HARVARD UNIVERSITY

JOHN F. KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

STM-301 SYLLABUS
Spring 2008

M/W 1:10 p.m.--2:30 p.m.

Room: RG-20

Guy Stuart
T382, 496-0100
guy_stuart@harvard.edu
Version: 12/17/2007
Course Objectives and Overview

This course is an introduction to Operations Management. It teaches how to set up, maintain and
reengineer the processes that organizations use to provide services of public value. The course
covers the following subjects: total quality management, process flow, systems dynamics,
information technology, and performance measurement. The course is process-oriented and
encourages students to wrestle with the details of how to get things done. Through this emphasis
on details the course demonstrates the importance they have for the creation of public value by
non-profit and government organizations. Students who successfully complete this course will
be able to:

a. analyze an organization’s processes;

b. manage processes to improve the creation of public value.

The course will focus on the provision of services. As such it will be unlike traditional courses in
Operations Management that focus on manufacturing processes. In addition, the course will
depart from tradition in its focus on the production and flow of information. Students will learn
how organizations produce and consume information and how information flow can be
effectively managed to produce public value.

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Course Outline
The course will be taught using the case method with additional, theoretical readings. We will
also use practitioner presentations and interactive computer simulations to enhance the learning
experience. The major topics covered in this course are:
• Value Creation and Quality Management
We will begin the course by looking at how quality processes create public value.
• Process Mapping and Capacity Analysis
This section covers key concepts for analyzing the structure and capacity of processes,
and introduces you to different types of processes.
• Systems Dynamics
This section of the course shows you how to place the process analysis in the context of
the organization as a system. It uses simulated games to provide an introduction to
systems thinking.
• Information Technology
This section addresses the fundamental question all managers should ask when
introducing a new technology into their organization: what value does the technology
add? We ask this question in a number of cases, looking at the operational and strategic
benefits of IT.
• Scaling up
We will examine the operational and strategic challenges of scaling up distributed and
centralized service delivery systems.

Audience
The course will serve both general managers or consultants who want an understanding of how
to maintain, improve or change their organization’s operations and for managers with specific
responsibility for day-to-day operations. There is no formal course prerequisite but previous
exposure to management courses at the level of STM-101 is recommended.

Requirements
Class Participation -- 24 %
Your individual participation in class discussions will determine 40% of your final grade. Class
participation is essential to the course since much of what you learn will come through
conversations with your colleagues.
Case Analyses -- 36%
You will submit three case analyses. Each will contribute 12% to your final grade. They will be
no more than 750 words long (3 double-spaced pages) each. The schedule of cases, including
the cases that you can analyze, is the following:

Case Analysis Due Data and Time Cases drawn from the following classes:
#1 Due at time of class Jan. 30 to Feb. 13
#2 Due at time of class Feb. 20 to March 10
#3 Due at time of class March 12 to April 23

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Term Project – 50%
Interim Project Papers – 24%
You will work in teams of 3 to 5 people on a project of your choice, though I will have
some specific projects that I will be asking students to work on. The team will complete
two interim papers during the course of the semester, each worth 12% of the course
grade, and due on March 14 and April 18. The content of each paper will be specified in
a separate document “Interim Project Papers.”
Final paper – 36%
The final paper will incorporate feedback on the interim papers and additional research,
and will be no more than 5,000 words in length and no more than 10 exhibits.

