Bilkent University

Faculty of Business Administration

MBA 542
Production / Operations Management

MA305
F 18:40 – 21:30

Instructor: Emre Berk

Office hrs: MA318, via Zoom at 1400 Thursdays
By appointment
eberk@bilkent.edu.tr

Course description: This course familiarizes you with the nature and content of methods of
quantitative analysis employed in production/operations management decision making; enables you to
identify, formulate and solve operations management problems that you may encounter in your
professional careers.

Course Themes: Strategic impact of operations management; global trends/practices in operations

management; product/service design and development; design of production and work systems; total
quality management; supply chain management.

Prerequisites: Familiarity with basic concepts of probability and statistics, and with computer use such
as word processing, spreadsheet applications and linear programming.

Learning Outcomes: Having successfully completed this course, you will (i) develop an
understanding of the function and impact of operations in manufacturing and service organizations on the
maintenance and sustainability of competitiveness, on value creation in society at large, and on the
environment; (ii) get familiarized with experiences of domestic and international firms; (iii) be able to
employ the tools/concepts of operations management to real problems; (vi) be equipped with the
knowledge base to act as agents of change for operations management in organizations upon graduation.
In subject specific matters, you will be able to (a) identify the strategic issues in operations management;
(b) identify the issues in quality management and apply the seven tools of TQM; (c) identify the issues in
product/service design and compare the possible alternatives for design and development; (d) identify the
issues in production/service system design and apply the basic analysis and solution tools in this area; (e)
identify the issues in supply chain management and apply the basic decision models to problems in this
area. As such, you will be able to identify, formulate and solve OM problems which you may encounter in
your professional career. Aside from developing this technical expertise, you will be able to enhance your
key skills in (i) time management, (ii) teamwork (to an extent), (iii) taking initiative and responsibility, (iv)
communicating ideas. Ethical conduct in professional management as a career, awareness of the business
environment within and outside the borders of Turkey, respect to other individuals and their opinions also
constitute elements of key learning goals of this course.
Learning Resources:
1. Textbook:
Russell, R.S. and B.W. Taylor III, International Student 8th Edition (Recommended)
Stevenson, W. J., Production Operations Management, McGraw-Hill. (Recommended)
Class handouts

2. Mandatory reading (Available editions are acceptable if originals are out of print):

A- Womack, J. P., D. T. Jones and D. Roos, The Machine that Changed the World – The Story of
Lean Production, Harper/Perennial, New York, N.Y., 1991.
B - Goldratt, E.M. and J. Coxx, The Goal, 3rd Ed., North River Press, New York, N.Y., 2004.
C - Fishman, C., The Wal-Mart Effect, Penguin Books, 2006.
 D – Discussion Cases

Assessment Tasks & Grading Policy: You ability to demonstrate that you mastered the skills expected in
this course will be assessed through the following tasks::

Midterm Exam 1 – In Class: 30%

Midterm Exam 2 – Take Home: 10%
Book Exams: 15%
Assignments, Case Presentations & Discussions: 30%
Final Exam: 15%

The examinations are used to assess your cognitive skills and subject specific skills. The examinations will
be given on the dates indicated on the syllabus. The Final Exam is intended to be comprehensive. Make-
ups will be given only under the conditions dictated by the University policies.

The course will be conducted with the expectation that all students will attend all lectures. The class will
be conducted fully online between September 16-30 and in-person starting October 1 with the lectures and
class discussions being delivered online via Zoom, as well. Some rules and regulations exist for participants
via Zoom: The cameras must be on at all times.

Some assignments are team and some are individual assignments. You are expected to be knowledgeable
about the entirety of a team assignment and be ready to discuss it on behalf of your team.

 A number of case discussions in class are intended to provide opportunity to apply codified
knowledge to real-life situations. In case discussions, active participation is expected of all students .
For case discussions, the students are required to type their responses/analyses to be turned in on the
day of discussion. Case preparation is an assignment for the individual and each student is expected to
turn in an individual case response/analysis. The cases are due on the day of discussion; non-attendees
are not allowed to turn in case analyses. Sometimes, presentations may be asked of students. In such
instances, (1) ppt presentations should also be presented along with the case analysis, and (2) ppt
presentations may be asked for in advance of class discussion as requested by the course instructor.

Punctuality and observance of instructions are essential for assignments. Assignments, which are late or do
not comply with the submission requirements, will not be accepted.

 The purpose of a Bilkent University M.B.A. is to prepare mature individuals equipped with modern
business administration knowledge and know-how and strong business ethics for professional
managerial careers. Cultivating respect for others’ body and intellect is an inseparable part of our
curriculum. Therefore, the University is highly sensitive to incidences of plagiarism and dishonorable
conduct as defined under the University policies.

Plagiarism is defined as the action of using or copying someone else’s idea or work and pretending that
you thought of it, or created it. In order to conform to international academic standards, staff and students
must respect the individual thoughts, ideas or expressions of other authors in sources.

The assignments are used to assess both your cognitive/subject specific skills and your key skills.
There are three books as mandatory reading in this course. These are excellent tools for introducing and
identifying the key issues in operations management and its impact on firms and society. They also provide
succinct accounts of good business practices. The (short) exams on these reading assignments assess your
abilities to identify, compare and evaluate the issues and concepts in OM. In addition, we will read and
discuss five books that supplement the main topics in this course. These books will be presented shortly
and the discussions will be led by the assigned teams; the schedule will depend on our progress over the
semester.