everything.study
15.769

Operations Strategy

3-0-6 units · Graduate

Discusses systematic frameworks for analyzing strategic decisions in manufacturing and service operations. Covers decisions in capacity, process design, human resources, sourcing, supply chain, circularity, innovation, growth, and other strategic areas. Examines how decisions in these areas can be made to align with business strategy, and emphasizes the concept of operations as a source of competitive advantage. Highlights the triple bottom line: how organizations should consider financial, environmental, and social performance/impacts in an integrated manner to achieve real sustainability. Qualifies as an elective for the Sloan Sustainability Certificate.

Fall 2010

Topics

  • Course introduction; Innovation and operations discipline
  • Frameworks for strategy and the decision category approach
  • Developing an operations strategy; Application of decision category approach and the capabilities approaches
  • Value chain dynamics and operations decisions
  • Value chain dynamics: Lessons from the auto industry
  • Enterprise architecture and operations strategy
  • Vertical integration and outsourcing
  • Business processes
  • Process technology decisions and multiple plants
  • Capacity strategy: How to make decisions on capacity and capacity expansion
  • Facilities strategies and globalization; Comparisons of plant productivity
  • Summary lecture on facilities strategy and globalization
  • Sourcing and supplier management
  • Information systems and the impacts of the electronic economy
  • Logistics systems and the fulfillment supply chain
  • Competing on quality: Sources of quality and different measures of quality
  • Competing on cost versus competing on availability
  • Competing on cost versus competing on features and innovativeness
  • Competition in the housing industry: Improving cost, quality and availability
  • Models for gaining advantage in a global environment; How to position within a value chain
  • Globalization, joint ventures, sourcing overseas, and macroeconomic effects of off-shoring
  • Supplier power and overseas sourcing: Moving up the value chain in outsourcing
  • Student presentations
  • Student presentations and course wrap- up