Grading
I will assign grades according to the following distribution:
A A- B+ or lower
10-20% 20-30% 50% - 70%

Materials
w Book available on reserve at the KSG library (5 copie s in total): Total Quality
Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin. Russell Sage, New
York, marked as “[Book]”
w Course packet available at CMO, marked as “[Packet #]”
w Online materials marked as “[Online ]”

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CLASS SCHEDULE
Wednesday January 30, 2008

Value-creation through processes

Exercise/Case:
Transport for London: Creating Public Value for London and its 30 Million Commuters

** Required Readings:
Creating Public Value -- Mark Moore, Ch. 2, pp. 27-56 [Packet 1]
Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems, Scott, W.R., pp. 20 – 24 [Packet 1]

Monday February 4, 2008

Quality Management, I

Exercise/Case:
Middlesex County Jury System, KSG Case # C 16-86-656 [Packet 1]

Reading:
At America's Service, Karl Albrecht, pp. 20 – 42 [Packet 1]
Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 1 – 52.
[Book]

Wednesday February 6, 2008

Quality Management, II

Exercise/Case:
The Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight -- HBS Case #9-593-098
[Packet 1]

** Required Readings:
Service Operations Management, Christine Hope and Alan Muhleman, pp. 99 - 110, 114 – 117.
[Packet 1]
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pir sig, pp. 202-209. [Packet 1]

Web Links:
http://www.quality.nist.gov/

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Monday February 11, 2008

Quality from the Perspective of the Employee

** Required Readings:
Adler, P. S. (1993). "The learning bureaucracy: New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc."
Research in Organizational Behavior 15, 111 – 160. [Packet 2]
Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 68 – 88, 97
– 102. [Book]

Wednesday February 13, 2008

Quality Against Discrimination

Exercise/Case:
Mortgage Lending Discrimination: A Review of Existing Evidence, Eds. Turner, M. and
Skidmore, F. The Urban Institute, pp. 137 – 160 [Online ]

** Required Readings:
Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 68 - 88, 97
– 103. [Book]

Constructing Statistical Process Control Charts Review Session, Computer Lab Classroom,
Friday, February 15 from 10:10 to 11:30

Monday February 18, 2008

NO CLASS PRESIDENT’S DAY

Wednesday February 20, 2008

Statistical Process Control

Exercise/Case:
Process Control at Polaroid (A) -- HBS Case #9-693-047 [Packet 2]

** Required Readings:
Total Quality Management in Human Service Organizations, Lawrence L. Martin pp. 53 – 67.
[Book]
Constructing and Using Process Control Charts -- HBS Case #9-686-118 [Packet 2]

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Monday February 25, 2008

Processes I

Exercise/Case:
Goldratt’s Game – in-class exercise

** Required Readings:
Process Fundamentals -- HBS Note #9-696-023 [Packet 2]
The Goal, Goldratt, E. (1992) pp. 94 – 119. [Packet 2]

Wednesday February 27, 2008

Processes II

Exercise/Case:
Bottlenecks and Variance: Smoothing Passenger Flow at Victoria Station

** Required Readings:
Note on Service Mapping -- HBS Note #9-693-065 [Packet 2]
The Psychology of Waiting Lines – HBS Note #9-684-064 [Packet 2]
Service Operations Management, Christine Hope and Alan Muhleman, pp. 261 – 274 [Packet 2]

Monday March 3, 2008

Processes III

Exercise/Case:
Reading Rehab -- HBS Case #9-898-172 [Packet 3]

** Required Readings:
Production and Operations Management, M. Starr, pp. 142-67 [Packet 3]

Wednesday March 5, 2008

Push-Pull

Exercise/Case:
Push-Pull Exercise – in-class exercise
Just-in-Time Production Controlled by Kanban -- HBS Case #9-684-047 [Packet 3]

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Monday March 10, 2008

Process Reengineering

Exercise/Case:
Denise Fleury and the Minnesotta Office of State Claims -- KSG Case #C15-87-744.0
[Packet 3]

**Required Readings:
The Process Edge -- Peter G. W. Keen, Ch. 1, pp. 1-23, Ch.4, pp.57-79 [Packet 3]
Jeff Luck, John W Peabody. “Improving the public sector…” Health Care Management Review.
Frederick: Spring 2000. Vol. 25, Iss. 2; p. 34 (11 pages) [Online ]

