Manufacturing Strategy
Essay Preview: Manufacturing Strategy
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Management 452 Manufacturing Strategy Krannert School of Management Purdue University
Winter Semester, 2013 Professor Thomas Brush
Katalyst location of course materials:
Sign on and look for MGMT45200 under courses. Lecture notes are available on line so you can bring material to class to take additional notes on lectures.
Required Reading:
– Pursuing the Competitive Edge, (2005) by Robert Hayes, Gary Pisano, David Upton, and Steven Wheelwright. John Wiley and Sons, ISBN 0-471-65579-1.
– Womack, James P., Daniel T. Jones, and Daniel Roos, The Machine that Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production, Harper Perennial, 1991.
– Coursepack (CP) available at the Union Copy Center.
* Readings marked with an asterisk are handed out in previous class or are available on Katalyst as an adobe acrobat file. Some reading will include chapters from the following book:
James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, Lean Thinking, Simon and Schuster.
Subject Matter
In recent years many firms have rediscovered manufacturing and operations as a potential source of strategic advantage. In general, these firms have sought to develop capabilities in operations which provide a sustainable advantage in the marketplace. In addition, successful firms have developed processes for understanding the cross- functional implications of product and process choices. In this course we will seek to understand the circumstances under which particular operating capabilities are most beneficial and how such capabilities can be developed so that operations can be exploited for competitive advantage.
We will use a case and reading format to examine manufacturing strategy topics. Topics will include capacity strategy, facilities focus, process choice, product profiling, flexibility, quality, value analysis, and building capabilities such as cycle time reduction in operations.
The course structure proceeds in 3 major sections: I. Overview of Operations Strategy, II. Designing an Operations Strategy, and III. Selecting, Developing and Exploiting Operating Capabilities. The second section is made up of two modules: A) Facilities and Process Technology and B) Infrastructure: Systems and Organizational Processes. To get a better feel of the role of Systems and Organizational processes we read the book, The Machine that Changed the World by Womack, Jones and Roos. The third section is made up of three modules: A) Selecting Capabilities and Drawing Organizational Boundaries, B) Developing Capabilities, and C)Exploiting Capabilities. To develop the section III. B) on Developing and Exploiting Capabilities we read from a book by Womack and Jones called Lean Thinking which is an extension of insights developed in the book The Machine that Changed the World by Womack, Jones and Roos.
Preparation & Participation
For the learning process to be really effective, it is necessary that you carefully prepare the cases/readings before class and actively participate in the case discussions during class. I expect you to be fully prepared for each class and may call upon you to start the discussion or answer a specific question during the class on any day. Usually such a question would be closely related to one of the discussion questions given to you in your syllabus.
If for some reason you are not fully prepared on a particular day, let me know before class so that I dont embarrass you inadvertently. If you do not let me know before class I assume that everyone in class has thoroughly read the case, can answer the discussion questions in considerable detail, and has a “point of view” on the case which will provoke responses from other students in class discussion. I urge you to attend all classes, even if you have not adequately prepared.
The ability to present ones ideas concisely and persuasively, and to respond effectively to those of others is a key success factor in any managerial position. One of the goals of this course is to help you sharpen that ability. Accordingly, I expect you to effectively participate in the class – analyze, comment, question, discuss. Participation enables you to learn from your colleagues and to help them learn from you – which is what the case method is all about. I value and reward effective participation. I also expect the class to help deal with people who monopolize the discussion without contributing to the learning process of others. I will try to encourage people for whom participating in class is difficult, however you are