic and scholarly assignments with fairness and honesty. Students must recognize that failure to follow the rules and guidelines established in the University’s Code of Student Conduct and this syllabus may constitute “Academic Misconduct.”
Any material submitted for course credit must be your own work if it is an individual-based assignment or the work of your specific team if it is a group-based assignment. Students are not permitted to discuss, read, text message, e-mail, provide access to documents, or in any way share the work, thoughts, ideas or solutions regarding the cases, quizzes or exams with other individuals or teams of students. If outside references are used, they must be properly referenced. It is recommended that you take action to protect your work, such as collecting your materials from the lab printers and disposing of rough drafts at home. Case write-ups that are similar to current or past case write-ups may initiate serious disciplinary action. If I suspect that a student has committed academic misconduct in this course, I am obligated by University Rules to report my suspicions to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. If COAM determines that you have violated the University’s Code of Student Conduct (i.e., committed academic misconduct), the sanctions for the misconduct could include a failing grade (‘E’) in this course and suspension or dismissal from the University.
IX. SCHEDULE
peer Evaluation - TEAM cases
Your group has been given $10,000 for each part of the case as a consulting fee. Divide the money among your group based on the quality and effort of each team member’s contribution. This evaluation is due to the instructor when cases are due and will be used to adjust individual case grades. Please justify your response.
Team members: / Presentations / Written Analysis
______/ ______/ ______
______/ ______/ ______
______/ ______/ ______
______/ ______/ ______
______/ ______/ ______
$10,000 / $10,000
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