Readings

  • [B&R] = Beckman, Sara, and Donald Rosenfield. Operations Strategy: Competing in the 21st Century . McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2007. ISBN: 9780072500783.
    Listed reading
  • [Fine] = Fine, Charles H. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage . Basic Books, 1999. ISBN: 9780738201535.
    Listed reading
  • Arndt, Michael. “ McDonald’s 24/7 .” Business Week , February 5, 2007. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Upton, David M. “McDonald’s Corporation (Abridged).” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-603-041, Rev. June 16, 2005.
    Listed reading
  • “Business Strategy Context for Operations Strategy.” Chapter 1 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • Fraiman, Nelson M., Medini R. Singh, Carolyn Paris, and Linda Arrington. “Zara.” Columbia Business School Case. Case: 267-279, 2002.
    Listed reading
  • Huckman, Robert S., and Alan D. MacCormack. “BYD Company, Ltd.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-606-139, Rev. July 23, 2007.
    Listed reading
  • 4 · Value chain dynamics and operations decisions · “The Genetics of Business: Learning from the Fruit Flies.” Chapters 1-4 in [Fine], pp. 1-68.
    Listed reading
  • Womack, James P., Daniel T. Jones, and Daniel Roos. Chapters 1-3 in The Machine that Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production . Harper Collins, 1991. ISBN: 9780060974176.
    Listed reading
  • Rabinowitz, Gavin. “Tata Reveals World’s Cheapest Car.” Boston Globe , January 10, 2008.
    Listed reading
  • Giridharadas, Anand. “ Four Wheels for the Masses: The $2,500 Car .” New York Times , January 8, 2008. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Darukhanawala, Adil Jal. “ Engineering the Nano .” Times of India , January 11, 2008. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Gertner, Jon. “ From 0 to 60 to World Domination .” New York Times , February 18, 2007. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Heskett, James L., and Early Sasser, Jr. “Southwest Airlines: In a Different World.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-910-419, Rev. June 15, 2010.
    Listed reading
  • “Vertical Integration.” Chapter 2 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • “Business Process Focused Strategies and Organizational Design.” Chapter 7 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • McAfee, Andrew. “Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A).” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-606-015, Rev. October 20, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • “Process Technology.” Chapter 3 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • Pisano, Gary P., and Sharon Rossi. “ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-695-002, Rev. May 21, 2001.
    Listed reading
  • “Capacity Strategy.” Chapter 4 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • Snow, Daniel C., Steven C. Wheelwright, and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld. “Genentech – Capacity Building.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-606-052, Rev. March 7, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • “Facilities Strategy and Globalization.” Chapter 5 in [B&R], pp. 166-172, and 186-190.
    Listed reading
  • Flaherty, Marie-Therese. “Applichem (A).” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-685-051, July 1, 1986.
    Listed reading
  • 12 · Summary lecture on facilities strategy and globalization · “Facilities Strategy and Globalization.” Chapter 5 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • “Sourcing.” Chapter 6 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • “Information Technology.” Chapter 9 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • Huckman, Robert S., Gary P. Pisano, and Liz Kind. “Amazon Web Services.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-609-048, October 20, 2008.
    Listed reading
  • “Coordinating the Supply Chain.” Chapter 8 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • “Cross-Cutting Capabilities: Lean Operations, Quality, and Flexibility.” Chapter 10 in [B&R], pp. 359-363, and 375-381.
    Listed reading
  • West, Jonathan. “Delamere Vineyard.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-698-051, Rev. June 8, 2000.
    Listed reading
  • “Cross-Cutting Capabilities: Lean Operations, Quality, and Flexibility.” Chapter 10 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • Bowen, H. Kent, Robert S. Huckman, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. “New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-606-094, Rev. June 30, 2008.
    Listed reading
  • “Strategy Development and Practice.” Chapter 11 of [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • Vogelstein, Fred. “ The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry .” Wired Magazine , January 9, 2008. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Pisano, Gary. “BMW: The 7-Series Project (A).” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-692-083, Rev. January 3, 2002.
