Course Description
This course in production and operations management (POM) has three primary purposes: (1) help students improve their spreadsheet modeling skills, (2) help students improve file organization skills, and (3) help students learn principles of operations management—how to manage transformational processes that achieve delivery, cost, and quality objectives. This course will pursue these purposes using a variety of teaching techniques including readings, homework problems, qualitative and quantitative assessments, and in-class activities, games, and simulations.
On a philosophical level, this course will also help students follow the example of the converted Lamanites who became “a very industrious people” and developed a producer’s mindset (see Alma 23:18). This producer’s mindset, which runs counter to today’s consumer-oriented culture, has important temporal and spiritual underpinnings, as we will discover this semester.
Focus on Production
In this course we will focus on production, in addition to service operations, because there are great spiritual blessings connected with being industrious people. Moreover, President Brigham Young taught that “It is the duty of the true minister of Christ to instruct the people of God how to…become an independent nation,” adding, “How long shall we have the privilege of sending to New York, St. Louis, or other places to buy our goods?” He also stated that, “True wealth consists in the skill to produce conveniences and comforts from the elements.”
President Ezra Taft Benson likewise taught that “Abundance is impossible without industrious and efficient production” and further state that “a nation cannot spend itself into prosperity” but rather “in the long run, a nation enjoys in the form of goods and services only what it produces.” Hence, the focus on production in this course is primarily driven out of a desire to comply with these prophetic teachings.
Additional Reasons for Studying Production and Operations Management
In addition to the above latter-day teachings on the need for production (producing from the elements), there are additional reasons for studying POM and SCM.
- Every business must make a product or provide a service.
- Most businesses function as part of larger supply chains.
- Businesses must carefully manage their operations and supply chains in order to prosper.
Learning Outcomes
What we will KNOW and be able to DO by the end of the semester:
- Describe True Material Wealth: Recognize the true source of material wealth and describe the godly basis for production.
- Match Product to Process: Identify the appropriate production process focus—efficiency or flexibility—based on the requirements of the product or service being offered.
- Seek Out and Find the Right Data: Become skilled at sifting through ambiguous data. (Real-life operations problems are like solving very complex story problems from math class.)
- Apply the Right Tools: Identify and apply appropriate tools to improve operational performance, primarily in a variety of simulations. Topics of study to include project management, product forecasting, process and capacity planning, quality management and control, production planning, just-in-time, supply management and logistics management.
Materials and Fees
Here are the required materials and fees for this course:
- A Very Industrious People: Production and Operations Management from a Latter-day Saint Perspective, fourth edition, by Michael G. Clark. PDF files for each chapter are available for free in I-Learn, however, due to the highly technical nature of the book you are highly encouraged to purchase a hard copy or the text, available on Amazon.com for $10.
- Class Fee (paid at registration): $15.
Grading
Grades will be based on the following point scale (730 points total + 25 extra credit points possible):
| A ≥ 93% | B ≥ 84% | C ≥ 74% | D ≥ 64% |
| A- ≥ 90% | B- ≥ 80% | C- ≥ 70% | D- ≥ 60% |
| B+ ≥ 87% | C+ ≥ 77% | D+ ≥ 67% | F ≤ 59% |
Grading Summary
| Discussion Board Q&A | 39 points |
| Homework | 44 points |
| Miscellaneous Assignments | 70 points |
| Simulations | 150 points |
| Module Assessments | 265 points |
| Final Exam | 160 points |
| Spreadsheet Files | 22 points |
| Mid-Course Feedback | 2 points |
| Total (regular points) | 730 points |
|---|---|
| Extra Credit Assignments | 25 points |
Grading Details
Discussion Board Q&A is designed to help students teach each other. Each week students will be required to post one question related to that week’s module topic. Students will also be required to post two answers to other students’ previously posted questions.
Homework Problems (44 points) Homework assignments will be due on Fridays at midnight during the week they are assigned. They will be administered through I-Learn and will allow for five attempts. They are largely quantitative in nature and geared to reinforce the principles taught throughout the course. The exams will contain many problems that are very similar to the homework assignments. You may discuss your homework with other class members, however; you are not allowed to share spreadsheet files (build your own). If after five attempts you have not answered all the problems correctly, contact your instructor to get help and open another attempt.
There will be a number of Internet Exercises, Application Assignments, Simulations, and Group and Case Discussions throughout the semester that will help deepen your knowledge of the weekly modules. There will also be five 5-point Extra Credit Assignments during the semester.
The Littlefield Technologies factory simulations will test your team’s ability to make several decisions as you manage the operations of a simulated manufacturer of satellite receivers. We will play two rounds in this simulator (one week each, mostly out of class time). Success in this activity is most likely to be achieved when your team correctly applies skills in forecasting, capacity management, the theory of constraints, inventory management, and contract management. This activity is an excellent gauge of a team’s ability to work together and of its understanding of relevant key concepts.
