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UTLIZING EMERGING TRENDS IN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT FOR NEW CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Liqiong Deng, Richards College of Business, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA 30118, (678) 839-5532, [email protected], Douglas Turner, Richards College of Business, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA 30118, (678) 839-4847, [email protected]

ABSTRACT Operations Management (OM) as an independent discipline has grown to include areas such as Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management. When the teaching of OM is viewed in conjunction with other business disciplines such as Accounting and Management Information Systems we find curriculum models that widely vary in their design. This paper attempts to define and quantify the OM course models found in programs within the authors’ home state, and around the United States. Specifically of interest is the implementation of an OM curriculum within a Department of Management where there is an existing Management Information System (MIS) program.

INTRODUCTION In today’s business world, the field of OM has been strongly influenced by a number of major trends, such as global competition, rapid evolution of information technology, fast information flows, and increased demand for rapid response and product variety. As a result, OM education is changing from being mathematical modeling-based, manufacturing-focused to become more closely linked with other business disciplines, such as MIS, marketing, management, and strategy [1]. This change however poses a challenge of designing new cross-disciplinary OM curriculum. In response to the emergence of a new breed of OM discipline, this research investigates the emerging trends in OM curriculum based on a survey of the existing curriculum offered by the OM undergraduate degree programs of AACSB (acronym for “The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business”) accredited business schools in USA. Operations management is a mission-critical managerial function in all kinds of organizations – from private manufacturing sectors to public service sectors, where OM impacts each step in the process of providing a product or service. The importance of operations management has increased dramatically in recent years due to the intensified global competition, shorter product/service lifecycles, increasingly demanding consumers, and significant advancement of information and process technology. These trends have driven business organizations to focus on their operations function to improve efficiency and productivity while providing a wider variety of high-quality products and services. As a result, OM is situated at the core of business and its interaction with other business functions has become increasingly important. The OM discipline is historically dominated by design, planning and control issues. While this focus is still important to the field today, there is also a need to adopt a multidisciplinary approach and incorporate perspectives of other business functions [1].

Relying on the use of advanced information technologies, the cross-disciplinary interaction has made OM more closely linked with MIS [2]. MIS integrates the traditional OM areas (e.g., demand forecasting, operation planning and control, and total quality management) with enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and other business systems. The key to success of today’s organizations lies in the synergy between operations function and technology [2]. OM graduates are therefore expected to be equipped with strategic thinking and quantitative analysis skills, information systems knowledge, and the ability to design and execute business operations using information technology. The practice of combining education in MIS and OM is adopted by a number of business schools, including Texas A&M University, University of South Carolina, and so on. However, there is a lack of standard model curriculum for the emerging new breed of OM discipline. Due to their cross-disciplinary nature and different foci, most OM undergraduate degree programs vary greatly in their curriculum. The authors’ school is a moderate sized AACSB-accredited business college. In this business college there are about 50 faculty members, where about 350 students graduate annually (approximately one third of those graduate from curriculums within the Department of Management). Thus, the authors are interested in finding out how other AACSB-accredited business schools address the need for cross-disciplinary OM coursework. More specifically, the authors are concerned with 1) the undergraduate OM courses currently being taught and 2) the integration of MIS and OM curriculum in other US AACSB-accredited schools. RESEARCH METHOD The sample utilized for this research represented undergraduate OM degree programs identified in AACSB accredited business schools in US. Twenty-five programs (See Appendix) were examined to establish a base line for Operations Management programs, with three specific in state programs used for comparison to determine the potential OM course model. The authors searched for and downloaded names and descriptions of the OM courses currently taught from the websites of programs selected for this research. The qualitative data from across the United States, which consist of course information downloaded from the program websites, were subjectively examined by the authors. Similar courses were then grouped together based on their names and contents so that the statistics of frequency counts and percentages could be calculated. The OM programs identified within the state were examined by both course name and by published course content. RESULTS Operations Management Curriculums Across the United States The selected OM programs vary in the courses they offer. A total of twenty one different courses are identified (See Table 1). The majority (80%) of the selected programs offer supply chain management course. More than half of them teach quality control and management (68%) and operations management (64%) courses. Over one third offer courses in operations planning and