    Listed reading
  • Leinberger, Christopher B. “ The Next Slum? ” The Atlantic, March 2008. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Corkery, Michael. “ Mortgage Mess Hits Home For Nation’s Small Builders .” Wall Street Journal , March 21, 2008. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Fine, Charles H. “House-Building Disrupted: Supply Chain Re-Engineering During an Epic Disaster.” MIT Sloan School of Management Case, September 2009.
    Listed reading
  • Magretta, Joan. “Fast, Global, and Entrepreneurial: Supply Chain Management, Hong Kong Style.” Harvard Business Review Magazine , September-October 1998.
    Listed reading
  • Eisenmann, Thomas, Geoffrey Parker, and Marshall W. Van Alstyne. “Strategies for Two-Sided Markets.” Harvard Business Review Magazine , October 2006.
    Listed reading
  • Ko, Stephen, and Grace Loo. “Li and Fung: Growth for a Supply Chain Specialist.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: HKU-849, September 30, 2009.
    Listed reading
  • “ Time to Change the Act .” The Economist , February 19, 2009. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Von Drehle, David. “ Yes, We’ll Still Make Stuff .” Time Magazine , May 14, 2009. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Grove, Andy. “How to Make an American Job Before It’s Too Late.” Bloomberg , July 1, 2010.
    Listed reading
  • Wadhwa, Vivek. “ Why Andy Grove is Wrong About Job Growth .” Bloomberg Businessweek , July 9, 2010. ↗
    Listed reading
  • West, Jonathan. “Chiang-Sho Ltd.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-602-100, Rev. December 2, 2004.
    Listed reading
  • Huckman, Robert S., and Gary P. Pisano. “Flextronics International, Ltd.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-604-063, Rev. May 17, 2004.
    Listed reading
  • 24 · Student presentations and course wrap-up · “Strategy Development and Practice.” Chapter 11 in [B&R].
    Listed reading
  • Hayes, Robert H., Gary P. Pisano, David M. Upton, and Steven C. Wheelwright. Operations, Strategy, and Technology: Pursuing the Competitive Edge . Wiley, 2004. ISBN: 9780471655794.
    Recommended
  • Slack, Nigel, and Mike Lewis. Operations Strategy . 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, 2007. ISBN: 9780273695196.
    Recommended
  • Hill, Terry. Manufacturing Strategy: Texts and Cases . 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillian, 2000. ISBN: 9780333762226.
    Recommended
  • Van Mieghem, Jan A. Operations Strategy: Principles and Practice . Dynamic Ideas, 2008. ISBN: 9780975914663.
    Recommended
  • Womack, James P., Daniel T. Jones, and Daniel Roos. The Machine that Changed the World . Free Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780743299794.
    Recommended
  • Hayes, Robert H., Steven C. Wheelwright, and Kim B. Clark. Dynamic Manufacturing: Creating the Learning Organization . Free Press 1988. ISBN: 9780029142110.
    Recommended
  • Womack, James P., and Daniel T. Jones. Lean Thinking . 2nd ed. Free Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780743249270.
    Recommended
  • Lester, Richard K. The Productive Edge . W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. ISBN: 9780393045741.
    Recommended
  • Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat . Picador, 2007. ISBN: 9780312425074.
    Recommended
  • Diamond Jared. Collapse . Rev. ed. Penguin 2011. ISBN: 9780143117001.
    Recommended
  • Hammer, Michael. The Agenda . Crown Business, 2001. ISBN: 9780609609668.
    Recommended
  • Hammer, Michael, and Steven Stanton. The Reengineering Revolution . Harper Business, 1995. ISBN: 9780887307362.
    Recommended
  • Klein, Janice A. Revitalizing Manufacturing: Text and Cases . CRC Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780256068092.
    Recommended
  • Buy at MIT Press Dertouzos, Michael L., Richard K. Lester, and Robert M. Solow. Made In America: Regaining the Productive Edge . MIT Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780262041003. ↗
    Recommended
  • Cohen, Stephen S., and John Zysman. Manufacturing Matters: The Myth of the Post-Industrial . Basic Books, 1988. ISBN: 9780465043859.
    Recommended
  • Laseter, Timothy M. Balanced Sourcing: Cooperation and Competition in Supplier Relationships . Jossey-Bass, 1998. ISBN: 9780787944438.
    Recommended
  • Pine, B. Joseph, and Stan Davis. Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition . Harvard Business School Press, 1999. ISBN: 97808758494611.
    Recommended
  • Berger, Suzanne. How We Compete: What Companies Around the World Are Doing to Make it in Today’s Global Economy . Crown Business, 2005. ISBN: 9780385513593.
    Recommended
  • Beckman, Sara, and Donald Rosenfield. Operations Strategy: Competing in the 21st Century . McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2007. ISBN: 9780072500783.
    Listed reading
  • Fine, Charles H. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage . Basic Books, 1999. ISBN: 9780738201535.
    Listed reading
Spring 2003