Wendnesday March 12, 2008

Systems Dynamics, I -- Introduction

** Required Readings:
Business Dynamics – John D. Sterman, Ch 1, pp. 3 – 39 [Packet 3]

Web Links:
Systems Dynamics Resource Page

Interim Project Paper #1 due at 5pm, Friday March 14

Monday March 17, 2006

Systems Dynamics II -- Beer Game

Exercise/Case:
Beer Game

Wednesday March 19, 2006

Systems Dynamics III -- Beer Game Debrief

Exercise/Case:
Beer Game Debrief – in-class discussion of game

** Required Readings:
"Ante-up! Big Gambles in the New Economy -- Speed Limits: Overnight, Everything Changed
for FedEx; Can It Reinvent Itself?" WSJ, 11/4/99, p. A1. [Online]

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 Monday March 24, 2008

NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK

Monday, March 31, 2008

Systems Dynamics IV – Responding to Crises

Exercise/Case:
The City of Chicago and the1995 Heat Wave (A), KSG Case # C16-02-1642.0 [Packet 3]

** Required Readings:
TBA

Wednesday April 2, 2006

Information Technology I – Adding Value

Case:
Introducing Technology: The Multiple Pearls of London’s Oyster Card

**Required Readings:
Advanced Fare Payment Systems, LEAP Database. [Online ]
Process Innovation -- Davenport, Ch.3, pp. 37-70 [Packet 3]

Web Links:
Advanced Fare Payment Systems

Monday April 7, 2006

Information Technology II – Impact on People

Exercise/Case:
The Internal Revenue Service: Automated Collection System -- HBS Case #9-490-042 [Packet 3]

** Required Readings:
Competitive Advantage Through People, Pfeffer, pp. 27 – 65. [Packet 3]

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Wednesday April 9, 2008

Information Technology III – Standardization, Scale, and Network Effects

Exercise/Case:
E-ZPass: The Effort to Design and Implement A Regional Electronic Toll Collection System (A)
KSG Case # 1818.0
[Packet 3]

** Required Readings
"Path Dependence". D. Puffert. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. June 10, 2003.
[Online]
“The Role Of Standards In The Creation And Use Of Information Systems” J. West, Standard
Making: A Critical Research Frontier for Information Systems, MISQ Special Issue Workshop,
2004. [Online]

Monday April 14, 2008

Information Technology IV: Data and Information

Exercise/Case:
Data Mining: Creating Value through Information at Transport for London

** Required Readings
TBA

Wednesday April 16, 2008

Scaling Up, I – Distributed Service Delivery Systems

** Required Readings
Stuart (2007). “Appropriate Fit: Service Delivery Beyond Bureaucracy, Lessons from
Microfinance,” in eds. J. de Jong and G. Rizvi Access to Government (Online)
Hope, C. and A. Muhleman, (1997) “Transportation and distribution systems” Service
Operations Management, 189 – 215. (Packet)

Interim Project Paper #2 due at 5pm, Friday April 18, 2008

Monday April 21, 2008

Scaling Up, II – The Strategic Role of Pilot Programs

Exercise/Case:
Emergency Response to a Long-Term Crisis? Médecins Sans Frontières and HIV/AIDS in
Ethiopia, KSG Case # 1851. [Packet 3]

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** Required Readings
Davis, J. (2003) “Taking Sustainable Rural Water Supply Services to Scale: A Discussion
Paper.” Bank Netherlands Water Partnership. (Online)
Wednesday April 23, 2008

Scaling Up, III – Acceptance, Ability and Authority

Exercise/Case:
Scale without Growth: Infonavit’s Expansion in the Mexican Mortgage Market, KSG Case #
1863.0

** Required Readings
Andrews, M. 2004. Authority, Acceptance, Ability and Performance-Based Budgeting Reforms.
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 17(4), 332-344. [Online ]

Monday April 28, 2008

TBA

Wednesday April 30, 2008

Wrap Up

Final Project Papers Due, Tuesday, May 20th at 5pm

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