control, project management, service operations management, operations strategy, and management information systems. More than one fifth of the selected programs teach decision support systems, management of technology, business process management, inventory management, data analysis and modeling, logistics and distribution management courses. Fewer than five programs offer courses in global operations management, enterprise operation systems, manufacturing resource planning, computer integrated manufacturing, and information management. According to the above statistics, the following eight courses are identified as popular among the selected programs: supply chain management, quality control and management, operations management, operations planning and control, project management, service operations management, operations strategy, and management information systems. The results indicate that while the traditional production and operations management topics (e.g., quality control and management, operations management, operations planning and control, and project management) still dominate OM curriculum, a number of new subject areas (e.g., supply chain management, service operations management, operations strategy, and management information systems) emerge to be the foci of current OM education. First, supply chain management is shown to be the most popular OM course of the selected programs. Assuming the effective management of the entire process from suppliers to customers as a source of competitive advantage, supply chain operation emerges as a cross-functional, inter-organizational discipline, integrating the areas of operations, logistics, strategy, and MIS [3]. While the traditional view of operations management focuses on the internal processes of an organization, supply chain management supports inter-organizational processes. It extends the focus of traditional operations management to consider both the internal value-adding processes and the interfaces between intra- and inter-organizational processes. Second, service operations management has become an important topic in OM education. Traditionally, OM discipline focused on addressing the need of the manufacturing sector due to its roots in production management. During the recent ten years, the service industry has become the most important driving force for the U.S. economy [4]. This trend has created a substantial demand for service operations management, which addresses the enhancement of service quality. Different from traditional manufacturing-focused operations, service-operations are more process-oriented and customer-focused [5]. Service operations management adapts the principles of operations management to the service environment, focusing on the managerial issues and problems unique to designing, producing, and delivering services. Since the service sector will continue to lead the U.S. economic growth, the OM teaching focus is expected to be more service-oriented in the future.

TABLE 1. A Summary of Courses Offered by the Selected U.S. OM Programs Number of Programs offering the course

Percentage of Programs offering the course

Supply Chain Management

20

80%

Quality Control and Management

17

68%

Operations Management

16

64%

Operations Planning and Control

12

48%

Project Management

10

40%

Service Operations Management

9

36%

Operations Strategy

9

36%

Management Information Systems

9

36%

Decision Making and Decision Support Systems

7

28%

Management of Technology

6

24%

Business Process Management

6

24%

Materials and Inventory Management

5

20%

Data Analysis and Modeling

5

20%

Logistics and Distribution Management

5

20%

Product Development

4

16%

IS Design, Prototyping, and evaluation

4

16%

Global Operations Management

4

16%

Enterprise Operation Systems

4

16%

Manufacturing Resource Planning

3

12%

Computer Integrated Manufacturing

3

12%

Information Management

2

8%

Courses Offered

Third, recognizing the strategic importance of operations function, many of the selected OM programs include operations strategy as a teaching focus of OM practice. This focus highlights a broader area of “operations” strategy rather than an earlier concentration on “manufacturing” strategy. Operations strategy is concerned with the effective strategic management of operating and technological resources, aligning them to support the execution of overall business strategy of the organization [6]. Operations strategy is interdisciplinary in scope, involving the management of interfaces between operations and other business functions. It thus draws on the concepts from multiple supporting disciplines, such as strategic management, operations management, marketing, accounting, and human resources. Finally, due to the enabling role of information technology in improving operations productivity, MIS has become one of the popular courses in OM programs. In recent years, rapid technological advancement has caused a fundamental transformation in intra- and interorganizational business operations [2], such as the globalization of business operations, ebusiness, and extended supply chain. The increasing reliance of business operation on information technology and the ever-changing nature of technology have posed a critical challenge to create and apply technology to business practice [7]. The MIS domain addresses the challenge by providing understanding of the technological drivers of organizational performance, more specifically, focusing on planning, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating technology capabilities to achieve operational effectiveness. Operation Management Curriculums Across the State Three other state (AACSB) institutions were identified as offering OM-type curriculums. School “A” is a top tier research institution (with approximate 18,000 students), school “B” is a peer institution (with approximate 15,000 students), and school “C” (with approximate 4,000 students) is smallest of the state OM program schools. The Authors’ school has an enrollment of approximately 11,000 students. Schools “A” and “B” have their OM programs housed within their respective Departments of Management, while the smallest of the three schools houses OM under the general division of Business Administration. As a comparison the authors’ University accommodates approximately 10,500 students. Between the three existing schools they offer a total of nine different courses. School “A” has a mix of eight courses for their OM program; School “B” a mix of seven for another, and the smallest of the three schools with five courses offered. See Table 2 below for comparisons. Based on the matrix it can be concluded that Management of Technology is not supported at the lower tier schools. While this analysis cannot determine why any specific course is not offered by any particular institution, we can state that MIS is found as a separate department at Schools “A” and “B”, and school “C” does not have an equivalent MIS function. It is noteworthy to highlight the fact that school “A” does not have a specific course defined as Computer Integrated Manufacturing. This may well be the result of the large degree of computer integration found in most all modern manufacturing and service operations. While School “C” does not offer the Operations Strategy course it seems to be relevant to all business curriculums as it is a required upper level course for all AACSB business colleges. The

remaining courses of Service Operations Management and Product Development can be relevant based on the specific needs of the students, and could be incorporated into a single course. TABLE 2. Courses Offered by the OM Programs Across the State Ref. ID. A B C D E F G H I