Topics

  • Introduction to Operations Strategy
  • Process Concepts
  • Process Redesign Techniques
  • Process Redesign Techniques (continued)
  • Idea Marketplace
  • Process Identification and Modeling
  • Introduction to Clockspeed
  • Supply Chain Dynamics/3-DCE
  • Clockspeed Concepts (continued)
  • Process Enterprises
  • Leading Process Redesign
  • Process Redesign Methodology
  • Process Implementation
  • Strategic Positioning
  • Operations Measurement & Improvement
  • Operations Measurement & Improvement (continued)
  • Supplier Relations
  • Capabilities Choice
  • Product Process & Supply Chain Design
  • Standardizing Operations
  • Capabilities Strategy

Readings

  • Hammer, Michael. The Agenda. Crown Business, 2001. Chapters 1 and 5.
    Listed reading
  • Hammer, Michael. Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate . Chap. 1 in The Reengineering Revolution , Harvard Business Review, July/August 1990.
    Listed reading
  • Pacific Bell, Siemens Rolm Communications, Bank of America. Order Management at Heatway Cases.
    Listed reading
  • Hammer, Michael and Steven Stanton. The Reengineering Revolution . HarperBusiness, 1995. Chapters 1 and 7.
    Listed reading
  • Hammer, Michael. The Agenda. Crown Business, 2001. Chapter 5.
    Listed reading
  • Texas Instruments Process Model.
    Listed reading
  • Hammer, Michael. The Agenda. Crown Business, 2001. Chapter 6.
    Listed reading
  • CLASS #: 7 · TOPICS: Introduction to Clockspeed · READINGS: Fine, Charles. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage. Perseus Books, 1998. Chapters 1, 12, Epilog.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 8 · TOPICS: Supply Chain Dynamics/3-DCE · READINGS: Fine, Charles. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage. Perseus Books, 1998. Chapters 2-7.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 9 · TOPICS: Clockspeed Concepts (continued) · READINGS: Fine, Charles. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage. Perseus Books, 1998. Chapters 8-11.
    Reading assignment
  • Hammer, Michael and S. Stanton. “How Process Enterprises Really Work in The Agenda .” Harvard Business Review (November/December 1999).
    Listed reading
  • Majchrzak, A., and Q. Wang. Breaking the Functional Mind-set in Process Organizations . Chapters 4 and 7 in The Agenda. Harvard Business Review (September/October 1996).
    Listed reading
  • CLASS #: 11 · TOPICS: Leading Process Redesign · READINGS: Hammer, Michael and Steven Stanton. The Reengineering Revolution . HarperBusiness, 1995. Chapters 3, 6, 8 and 10.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 12 · TOPICS: Process Redesign Methodology · READINGS: Davenport, Reengineering a Business Process in Hammer, Michael and Steven Stanton. The Reengineering Revolution . HarperBusiness, 1995. Chapters 2 and 4.
    Reading assignment
  • Pacific Bell, Siemens Rolm Communications. Order Management at Heatway Cases.
    Listed reading
  • Hammer, Michael and Steven Stanton. The Reengineering Revolution . HarperBusiness, 1995. Chapters 13, 14 and 17.
    Listed reading
  • Hammer, Michael. The Agenda . Crown Business, 2001. Chapter 11.
    Listed reading
  • Read: Moving a Slow-Clockspeed Business into the Fast Lane: Strategic Sourcing Lessons from Value Chain Redesign in the Automotive Industry .
    Listed reading
  • This is a version of the SMR 2002 paper on Value Chain Design .
    Listed reading
  • CLASS #: 15 · TOPICS: Strategic Positioning · READINGS: American Connector Company Case.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 16 · TOPICS: Operations Measurement & Improvement · READINGS: TQM & Measurement Systems Case: Kaplan, Robert S. Texas Eastman Co. HBS Case No. 9-190-039. Boston: Harvard Business School, 1993.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 17 · TOPICS: Operations Measurement & Improvement (continued) · READINGS: Gendron, Marie. Using the Balanced Scorecard . Boston: Harvard Management Update, October 1, 1997.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 18 · TOPICS: Supplier Relations · READINGS: Hayes, Robert H. and Gita Mathur. Intel-Ped (A). HBS Case No. 9-693-056. Boston: Harvard Business School, 1994.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 19 · TOPICS: Capabilities Choice · READINGS: Capabilities Management Case: Pisano, Gary P. Nucleon, Inc. HBS Case No. 9-692-041. Boston: Harvard Business School, 1994.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 20 · TOPICS: Product Process & Supply Chain Design · READINGS: Pisano, Gary P. BMW: The 7-Series Project (A). HBS Case No. 9-692-083. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2002.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 21 · TOPICS: Standardizing Operations · READINGS: Pisano, Gary P. and Sharon Rossi. ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy - 1994. HBS Case No. 9-695-002. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2001.
    Reading assignment
  • CLASS #: 22 · TOPICS: Capabilities Strategy · READINGS: Pisano, Gary P. CIBA Vision: The Daily Disposable Lens Project (A). HBS Case No. 9-696-100. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2002.
    Reading assignment

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: 15.761 , 15.778 , or permission of instructor G (Spring) 3-0-6 units

Sources