- Operations Management -

Operations Strategy, Process Design, Improvement, Management, Innovation and Growth

MG-GY 6303 DIST

Summer 2025

Operations Management: Course Overview

This course is focused on developing a deeper understanding of the role that operations management plays in determining business strategy and in developing competitive advantage.

The primary emphasis of this course will be on how to develop and effectively manage operations in knowledge intensive enterprises.

That is, what are the operational design and managerial implications when the emphasis of the operations group is more on knowledge management than on production and facilities management? This takes on even greater importance when one considers the interconnected environment within which most firms operate, where the boundaries of the organization are sometimes both  unclear and continually shifting.

Managing the effective integration of technology, people, and operating systems presents critical challenges to business leaders. To achieve competitive advantage, managers must thoroughly understand the complex processes that underlie the development and creation of products and services. At the same time, these underlying processes and systems create distinctive competencies for the organization that require an emphasis on continuous improvement to remain competitive.

In this respect, the aim of this course is to develop frameworks and methodologies that will enable managers to develop and refine their ability to make a contribution to their organization’s competitive position. Topics encompass all elements of developing and maintaining an effective operations strategy.

More specific objectives of the course include:

•    Helping operations managers see the importance of looking at their business as process based.

•    Understand the complexities and challenges of customer-centered, process-based management

•    Be able to distinguish, operationalize and assess the core value

disciplines of product leadership, customer intimacy and operational excellence.

•   Translate the understanding of how the customer defines and

assesses value and cost into a deeper specific understanding of how the processes of the organization deliver that value

•    Be able to develop process maps, value streams and process load charts. Be able to use that skill to define and defend process

capacity and lead time improvements

•    Be able to create process control charts and calculate the ‘sigma’ of a process. Be able to use that skill to develop recommendations

that increase customer satisfaction through better alignment and consistency

•    Understand the core tools of Lean/Six Sigma and how to use them to manage and continuously improve operations

•    Understand the nature of process innovation and be able to identify and implement innovative opportunities to improve business performance

Group assignments focused on 'real-world' experience to develop executive level recommendation on how to implement and sustain process improvement recommendations. Most of your professional career you will either be managing operations or improving them. This course will help you to excel at both.

Prerequisites

None

Instructor:

Professor Tom Mazzone is an Industry Professor in Technology Management and Innovation at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering and is the Academic Director of the Industrial engineering program. He has developed many courses centered on team and leadership development, operations and supply chain management, project delivery, innovation, and strategic change management.

Professor Mazzone has had significant international experience in managing large-scale, technology-based transformation programs. His experience is broad and deep and includes working at top-tier consulting firms and Fortune 100 companies. The scope includes leading senior executive vision and strategy sessions, designing and leading business transformation programs, developing enterprise architecture road maps, conducting value stream, process mapping and use case development sessions.

Professor Mazzone received his BBA from the University of Notre Dame, his MBA in Strategy, Technology and Innovation from EDHEC  Business School in France and attended a full-time master’s degree  program in International Business and Marketing at the University of Auckland while working for Ernst and Young in New Zealand. He has his CPA certificate from the State of Rhode Island.

To see a more detailed description of Professor Mazzone's background please go here

Office Hours:

By appointment. I am available most days in the morning after 7:00 am EST via Zoom.  I will respond to emails in a timely manner.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Please note my email address is [email protected] .

My Teaching Assistant is Chetana Sunkugari [email protected]

Include Chetana on all emails to ensure a fast response.

Course Structure

Lecture, class discussions, discussion forum contributions, two quizzes and a series of group presentations culminating in a final presentation summary focusing on a company of the team’s choice.

Students will be expected to prepare for class by reading the assigned reading material and reviewing the discussion and group case study questions for that day.

There will be 6 discussion forums that students will be expected to   post a contribution and, periodically, comment to fellow classmate's contributions.

Students will be assigned to teams and be expected to prepare a series of homework assignments culminating in a final executive summary recommending process improvements using the guidance as set out by the syllabus and the guidance which will be discussed in class. A core component of that final executive summary will be three HW assignments that will be key foundational elements for the final paper.

There will be two quizzes as well. The focus being on the ability to apply the material in the 'real world'.

Required articles

There are no required textbooks . Students will be expected to purchase the course pack assigned for this course and located on the Harvard Business Review website. As well, they will be expected to refer to instructor supplied articles where indicated.

.    Operations Management Reading: Process Analysis – HBR*

.   Operations Management Reading: Managing Quality with Process Control – HBR*

.    Customer Intimacy and other Value Disciplines – HBR*

.   The Next Revolution in Productivity – HBR*

.   Gaining Advantage over Competitors – McKinsey Quarterly**

.    Delivering Value to Customers – McKinsey Quarterly**

.   Tools for Inventing Organizations: Toward a handbook of

organizational processes - MIT Center for Coordination Science**

.   A Revolution in Interactions – McKinsey Quarterly**

.   The Next Revolution in Interactions – McKinsey Quarterly**

.   Competitive Advantage from Better Interactions – McKinsey Quarterly**

Optional Readings

.    What is a Business Model – HBR**

.   The Adaptable Corporation – McKinsey Quarterly**

Source of reading

*.     all will be posted in a HBR course pack

**    posted by professor to NYU Classes

*** other topical articles may be assigned

Books of Interest (not required)

. The Deming Dimension - Outstanding overview of the

philosophy and teachings of W. Edward Deming, the person, most responsible, for helping the Japanese achieve world dominance in operations

. The Machine that Changed the World - Excellent introduction to the Toyota Production System with a very good historical

perspective on the development of the discipline of operations management

. The Goal, It’s Not Luck, The Race, The Choice, The

Haystack Syndrome – Selection of books from the author

Eliyahu Goldratt the developer of the Theory of Constraints and The Logical Thinking Processes

. Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-scale

Production – Written by Taiichi Ohno the father of the Toyota Production system

. Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to Add Value and Eliminate MUDA  by John Shook and Mike Rother, Lean

Enterprise Institute This is the standard reference guide to value stream mapping and provides a very practical approach to identifying, defining and developing process improvement opportunities.