Last modified: 19 Nov 2025 12:16
The focus of this course is not people but processes, not outside the organisation but within. Operations transform materials, information and customers to create goods and services using staff and facilities. We study process types and focus particularly on projects. We see how capacity and inventory reconcile demand and output and explore location, supply chains, quality, risk and resilience. About 40% of the course is on projects and project-management techniques. Prepare for both critical discussion of theory and application (operationalisation), including calculation.
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
|
||
This course introduces students to operations management with a particular focus on project management. Operations management is the design, management and control of processes that transform materials, information and customers to create goods and services. Project management is the design, management and control of operations that have a definite start and finish point and use a defined set of resources. So project management is a specialised part of operations management. This course focusses on projects and operations that produce either services or mass/continuous processes. It has a particular emphasis on energy and environment. Topics covered include operations management definition and strategic importance, location and supply chain, capacity and inventory, risk and resilience, and quality management. And about 40% of the course is on project management.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Grades will be made available within 15 working days of the end of the course. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | Discuss issues in medium & longer term capacity management and in particular how to use the three pure medium-term capacity plans, given such information as forecasts of demand & operations objectives |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply a number of decision-making tools to problems faced by managers of an operation |
| Procedural | Apply | Be aware of issues in operations risk and be able to apply tools for identifying and mitigating risk in an operations management context |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply operations concepts and techniques to address real operations problems |
| Procedural | Apply | Describe the features of projects and demonstrate the application of appropriate tools for managing projects |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Reflect on how operations management concepts and techniques can be applied to an operation you work for |
| Procedural | Understand | Outline the strategic role of operations management; describe the main process and layout types and the links between the two |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 45 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
1,250 words |
Word Count | 1250 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | Explain how operations transform customers, information and materials to create goods and services |
| Factual | Understand | Describe the main issues in inventory and how lean management can be used |
| Procedural | Analyse | Discuss issues in medium & longer term capacity management and in particular how to use the three pure medium-term capacity plans, given such information as forecasts of demand & operations objectives |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply operations concepts and techniques to address real operations problems |
| Procedural | Apply | Describe the features of projects and demonstrate the application of appropriate tools for managing projects |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply a number of decision-making tools to problems faced by managers of an operation |
| Procedural | Apply | Explain the importance of materials and supply chain management to ensure effective operations management, and be able to apply appropriate frameworks and tools to designing and managing supply chains |
| Procedural | Apply | Be aware of issues in operations risk and be able to apply tools for identifying and mitigating risk in an operations management context |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Reflect on how operations management concepts and techniques can be applied to an operation you work for |
| Procedural | Understand | Outline the strategic role of operations management; describe the main process and layout types and the links between the two |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
1,000 words. Grades will be made available within 15 working days of the end of the course. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | Discuss issues in medium & longer term capacity management and in particular how to use the three pure medium-term capacity plans, given such information as forecasts of demand & operations objectives |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply a number of decision-making tools to problems faced by managers of an operation |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply operations concepts and techniques to address real operations problems |
| Procedural | Apply | Describe the features of projects and demonstrate the application of appropriate tools for managing projects |
| Procedural | Apply | Explain the importance of materials and supply chain management to ensure effective operations management, and be able to apply appropriate frameworks and tools to designing and managing supply chains |
| Procedural | Apply | Be aware of issues in operations risk and be able to apply tools for identifying and mitigating risk in an operations management context |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Reflect on how operations management concepts and techniques can be applied to an operation you work for |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | Word Count | 2000 | ||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Reflect on how operations management concepts and techniques can be applied to an operation you work for |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply operations concepts and techniques to address real operations problems |
| Procedural | Apply | Explain the importance of materials and supply chain management to ensure effective operations management, and be able to apply appropriate frameworks and tools to designing and managing supply chains |
| Procedural | Apply | Be aware of issues in operations risk and be able to apply tools for identifying and mitigating risk in an operations management context |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply a number of decision-making tools to problems faced by managers of an operation |
| Factual | Understand | Describe the main issues in inventory and how lean management can be used |
| Procedural | Understand | Outline the strategic role of operations management; describe the main process and layout types and the links between the two |
| Factual | Understand | Explain how operations transform customers, information and materials to create goods and services |
| Procedural | Apply | Describe the features of projects and demonstrate the application of appropriate tools for managing projects |
| Procedural | Analyse | Discuss issues in medium & longer term capacity management and in particular how to use the three pure medium-term capacity plans, given such information as forecasts of demand & operations objectives |
We have detected that you are have compatibility mode enabled or are using an old version of Internet Explorer. You either need to switch off compatibility mode for this site or upgrade your browser.
