Operations Strategy

Course Number 2166

Associate Professor Robert S. Huckman
Assistant Professor Daniel C. Snow
Fall, 20 Sessions
Paper

Career Focus

Operations Strategy is geared toward students pursuing careers in either operating companies (manufacturing or services) or professional service firms (e.g., consulting, private equity, venture capital, and investment banking) who require a deeper understanding of how operating models impact competitive performance.

Educational Objectives

Operations Strategy is about how operations determines-not just supports-the competitive positioning of the firm. As such, it requires students to consider how the design and management of a firm's operating system is influenced by interactions with competitors.

The course introduces analytical frameworks for evaluating and managing operating systems, asking such questions as:

• How can I determine if a company's operating system represents a source of competitive advantage (or disadvantage)?
• How do I make the initial decisions about the design of an operating system (e.g., scope of activity, capacity planning, and approaches to quality improvement)?
• How do I adapt an operating system to changing competitive conditions?

Course Content and Organization

Much of the learning emerges from the analysis of "paired" firms within a common industry. The course is structured around four modules that include cases on international and US firms from a variety of service, high-technology, and manufacturing industries.

Part 1: The Concept of an Operations Strategy.
Provides an overview of key diagnostic and analytical tools for identifying, framing, and solving strategic operating issues. This module introduces a framework for defining a company's operating system and evaluating its operations strategy.

Part 2: Structuring the Operating System.
Examines the key issues that a firm faces in establishing its operations strategy. This module covers key tools for resolving the challenges of operational networks, setting capacity levels and allocating capacity within the network, and establishing a strategy for operational improvement.

Part 3: Managing Operatational Focus.
Addresses a fundamental tension faced by successful operating systems-how to balance the competing objectives of operational focus and growth. This module provides frameworks for decisions concerning the optimal scope of the operation and approaches to leveraging the benefits of operational focus while preserving options for firm growth.

Part 4: Transforming the Operating System.
Considers how firms should approach the execution of fundamental changes in their operating systems (e.g., entry into fundamentally new businesses or shocks to the competitive or technological landscape in existing businesses). This module considers approaches for determining which new opportunities should (and should not) be pursued based on the existing operational capabilities of the firm.