HARVARD UNIVERSITY

JOHN F. KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
STM-301 SYLLABUS
Spring 2008 M/W 1:10 p.m.--2:30 p.m. Room: RG-20 Professor: Guy Stuart
T382, 496-0100 guy_stuart@harvard.edu Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 3:00-4:30 p.m. Faculty Assistant: Derya Hona R-110B, 495-1923 m_derya_honca@harvard.edu
Version: 3/13/2008

Course Objectives and Overview

This course is an introduction to Operations Management. It teaches how to set up, maintain and reengineer the processes that organizations use to provide services of public value. The course covers the following subjects: total quality management, process flow, systems dynamics, information technology, and scale-up. The course is process-oriented and encourages students to wrestle with the details of how to get things done. Through this emphasis on details the course demonstrates the importance they have for the creation of public value by non-profit and government organizations. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to: a. analyze an organizations processes; b. manage processes to improve the creation of public value. The course will focus on the provision of services. As such it will be unlike traditional courses in Operations Management that focus on manufacturing processes. In addition, the course will

depart from tradition in its focus on the production and flow of information. Students will learn how organizations produce and consume information and how information flow can be effectively managed to produce public value.

Course Outline
The course will be taught using the case method with additional, theoretical readings. We will also use practitioner presentations and interactive computer simulations to enhance the learning experience. The major topics covered in this course are: Value Creation and Quality Management We will begin the course by looking at how quality processes create public value. Process Mapping and Capacity Analysis This section covers key concepts for analyzing the structure and capacity of processes, and introduces you to different types of processes. Systems Dynamics This section of the course shows you how to place the process analysis in the context of the organization as a system. It uses simulated games to provide an introduction to systems thinking. Information Technology This section addresses the fundamental question all managers should ask when introducing a new technology into their organization: what value does the technology add? We ask this question in a number of cases, looking at the operational and strategic benefits of IT. Scaling up We will examine the operational and strategic challenges of scaling up distributed and centralized service delivery systems.

Audience
The course will serve both general managers and consultants who want an understanding of how to maintain, improve or change their organizations operations, as well as managers with specific responsibility for day-to-day operations. There is no formal course prerequisite but previous exposure to management courses at the level of STM-101 is recommended.

Requirements
Class Participation -- 30 % Your individual participation in class discussions will determine 24% of your final grade. Class participation is essential to the course since much of what you learn will come through conversations with your colleagues. Case Analyses -- 20% You will submit two case analyses. Each will contribute 10% to your final grade. They will be no more than 750 words long (3 double-spaced pages) each. The schedule of cases, including the cases that you can analyze, is the following: Case Analysis #1 #2 Due Data and Time Due at time of class Due at time of class Cases drawn from the following classes: Jan. 30 to Feb. 13 Feb. 20 to March 31st

Term Project 50% Interim Project Papers 20% You will work in teams of 3 to 5 people on one of the projects selected by me for the course. Most of the projects are with organizations located in the Boston area, though some are international in nature. The team will complete two interim papers during the course of the semester, each worth 10% of the course grade, and due on March 14 and April 11. They will be 1,250 words each in length and have no more than 5 exhibits each. Final paper 30% The final paper will incorporate feedback on the interim papers and additional research, and will be no more than 5,000 words in length and no more than 10 exhibits. The content of each paper will be specified in a separate document Project Papers.

Grading
I will assign grades according to the following distribution: A AB+ or lower 10-20% 20-30% 50% - 70%

Materials
Book available on reserve at the KSG library (7 copies in total): Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin. Russell Sage, New York, marked as [Book] Course packet available at CMO, marked as [Packet #] Online materials marked as [Online]

CLASS SCHEDULE
Wednesday January 30, 2008 Value-creation through processes Exercise/Case: Transport for London: Creating Public Value Through Operations

** Required Readings:
Creating Public Value -- Mark Moore, Ch. 2, pp. 27-56 [Packet 1] Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems, Scott, W.R., pp. 20 24 [Packet 1]

Monday February 4, 2008 Quality Management, I Exercise/Case: Middlesex County Jury System, KSG Case # C 16-86-656 [Online] Reading: At America's Service, Karl Albrecht, pp. 20 42 [Packet 1] Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 1 52. [Book]

Wednesday February 6, 2008 Quality Management, II Exercise/Case: The Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight -- HBS Case #9-593-098 [Packet 1]

** Required Readings:
Service Operations Management, Christine Hope and Alan Muhleman, pp. 99 - 110, 114 117. [Packet 1] Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig, pp. 202-209. [Packet 1] Web Links: http://www.quality.nist.gov/

Monday February 11, 2008 Quality from the Perspective of the Employee

** Required Readings:
Adler, P. S. (1993). "The learning bureaucracy: New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc." Research in Organizational Behavior 15, 111 160. [Packet 1] Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 68 88, 97 102. [Book]

Wednesday February 13, 2008 Quality Against Discrimination Exercise/Case: Mortgage Lending Discrimination: A Review of Existing Evidence, Eds. Turner, M. and Skidmore, F. The Urban Institute, pp. 137 160 [Online]

** Required Readings:
Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 68 - 88, 97 103. [Book]

Constructing Statistical Process Control Charts Review Session, Computer Lab Classroom, Friday, February 15 from 10:10 to 11:30

Monday February 18, 2008 NO CLASS PRESIDENTS DAY

Wednesday February 20, 2008 Statistical Process Control Exercise/Case: Process Control at Polaroid (A) -- HBS Case #9-693-047 [Packet 2]