Question EXAMS (100 points) Question Exams will consist of true/false, multiple-choice, multiple-answer, and matching questions, based on chapter readings and class activities. These are open-book, open-note, closed-websearch, timed exams. They are to be taken by yourself, without any discussion or communication about the exam with anyone, including past or present students!
Problem EXAMS (165 points) Problem Exams will consist of problems similar to those found in the homework assignments. Each exam is worth 15 points. These are open-book, open-note, open-spreadsheet (your own spreadsheet file), closed-websearch, timed exams. They are to be taken by yourself, without any discussion or communication about the exam with anyone, including past or present students! Please note that these open-book exams have a high standard for getting things right the first time, so no retakes are allowed (even for little mistakes). However, if you score less than 60 percent on any problems exam, you may raise your score to 60 percent by determining the correct answers to your missed questions (on your own or with help from your instructor or with help from a teaching assistant or tutor) and sending those corrected answers via email to your instructor (along with your corrected spreadsheet file).
At the end of the semester you will have two final assessments: (1) a 30-question comprehensive question assessment worth 60 points and (2) a 14-problem, 40-question comprehensive problem assessment worth 100 points. The final question assessment is closed book but the final problem assessment is open-book, open Excel. Both of these final assessments are strictly individual.
For each chapter with quantitative material you will be asked to submit a spreadsheet file at the end of the week. Each submission is worth two (2) points and is intended to help you organize your work such that you better learn the operations concepts and spreadsheet mechanics. Roughly 45 percent of your overall class grade comes from assignments and exams that depend on your spreadsheet skills, hence you must create your own spreadsheet files. Yes, you may ask others for help or see how they do things in their files, but you are not to share files for this and related assignments. All keystrokes must be your own. Note that there will be very serious consequences for sharing files on this assignment.
Preparation for the Workplace: Timed, Open-Book Assessments
From time to time a few students will express concern over the timed assessments employed in this course. They will say that their performance on these assessments don’t accurately reflect their knowledge of the material. While this may be true, these assessments are good practice for what many will face in the workplace: firm deadlines (timed deadlines) but open access to any material that will help you with that work assignment. Make sure you have a rock solid Internet connection when you take these assessments.
Tips for Success with Quantitative Material (Homework Assessments)
To borrow and paraphrase from a scripture, “the way for [this course] is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before [you]” (see 2 Nephi 9:41). In other words, this course has exacting requirements (narrow) but there are straightforward things you can do to ensure that you learn the material and, as a natural byproduct, get the best grade possible. These things include:
- Read the entire chapter to understand the underlying principles. You will be tempted to skip this step and cut right to the tutorial videos and the homework problems. Do this (skip the reading) at your own risk, as it will likely take you longer to work through the problems if you do this.
- Watch the tutorial videos and build spreadsheets like those you will see. Don’t just copy the formulas but rather take time to understand how the formulas use the given data to calculate the desired answers.
- Create a separate Excel file for each homework assignment and use a separate spreadsheet tab for each problem within a chapter (homework assignment). Doing so will pay huge dividends when you take each ending assessment and when you take the comprehensive final at the end of the semester.
- Clearly label and organize all your work. This includes (a) clearly labeling your given data and the answers within your spreadsheet models, (b) using cell references in your formulas rather than hard-coded numbers, (c) using a descriptive title for each spreadsheet tab, (d) having a naming system for your Excel homework files, and (e) putting those files into a clearly labeled, separate folder that you can access quickly and easily.
- Do not put commas into answer fields in I-Learn. Depending on how this course was created, I-Learn could mark your answer wrong if you put a comma into your answer. For example, if an answer to a problem should be 25,000, then simply input 25000. I-Learn could also accept the commas, but again, it depends if the course adding multiple answer possibilities.
- Let Excel do the rounding. Many questions ask you to round your answer to a certain number of decimal places. If a question asks for three decimal places, then change the cell’s display in Excel to show three decimal places and input that rounded number into the answer field in I-Learn. In this example you should not manually round (in your head) the answer to three decimal places as this may give you a different answer than what Excel does and will likely be marked incorrect.
- Attend the optional TA-run labs. My TA will hold two labs per week. Past students have found these sessions to be very useful. You should attend these labs if you struggle with quantitative materials.
Class Policies
- This is an online course. Each student is responsible for his or her own computer and Internet connection. Internet access problems and/or individual computer problems may not be used as a plea for leniency on any assignment. Each student is responsible for finding the means to be online when necessary.
- A maximum of two assignments during the course may be submitted late. Late work will be accepted up to one week after the due date for 80% of the original value.
- The Honor Code standards apply and will be enforced, particularly the Academic Standards— which means not discussing any individual assessments with classmates or team assessments with other teams.