Course Titles Operations Management Operations Planning and Control Operations Strategy Quality Control and Assurance Logistics / Supply Chain Management Management of Technology Computer Integrated Manufacturing Service Operations Management Product Development

School “A” Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

School “B” Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

School “C” Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No

Applied Operation Management Model The OM curriculum model selected was developed (see Table 3) to encompass the key courses offered by the existing three state institutions (see Table 2 above). TABLE 3. The Selected OM Curriculum Model Ref. ID. A B C D E F G&H

Course Titles Operations Management Operations Planning and Control Operations Strategy Quality Control and Assurance Logistics / Supply Chain Management Management of Technology Integrated Resource Management

The MIS and OM Relationship Multiple examples of viable OM programs are shown to exist across the United States. During the initial development of this curriculum over 15 schools were found to offer a joint MIS and OM program, frequently offered from a blended Operation Management Information Systems (OMIS) department. CONCLUSIONS This research reveals several emerging trends in the OM curriculum, summarized as follows; 1) As business operations function is extending across functional and organizational boundaries, supply chain management has become a mainstream course for OM education. 2) Since service

industry is now a major source of economic growth, the OM teaching focus is moving away from the traditional production/manufacturing management to the service environment. 3) In recognition of the increasing strategic importance of operations function for the overall business performance, many OM programs incorporate operations strategy as a required course. 4) Due to the heavy reliance of operations function on modern information and communication technologies, a MIS course is required by a number of OM programs to teach the knowledge and skills of designing and implementing technologies.

APPENDIX

Referenced Schools Auburn University http://www.business.auburn.edu/degreePrograms/departments/management/undergrad.cfm Boise State University http://noisweb.boisestate.edu/?module=majors§ion=list&action=opermgt California State University, Northridge http://www.csun.edu/catalog/SOM.pdf California State University, Sacramento http://www.cba.csus.edu/ubac/default.asp?pageID=OperationsManagement&txt=false California State University, Stanislaus http://www.csustan.edu/Catalog/Departments-Programs/Business-Administration/DepartmentsPrograms/Operations-Management/index-OM.html East Carolina University http://www.ecu.edu/cs-bus/dsci/concentrations.cfm#CP_JUMP_16998 Georgetown University http://student.msb.edu/prog/opim/what.htm Georgia Southern University http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/services/advise/pdf/mgntom.pdf Georgia Tech http://mgt.gatech.edu/programs/under/cert_opt_mgt.html New York University, Stern http://w4.stern.nyu.edu/ioms/academic.cfm?doc_id=2552 Texas A & M University

http://mays.tamu.edu/depts/info/Info_BBA.html University of Arizona http://ugrad.eller.arizona.edu/academic/majors/operationsmanagement/ University of Cincinnati http://www.business.uc.edu/bba/focus/om/curriculum University of Dayton http://www.sba.udayton.edu/mod/om/ University of Delaware http://www.lerner.udel.eduhttp://www.buec.udel.edu/OM/course%20descriptions.htm University of Idaho http://www.cbehome.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=28341 University of Michigan http://www.bus.umich.edu/CourseManagement/ViewCourseDescriptions.asp?Term=1&Division =OMS&Program=0 University of North Carolina, Greensboro http://www.uncg.edu/bae/isom/bscrsreq.html University of North Carolina, Wilmington http://www.csb.uncw.edu/departments/isom/courses.stm University of Pennsylvania http://undergrad.wharton.upenn.edu/concentrations/opim.cfm University of Scranton http://matrix.scranton.edu/academics/ac_pgm_operations_management.shtml University of Texas Austin http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/udean/advising/degree_info/supplychain.asp University of Washington http://bschool.washington.edu/departments/mgtsci/op_man_index.shtml University of Wisconsin Madison http://www.bus.wisc.edu/oim/ Western Washington University http://www.cbe.wwu.edu/dsci/curriculumOM.asp

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