** Required Readings:
Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 53 67. [Book] Constructing and Using Process Control Charts -- HBS Case #9-686-118 [Packet 2]

Monday February 25, 2008 Information Technology I Adding Value Case: Introducing Technology: The Multiple Pearls of Londons Oyster Card

**Required Readings:
Advanced Fare Payment Systems, LEAP Database. [Online] Process Innovation -- Davenport, Ch.3, pp. 37-70 [Packet 3] Web Links: Advanced Fare Payment Systems

Wednesday February 27, 2008 Processes I Exercise/Case: Goldratts Game in-class exercise

** Required Readings:
Process Fundamentals -- HBS Note #9-696-023 [Packet 2] The Goal, Goldratt, E. (1992) pp. 94 119. [Packet 2]

Monday March 3, 2008 Processes II Exercise/Case: Bottlenecks and Variance: Smoothing Passenger Flow at Victoria Station

** Required Readings: Note on Service Mapping -- HBS Note #9-693-065 [Packet 2] The Psychology of Waiting Lines HBS Note #9-684-064 [Packet 2] Service Operations Management, Christine Hope and Alan Muhleman, pp. 261 274 [Packet 2]
Wednesday March 5, 2008 Processes III Exercise/Case: Reading Rehab -- HBS Case #9-898-172 [Packet 3] 6

** Required Readings:
Production and Operations Management, M. Starr, pp. 142-67 [Packet 3] Monday March 10, 2008 Push-Pull Exercise/Case: Push-Pull Exercise in-class exercise Just-in-Time Production Controlled by Kanban -- HBS Case #9-684-047 [Packet 3]

Wendnesday March 12, 2008 Process Reengineering Exercise/Case: Denise Fleury and the Minnesota Office of State Claims -- KSG Case #C15-87-744.0 [Online]

**Required Readings:
The Process Edge -- Peter G. W. Keen, Ch. 1, pp. 1-23, Ch.4, pp.57-79 [Packet 3] Jeff Luck, John W Peabody. Improving the public sector Health Care Management Review. Frederick: Spring 2000. Vol. 25, Iss. 2; p. 34 (11 pages) [Online] Interim Project Paper #1 due at 5pm, Friday March 14

Monday March 17, 2006 Systems Dynamics I -- Beer Game Exercise/Case: Beer Game

Wednesday March 19, 2006 Systems Dynamics II -- Beer Game Debrief Exercise/Case: Beer Game Debrief in-class discussion of game

** Required Readings:
"Ante-up! Big Gambles in the New Economy -- Speed Limits: Overnight, Everything Changed for FedEx; Can It Reinvent Itself?" WSJ, 11/4/99, p. A1. [Online] 7

Monday March 24, 2008 NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK

Monday, March 31, 2008 Systems Dynamics, III -- Introduction

** Required Readings:
Business Dynamics John D. Sterman, Ch 1, pp. 3 39 [Packet 3] Web Links: Systems Dynamics Resource Page

Wednesday April 2, 2006 Systems Dynamics IV Responding to Crises Exercise/Case: The City of Chicago and the1995 Heat Wave (A), KSG Case # C16-02-1642.0 [Online] ** Required Readings: TBA

Monday April 7, 2006 Information Technology II Impact on People Exercise/Case: The Internal Revenue Service: Automated Collection System -- HBS Case #9-490-042 [Packet 3]

** Required Readings:
Competitive Advantage Through People, Pfeffer, pp. 27 65. [Packet 3]

Wednesday April 9, 2008 Information Technology III Standardization, Scale, and Network Effects Exercise/Case: E-ZPass: The Effort to Design and Implement A Regional Electronic Toll Collection System (A) KSG Case # 1818.0 [Online] ** Required Readings "Path Dependence". D. Puffert. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. June 10, 2003. [Online] The Role Of Standards In The Creation And Use Of Information Systems J. West, Standard Making: A Critical Research Frontier for Information Systems, MISQ Special Issue Workshop, 2004. [Online] Interim Project Paper #2 due at 5pm, Friday April 11, 2008 Monday April 14, 2008 Information Technology IV: Data and Information Exercise/Case: Data Mining: Creating Value through Information at Transport for London ** Required Readings TBA Wednesday April 16, 2008 Scaling Up, I Distributed Service Delivery Systems ** Required Readings Stuart (2007). Appropriate Fit: Service Delivery Beyond Bureaucracy, Lessons from Microfinance, in eds. J. de Jong and G. Rizvi Access to Government [Online] Hope, C. and A. Muhleman, (1997) Transportation and distribution systems Service Operations Management, 189 215. [Packet 3]

Monday April 21, 2008 Scaling Up, II The Strategic Role of Pilot Programs Exercise/Case: Emergency Response to a Long-Term Crisis? Mdecins Sans Frontires and HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, KSG Case # 1851. [Online]

** Required Readings Davis, J. (2003) Taking Sustainable Rural Water Supply Services to Scale: A Discussion Paper. Bank Netherlands Water Partnership. [Online]

Wednesday April 23, 2008 Scaling Up, III Acceptance, Ability and Authority Exercise/Case: Scale without Growth: Infonavits Expansion in the Mexican Mortgage Market, KSG Case # 1863.0 [Online] ** Required Readings Andrews, M. 2004. Authority, Acceptance, Ability and Performance-Based Budgeting Reforms. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 17(4), 332-344. [Online] Monday April 28, 2008 TBA Wednesday April 30, 2008 Wrap Up Final Project Papers Due, Wednesday, May 7th at 5pm

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